families

Manchester England, for a day

Manchester England for a day Our lovely friends in Preston are having Explorason for a sleepover. So Explorafriend and I head to Manchester. First off is High Tea at Cloud 23 at the Hilton Hotel. It is a bleak and rainy day and the view is grey, but we love the skyline. To us, it […]

The Lakes District, England

The Lakes District, England Today sees us driving our little car, Vegemite, through the country towns of the Lakes District. We start at Keswick. First stop is to park the car. We find out they have a great system where you get a parking dial card and dial-up free parking. Complex to explain, but works […]

Isle of Skye Scotland to Lakes District England

Isle of Skye Scotland to Lakes District England It seems like it always rains on those days we decide to do long travels. It rains, and it rains! And today – it rains! We start with a stop. Our first town is just over the bridge.  Along a very skinny country hilly road. Up we […]

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Isle of Skye, Scotland This morning I woke up with a boomer headache. So after a late start, we hit the road around noon. We thought the Isle of Skye was a tourist haven, but instead, we realized it was more of a retiree and hiker haven. However, we made the best of it. So […]

Driving across Scotland to the Isle of Skye

Driving across Scotland to the Isle of Skye We left the lovely Invermark Hotel and headed through the country roads and past bluebell fields. Suddenly I see a highland cattle, and I pull into a farmers driveway and we all tear off racing back down the narrow road. They were mainly eating the leaves off trees. […]

St. Andrews to Broughty Ferry, Scotland

St. Andrews to Broughty Ferry, Scotland Today is a big day. We left Edinburgh after lunchtime, made our way over the famous Forth Bridge area and then turned to drive along the coastal route. We stopped for hot chips and a coffee at a lovely seaside town called Pittenween. At first, the sky was blue, […]

Edinburgh Scotland for a day

Edinburgh Scotland for a day Today is our official first day on the road. We have bought a car (I will blog on that separately) and drove from Newcastle to Edinburgh along the coast.  We had a few stops along the way, but due to the heavy rain, we didn’t get to see as much […]

Camera Obscura – Fun in Edinburgh

Camera Obscura – Fun in Edinburgh \We enter Camera Obscura – my nine-year-old is gone. What? I look around and find him.  He has RACED into the exhibition area and is jumping up and down with excitement. We are told we have a show in 10 minutes and to head to the roof. This is […]

House sitting in the UK

House sitting in the UK House-sitting in the UK is very different. Different from Ireland. Different from Brazil. Different from Fiji. And the list goes on. In fact, each house-sit is unique, has its strengths and its challenges. This house-sit saw us in Newcastle in a small upstairs – downstairs miners home from last century. […]

Sunday in York England – amazing!

Sunday in York England for 3 Australians “The sky is blue” I declare to my Explorafriend and Explorason as we sit in our little house-sit miners cottage and look out the window. We have been busy planning our road trip, so it is time for a break and to go and explore some local history. […]

Sunday in Sunny Durham England

Sunday in Sunny Durham England The clouds billow behind the norman towered cathedral of Durham. Here we stand in awe of one of the oldest cathedrals in England. Our new traveling companion Explorafriend has some lovely people she knows who live here.  So we climb in our little rental car and they suggested they show […]

Visiting Osmotherley and country North England

Visiting Osmotherley and country North England We have been joined by my longtime friend from Australia for the next chapter of our traveling life. An amazing and positive companion, who is also a terrific planner. We had a little hire car, and we were off hunting for a vehicle to purchase. The GPS we had […]