Off to Scotland via Whitby

 For those of you who didn’t know Whitby is on the east coast of the UK and the starting point for many of captain James Cooks pacific adventures. Well it was also the start of another part of our fabulous holiday to the UK, arriving around 3.30 pm into Whitby by snail rail . Some of my fellow travellers were ready to call it a day but not Wadda he rallied the rest of the crowd and hit the ground running. As we moved our way through these magical narrow streets I was just spellbound, I’ve travelled around a bit and been to many beautiful places well this is high on the list of my favourite places. The trip up to the abbey was high on my list of things to do but the 199 steps seemed to deter my fellow travellers , so I set a leisurely pace the others soon followed . The views from the abbey over looking Whitby were something else so nothing more to say except I’ll try to send photos separately so see ya ……….Wadda

All roads lead to Leicester

 With my head still spinning we load the the little French car for another road trip this time to Leicester, unsure of the exact plan I’m just winging it . The driver and navigator will inform me on a needs to know basis, but WADDA knows they are planning something. Just hope it’s not another castle, museum or botanical garden . The news is not good cos our first stop is to be CASTLE ASHBY and gardens I knew it, much to my surprise this place was okay after a slow wander around we head to the car park and load up again . Destination unknown not long after resuming our journey they inform me we are now heading to FOXTON LOCKS ,as l stare out the window I start to have some doubts their mental state. The driver then puts pedal to the metal and launches us toward our next destination , we arrive in canal boat central and it I must say it is impressive . With my head full of everything there is to know about canal boats I must congratulate the driver and navigator for discovering this little treasure. Not much left to do but head into Leicester and locate the BELMONT HOTEL. Not here 20 minutes and we are off on foot in a strange city looking for you guessed it a museum, there day was complete, with my sore feet sorry arse and broken back I pushed on i dream of tomorrow ……….WADDA

PS can’t retrieve my photos I’ll try later

I love pommy land

 Hi to the lovely people who read these blogs I’ve shaken off jet lag and done travel time to Cornwall. I thought I’d lost my way with blogging but not so, I’ve also discovered some new interests which mainly involves sleeping and eating not necessarily in that order, and every spare moment we are doing some travelling. Where my daughter lives just outside Milton Keynes population 280000 is the ideal jumping off point to launch into the country side. The small towns and villages are certainly worth looking at,we visited the Bridego bridge , number127 this is the spot where the great train robbery took place in 1963 .Ronald Biggs and his mates nicked in today’s value about 43 million bucks in cash weighing over 2 ton and the rest is history. We visited a place called TRING it’s the home of Englands natural history museum WOW this place was unbelievable, three floors of taxidermy of the animals of the world including Australia’s very own tassie tiger. Tomorrow it’s off to Leicester for a couple of days then , as usual WADDA has meticulously planned to

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Port Issac

Minac theatre 

Lands End

Polperro

Castle Coomb

Bridego bridge

travel to some special locations over the next few weeks. Just before I go it’s stopped raining the sky is blue and it’s between 13 and 15 this is the England I like……….Wadda

Hope you get the photos .

At last

 Well 6 days into this 6 week odyssey I thought I'd better extract my finger and get writing,so I’ll start at the beginning. We left Tullamarine last Wednesday bound for the UK aboard an Emirates A380 arriving at STANSTED AIRPORT some 24 hrs later. We were picked up and whisked some 130kms to my daughter’s house ,24 hrs later we began our trek to Cornwall. The first night we checked into the Cricket Field  hotel in Salisbury then off to check out the cathedral wow what a great building, it’s over 700 years old. Next morning we nose the little French car out into mainstream mayhem, yes traffic and plenty of it we are Dartmouth bound. After checking into a hotel called Dartington Hall I had to remind myself that the retired steel wheel cowboy could could be punching above his weight in this beautiful country estate ,what a beautiful place. As we push further into Cornwall heading for a place called the EDEN PROJECT more tree huggers per square foot than you could imagine but well worth a visit. Moving forward  we stumble on a fishing village called Polperro and what a stumble it was and I’m loving every single minute of it, the next 3 days we will be residents of the Medeun hotel on the outskirts of Falmouth .Monday morning it’s fine and clear the forecast is 10 to 12 so we head to Mousehole~ first grab at a Cornish pasty and what a treat to enjoy on a park bench overlooking the small harbour .  Next stop ~MINACK theatre, no time to explain just google it and you will see why my description would be hopeless. Penzance is in our sights and pretty soon the little French car has swung into a car park and it’s hit the shops, in my eyes Penzance was not up to our high standards so we moved on to Lands End. If you like Australian saltbush and not much else-   Head here for some uninteresting landscape.  Plenty of ramblers taking in the views but this couple of old fossils preferring the French roller skates of the Citroen than legging it too far ! A few more happy snaps and it’s off to ST Ives and it’s just beautiful and I have soon learnt that with beauty comes traffic and lots of it . Today is Tuesday so we set off in the rain to another coastal village ~ Mevagissey. The Cornwall quaint coastal villages are really a mastermind of architectural design and sheer guts- built in unforgiving hillsides, steep outcrops and maximising tiny spaces.  Really only a place to visit in the off season. Thunder and lightning Cornish cream tea helped to steal our nerves for the white knuckled drive through miles and miles of hedged roads.  Think Rachy has been brushing up on her driving skills at the Red Bull  centre in Milton Keynes- she certainly has embraced the head on approach to small lane driving !111. We arrive at the Trebah gardens 1 day before our ticketed date… one of a rolling wave of senior moments on this adventure…..Our last night here I’ll probably stuff a couple of Cornish pasties into my ever increasing stomach,that’s it for now………Wadda

Wadda is back in the air

 With Covid long gone I’ve decided to dip my toe to back into international travel, my better half will be my travelling companion this time. No boys only trip to the ISLE OF MAN this time , no this is a garden hunting flower sniffing journey with guess who. Deep in the heart of a British winter it should be fun ,travelling throughout Britain, Cornwell and Scotland and by the time I finish this 6 week odyssey I hope to fallen in love with old ENGLISH pubs and open fireplaces. To be continued next week when my pilgrimage begins……….WADDA

The holiday that never was

 2020 promised so much but delivered so little, with all the tedious and meticulous planing at the end of 2019 the scene was set for our next holiday adventure to Canada & the USA.As 2020 begun to unfold so did our holiday when the dreaded COVID 19 reared it’s ugly head in late January. Ever the optimist I did not give up hope for our July departure ,but as the year moves slowly toward our departure date the world spirals into further decline. The decision has been made at a round table meeting over a few cool drinks to pull the plug on 2020, now the trouble begins. With most of this adventure already paid for we now join the long list of holiday makers seeking a refund , sounds easy. After many weeks phone calls and emails the gloom and doom is not so bad after all, with my money on the trickle feed return I will begin to plot another holiday somewhere. My airline of choice will definitely not be with Air NZ because of the way we were treated , but that’s another story. To our friends Tom &Cheryl with whom we were travelling with, maybe we might get lucky in 2022......WADDA

One More exciting chapter in WADDAS world

Howdy, as I’ve been off the tourist trail for nearly 12 months it’s time to fill you in on the next exciting chapter of WADDAS world wanderings . To those of you that have followed my journeys will realise that my wife has been absent from my last 2 overseas trips , of her own choosing of course .So she is now about to cut loose on our next holiday to Canada and the United States. This holiday will also include some hardened and well seasoned travellers ,our very special friends Tom and Cheryl with whom we have travelled with before. This adventure has been about 6 months in the planning stage, with our airfares booked and paid for and most of our accommodation taken care of it was just sit back and wait till the 21st of July. But to our dismay along came that dreaded virus and chucked a spanner in the works ,with long faces we await the outcome of of the travel restrictions. We wont be off till at least 2022 so I’ll just cool my jets till then, if and when Australian travel restrictions are lifted I may just sneak of on another outback adventure with 3 of my brothers in-laws.............WADDA