York to Edinburgh,

The day has begun early in York and with no supplied breakfast at the hotel we are off in search of food, don't have to go far in this beautiful walled city. We hit the medieval place called the Shambles  and find this place open called the Shambles tea rooms . After a full English breakfast we hit the shops, with the time flying we have to hit the road and check out is midday. The seating arrangements in the van have been altered today Miss Denny to the back and Rebecca to the front as chief navigator, we also have 4 more standby navigators in the back. The shitty weather is continueing but we must push on, as we hit the M1 again we push north towards Scotland. Cooper tells us about a treehouse restaurant way up north near the Scottish boarder so we make that our next place to visit, the place is called Alnwick castle. What a astounding place you just can't get your head around it, the treehouse is just beautiful and the gardens and castle go to another level. Arrived into Edinburgh thanks to my my new navigator, locate the Haymarket hotel and check in, then out for dinner one more time. Early to bed again got another city to conquer tomorrow...........WADDA.          
MAYBE Some PHOTOS LATER can't seem to find them just now

Quite England

Whoever said that is handling the truth carelessly,mad Monday has struck as we rise early to head to Luton to pick up our wheels. The company we are dealing with are not keeping up with there end of the deal. But all that aside we set sail for York some 300 ks to the north on the mighty M1,we turn off to go the scenic route. A short time later we have no gears,forward or reverse, ring the hire company they say can you get to Sheffield another 2 hrs north. I'm not coping well with these people from the clown farm, miss Denny finds the lost gears and we are off back on the M1. Jane you were right stay on the green roads, this is bedlam but we struggle to Sheffield to change vehicles. Another family from the same farm as the last lot also work here, another dirty bashed up piece of metal is now in our possession. York here we come still pissin rain and getting late, arrived safely good night......WADDA

My last TGV".....................Today is the last day we will ride these fast European trains as we wind down our holiday to Europe and head to England. But the pleasure has been all mine as we have bisected these far away places in the pursuit of pleasure. Today's journey from Geneva in Switzerland to Lillie in northern France by TGV will be over 700 odd kilometres . The first 90 minutes we wind our way out of Switzerland via every small town ever built in this beautiful country, when the TGV hits the French open farmlands it's game on . The frog opens the throttle and we accelerate like shit shot from a Shanghai, through the vast farm lands of northern France this beast continues whilst we dine on French cuisine . Lucy Clydesdale has just completed another blog with tears in our eyes from laughing so much we think she is a very talented young lady. Outside the country side is passing quickly but I can still see that this is fertile farmland ,and at the end of the northern summer still quite green yes this is definitely not the mallee that we know so well. Another thing that has caught my eye throughout Europe is the way they have embraced the free energy ,yes solar panels and wind farms scattered throughout most countries. No pandering to the money hungry energy companies, like in Australia. OK no more political stuff let's enjoy . We arrive into Lillie on time and our last leg to London is by Eurostar, we check through boarder control and we are ready to return to the UK . As the train pulls out of Lillie and  starts to accelerate we are presented with another meal,i love this first class service. With a short stop at Calais we are about to enter the Chunnel for our 20min undersea adventure, when we pop out the other end we are in Britain as the pommie throttle jockey just tears up the country side it won't be long before we get to St Pancreas international. Tickets for our trip to Luton in the morning in our pocket we head to the pub for some R&R ,no pics today maybe tomorrow.........WADDA

Early start in Geneva

Up and about early today after a quiet night in  Genevas red light district ,can find no live coverage of the AFL grand final in this lake side city. Armed with my trusty IPAD I head down to a quiet area in the foyer and tune into trusty Seymour FM radio, to listen to the big game. After the final siren we are heading out to a place called CERN this is the home of the Hadron Collider, which my grandson is interested in. Been trying to book a tour here for the last 2 weeks but failed so we caught a tram out to their facilities, on arrival made some inquiries and found there was a cancellation so Cooper was in like Flynn. 2 hrs later Coops returns happy as a pig in s..t,so we pick a few trinkets a head to the city, now I will check out the other side of the Geneva city scape . We soon discover the old town is a different story all together and we like what we see, this is a family place and very nice. Still not my favourite holiday spot , we walk the streets for a couple of hours before heading home about 4pm. Today is our last day of the European adventure and we catch the train to London in the morning for an overnight stay at the Kings Inn Hotel. Then early Monday morning it's of to Luton to collect a 9 seat van then drive England and surrounds for 9 days . Just reflecting back on our time in Europe all i can say is fantastic, and doing it with my family has made it more enjoyable than I care to remember. The days have sometimes been long and tiring but well and truly worth every cent ,so from tomorrow you will be reading about us touring the mother land . So be back tomorrow........WADDA

Brig to Geneva

As usual the Swiss trains are very reliable and our journey today is only a 2 hr sprint to the lake side city of Geneva. Gone are the high alps  as we head west along the valley floor, between 2 ranges of mountains this country is flat and the train is fast. Plenty of stuff to look at but its not the same as yesterday days high octane adventure, not long before we are skirting Lake Geneva this looks promising . We speed along the edge of this massive expanse of water I see that the houses are built right to the edge, and these are not shabby shacks this is Richland. On arrival at Geneva central we head for the Novetel about 2 streets away, not far into this journey the hair on the back of my neck begins to sense that things are not quite as they should be. Yes sir we have arrived in hookerville, all shapes sizes and colours , and every other sort of lowlife you could imagine. The fourth floor at the Novetel looks fairly safe but who knows, my first 3 hrs in the cesspool end of town does not look promising. The ladies are catching up on some washing while I bunker down with the grandies ,i might invest in a pair of NVGs (night vision goggles) so I can keep an eye on the situation during the night. Otherwise everything is just fine. Words of a wise man.........if you ever come to Switzerland bring plenty of money cos 3 Maccas meals cost 35 francs or $51.00 Aussie and the joint was a pigsty. But don't let me deter any would be tourist it is still a beautiful place, anyway l had better go and patrol the perimeter and keep the undesirables at bay........WADDA

More photos of this fabulous day

Can you believe this

Well today is the day on our holiday calendar that we have just been waiting for, as we head for the station to catch the train to Zermatt I cast a quick glance over my shoulder and stare upward at the imposing alps. This trip is by an electric train with steel cogs hanging down underneath, these cogs will be engaged on the steepest parts of the gradients   which will be at least 80percent of the time. The rise up to the Matterhorn is about 10000 feet, we begin this white knuckle ride with our chests out and our chins held high. Pretty soon we are just a gog with the absolute beauty of this journey, we continue climbing through many small villages and towns.We await the rounding of every twist and turn for the next surprise, and it just keeps on coming. Is there no end to this beauty, I hope not as our fears have all but gone when we arrive at Zermatt. Now the real adventure begins as the next cog train is in full cog drive for the last 1600 meters, the 2 grandchildren decide to do this last part with their dear old pop. The sun is bright and the snow is white and the Matterhorn looks fantastic, we are greeted at the summit with a very chilly minus 6 degrees . I will not even try to explain this beautiful place as words would not do it justice, but this is probably as close to heaven as I'll ever get. As we decend back down to Zermatt I just pinch myself one more time, i will never forget this mountain called the Matterhorn . Tomorrow we head to Geneva so see ya tomorrow if I have the energy..........WADDA