Come
on holiday with us
Unlike most years, we went on holiday in August
2000 flying to England with Northwest/KLM. Those nights when we were not
staying with friends, we were camping with English style equipment. Compared to
our Canadian tents, where it is impossible to cook or eat in them due to bears
and raccoons it seemed big enough for Billy Smart’s circus.
Stoneleigh
We spent a week at Stoneleigh Bible week where we had a reunion of all
of Christine's family, with the cousins from Australia and Charlie and Jan from
Belgium. If you were there ours was the site with the flags next to the loos.
At Stoneleigh there were teaching sessions and concerts, and we went to see a
play, ”Comedy of Errors”, in Stratford on Avon. It was a very wet day. There
were a lot of propeller planes flying around from an air show at Coventry
airport, something I only found out later.
London
When we went to London, we stayed at a large campsite near Henley. This
was next to the River Thames and in the morning I saw a kingfisher perched on
the lock gates at Hurley. We visited Sherlock Holmes house and Churchill's
bunker under Whitehall, and saw the London eye. We enjoyed shopping both in the
street markets and in the West End, and rode both the traditional London bus,
soon to disappear, and the tram, brand new this year.
Wales
Snowdonia is the land of soggy sheep and green fields. We had planned on
going up Snowdon but the only day that the weather was suitable was the day we
left. We rode the Welsh Highland Railway on its first week of operation from
Waunfawr to Caenarfon, where the castle is now multimedia. The heather and
gorse was in bloom at South Stack with a baby kittiwake on the cliffs. We went
underground at an old slate mine and at Electric Mountain. We went to the Dr.
Who museum and John's birthday started with a ride on the Ffestiniog railway
and finished with roast lamb and Gareth's experimental ale.
Christchurch/Poole
While staying with Christine's family, we helped to clear the garden at
her parent’s house. We saw the Red Arrows, rode on an open top bus and went to
the beach. Truly, the channel is warmer than it used to be. The sons went
through Indiana Jones on the computer. On Brownsea Island, we saw avocets and squirrels.
The tanks in Wool were working and the Christchurch electric museum was
hair-raising. Christine attended her school reunion.
On
the road
We saw fireworks and walked the beach at
Clacton, visited Colchester zoo, rode the tram, ate fish and chips and went
down a coal mine at the Black Country museum, found fossils on Leckhampton
Hill, experienced the virtual zoo in Bristol, picnicked among the ancient rocks
and bikers at Avebury, saw a heron and a hedgehog in St. Tiggywinkle’s, went
looking for badgers in the Chilterns and the children climbed trees in
Crowborough .
A big “Thank you” to those that we stayed with, and apologies to those
that we missed.
Enjoy a minute or two on holiday with us on our
photopages.