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In just on 9 hours we head home to New Zealand. It has been a great trip, lots of catching up with friends and having great experiences. We now have to climb on board a long-haul flight to Hong Kong then home to Auckland.

Homeward bound! Oh and farewell to the gorgeous puppies too - here's Leila!

Oxford

Today's day out was to Oxford, a beautiful university city only about 40 minutes away from Marlow. C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien both attended university there and Charles Darwin first presented his 'Theory of Evolution" there too so it is certainly steeped in tradition and heavily laden in history.

We drove there and went straight to the Museum which is a true 'kid-friendly' museum. Everything says "PLEASE TOUCH" instead of please DON'T touch! Dylan and Abi thought it was fantastic! We spent about an hour looking at the main part of the museum then went into the section which is a huge collection from one guy - an extremely wealthy and adventurous philanthropist who went all over the world locating and collecting items from all civilizations. Equipped with torches for the darker corners, we explored ancient artefacts from every corner of the earth, including a mummy from Egypt!

We then set off on a walk (after a bite of lunch) to see more of the city. We saw the bridge of sighs (exactly the same as the one in Venice). We looked around some of the universities briefly and went through the markets, where we found a fantastic cake shop! 

Still think Oxford is the best of the university cities in the UK!

War Museum, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey

It is a strange thing to have an Abi visit an Abbey but we did do that today! We caught the train into London for the third and final day of our London adventures, hoping off at Westminster. The kids were in awe of the sheer size of Big Ben and they looked around Parliament Houses from the outside before we hopped over to the awesome Westminster Abbey. I was slightly horrified that they charge so much to visit it, somehow having to pay to visit a church seems slightly wrong, but perhaps that's just me.

In Westminster, we did a great audio tour and there was heaps to see and read. I particularly loved the Poet's Corner, dedicated to many of my personal faves. Abi was thrilled to see a dedication to William Shakespeare and I loved Chaucer, Dylan Thomas and even Lewis Carroll. Only 2 of the poets are actually buried there but the rest have been honoured with a shrine of sorts in acknowledgement of their amazing writing and the impact they have had  in the literacy world over centuries.

We then traipsed over to the Imperial War Rooms. There were a lot of people out and about so it ended up being a long wait. The wait was definitely worth it though and again, the audio guides provided a unique and detailed look at an incredible piece of history. We were all amazed by how thick the ceilings were - up to 2m in places - to help them to be able to resist any bombings from above. It is a well-documented fact that Winston Churchill was in the War Rooms constantly throughout the war but seldom slept there. He worked from 9am until 2-3am daily, was a workhorse but had a great sense of humour and commanded an intense loyalty in those who served with him.

From there, we went across Green Park. Dylan made the comment that he had never seen a squirrel and POP hey presto! Out pop two of the cutest little squirrels, keen to eat out the hands of anyone who is keen!

After the feeding and videos, it was off to Buckingham Palace to visit the queen! The flag was flying so that shows that Liz was in! We took some photos and even attempted to make the boys in their buzby laugh but no luck.

We went into Leicester Square for the world's best ice-cream, well, my favourite - Haagen Daz! It was delicious and dreamy so when we walked 2 doors down and saw the M&M shop we were all in 7th heaven! I think that if Fishy had seen the shop, she may have just combusted on the spot. It was just M&Ms everywhere, everyhow and in everything!

All in all, an awesome day (again) in London!

Germany!

Well it has been a highly exciting and very eventful 6 days in Germany! We arrived in Munich and Barbara met us at the airport. From the moment we started hugging it was like we had never been away for 10 years. Somehow, with lifelong friends, it is possible to be apart and then when you re-enter each other's lives again the years fall away.

The left-hand side of the car for driving threw the kids a bit and they did giggle a few times about that! I (of course) attempted to get into the wrong side of the car and cross the road by looking the wrong way but Dylan and Abi set me right.

We spent the first day relaxing that evening and catching up. The next morning, Sabine, Tobi, Reine, Barbara, Tim, Max and the 3 of us set off for Neuschwanstein Castle. It is a lovely drive there for almost an hour through the countryside so the kids got to see the 'real' Germany.

We all enjoyed the tour and then went for a walk to a very old bridge where you can look back to the castle and take lovely photos. We hiked down to the car and then Barbara, Abi, Tim and I went to an old cathedral and the others headed back.

The next day we were off to Bamberg. We had a lovely slow start to the day and then it was 2 trains for 2 hours to get there. The weather had been quite cool but when we got to Bamberg we had one lovely evening of cool weather and then it was -1 the next day! We hiked for a hour up to the top hill in Bamberg and went to the fortress then went to lunch and caught the bus back to town. Dylan, Uwe and Tim hiked back in the drizzle and almost beat us back!

Easter Egg Hunt!

Today we went off to play mini-golf and then caught up with some friends while there, who took the kids and I for a cruise around Maidenhead in their Rolls-Royce. It is over 80 years old and was the most wonderful experience for the kids as we cruised in the old jalopy around the town!

We then headed off to Cholsey to spend the afternoon with our friend Selma and her kids (as well as a few of the kids' friends). We headed into the local woods and the kids were set two challenges - firstly, to gather a collection of items as a team (girls vs. boys) and then, when the girls won that challenge, the kids headed off to find the eggs we had sneakily hidden! After the egg-hunt, they set off to create a bird's nest to put all of their eggs in. The design had to be able to hold 3 chocolate eggs and withstand rigorous testing from the judges (me and Selma!)

The kids had so much fun - plenty of competition and laughter! The boys easily won the Easter nest competition and the girls were uber-organised and managed to find all of the items on the list. A successful and fun day indeed. There was a spot of backyard cricket thrown in there too which seemed to go down well with the cake and goodies.

A Day In London

We spent an awesome (but long!) day in London yesterday. Our first part of the journey was a train trip into London from Beaconsfield. We took the overground train into Marylebone Station (check the Monopoly board!) and then took the underground (Tube) ride to Baker Street (famous for Sherlock Holmes) and then on to Tower Hill. When we emerged from the train, there was the awesome sight of the the Tower Of London in front of us. I had forgotten how incredibly formidable this sight is - the tower actually looms over the hill with 2 exterior walls and an inner sanctum which known as the White Tower.

We went around the side of the entrance to get a full view of Tower Bridge which is a wonderful sight also. Years ago, I was lucky enough to be in London one day when the tower bridge actually raised up to let a tall ship through, and I have never forgotten how incredible that was.

When we got into the Tower, we went on a tour for the start and then ended up breaking away and going in to see the crown jewels. These are a little bit surreal - it is a difficult things to describe when you see the diamond that has been cut from a 3,200 carat piece of diamond. Makes my ring look tiny! There were jewels, jewels and more jewels. The photo here is from googleimages because you are not allowed to photograph inside the crown jewel vault. The doors to the vault are around 1m thick and there are guards and Beefeaters everywhere.

We went around the whole site for about 3 hours and even went to the dungeons! Then we headed over the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern Art Gallery. After that, we headed off to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. This is a cool themed cafe where the walls come to life! Everywhere there are rainforest animals that make noises and move. Every half and hour the thunder comes and the animals roar, honk, bellow and tweet all around you. It was so cool!



By the time we arrived home we had been out for 10 hours and we were VERY tired indeed but we had had a wonderful day! 

Abi's Birthday

Well today was Abi's birthday so we made a day of it. Started by getting her nails done (very lady-like and posh!) and then we went for high tea to Danesfield House. It is a beautiful old home which is used for weddings and parties - the view is absolutely gorgeous. It is a very British home with rambling countryside all around it including the river.