Back on line after another day without Internet. Yesterday we drove from Blair Athol to Slingsby, which is just north of York. We crossed the border

We drove all day and it rained for most of the day so driving was probably a good place to be. This morning we left Slingsby bright and early and arrived at Cambridge about 1pm. The sun was out and it was a very nice for about 2 hours then the clouds came in and the rain came down. We have not done anything this afternoon, just sat around and caught up with some paperwork and Internet stuff. Tomorrow Anne and I are going to catch the bus into Cambridge city centre while Will goes shooting. We will take the city bus tour to have a good look around. You can get off and on as you please. Hopefully I will have some interesting photos for you to look at tomorrow night. Till to or row Thanks for dropping by Cheers Julie

Ahhh back in Internet range. 2 days without Internet access and I think my throat has been cut. Saturday Will was shooting and Anne and I took the bus to Pitlochry, a village about half an hour from Blair Athol. It was not as pretty as Blair Athol but we spent a few hours walking around there. We saw the Festival Theatre, the fish farm and the shops in the main street. We came across this pretty little park just off the main street.

In the afternoon we visited the Blair Castle. It was very informative but only permitted photos in the ballroom. There was nothing worth taking a photo of there so I bought a couple of postcard depicting the fantastic detail of some of the rooms on display. This photo is of the road up to the castle where Anne and I walked

After a look around the castle we walked through the garden of Hercules which had a huge pond in the middle. It was quite nice

On Sunday Anne and I walked to the shooting range. It took us 55 minutes to get there as it was all uphill. The scenery was great. We watched the rifle shooting for 3 or so hours then walked back to the van. It rained for half the way down so we were wet by the time we got back to the park but we did not have the key to the van so we had to sit and wait for Will to get back with the key. The good news was that they had won the day so Australia had beaten Scotland in the Match Rifle competition. This is long distance rifle shooting. This is the first time in the 4 year history of Australia versus Scotland in Match Rifle Shooting. What a great day for Australia. Today we have driven all day. It has been a long day to cover half the distance between Blair Athol and Cambridge. We are camped at Slingsby for the night. The amenities look pretty good. Look forward to another post tomorrow night as we will be in Cambridge and I should have Internet coverage there. Till tomorrow Thanks for dropping by Cheers Julie

Don't know how long this Internet is going to last but hopefully until I get this post finished. Last night we went to the Atholl Arms Hotel for tea

The bar we ate in is very old.

We have had a quiet day today, walked around the village. It is very small. This is one of the highland cows that greet us as we walk out of the caravan park

This is the River Tilt that we walk over to go to the general store

We also visited the water mill. They actually still grind flour here.

I had to go and pay for another half hour of Internet as I did not get the post finished. I am disappointed that my Internet is not working up here but I am sure it will be fine when we get to Cambridge on Monday. It is raining here now, quite heavily, and I am going to get wet going back to the van. Because the weather was quite nice when I came down here I did not bring my rain coat or umbrella. Tomorrow Anne and I are going to catch the bus to Pitlochry and have a look around there. Thanks for dropping bye Till next time Cheers Julie

Hi everyone. I am in an Internet cafe at the moment because my sim card does not want to work up here in Scotland. We travelled up here yesterday from Jedburgh where we spent Wednesday night. It took most of the day. The distances are not that big but it seems to take so long to get from one place to the other. We were going to stop and have a look at Haidians Wall when we came through there on Wednesday but we missed it somehow, so we plan on checking it out on the way back to Bisley. There are miles of stone walls along the way. Very impressive.

We are here until Monday morning and then we head down to Cambridge. Will has got a practice session this afternoon so Anne and I are going to have a walk around the town. It is not very big but what I have seen so far looks very interesting. We walked down to one of the local pubs last night and met up with some of the shooting team for tea. Very quaint. One day while we are here Anne and I will visit Blair Castle, I'm looking forward to that. It is raining off and on here at the moment but I am hoping the sun might come out for a while this afternoon. Till tomorrow Thanks for dropping by Cheers Julie

Well all seems to be well in blogsville at the moment. Yesterday was a lazy day spent at the campsite at Bisley, reading and relaxing. Today was a day of driving. We left Bisley at 7am!!!! Yes I know it has been a long time since I have seen that time of day but I was actually up at 6am so I could have a shower and be ready to leave at 7. We drove to Jedburgh which is about 20 mile inside of Scotland. The scenery on the way here was magnificent once again

We booked into the caravan park, which I might add is nothing like the caravan parks in Australia, we have got much better parks, and then we went for a walk along the river to the town area

We went to the butcher and bought some bacon and ham so we could make some pasta for tea. On the way home we saw one of the Border Abbeys

We also went past Mary Queen of Scott's house

Tomorrow we will head up to Blair Athol where we will be stationed for about 3 or 4 days. There is a castle there I am looking forward to exploring and probably some time for relaxing and laundry duties. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has sent me an email. You can not begin to imagine how much I enjoy getting them. Keep them coming. Till tomorrow Thanks for dropping by Cheers Julie

Not sure if I will be able to do a post tonight as my Internet is playing up. We are in Scotland by about 20 miles. Will try to post more info and some photos after tea. Cheers Julie

Today Anne and I drove to Winchester to check out the Cathederal made famous in the song. Winchester is a very pretty town and we think we may go back there if the opportunity presents. This is the Cathederal. And this one shows a panel of the stained glass in the Cathederal There is a very nice park surrounding the Cathederal and there were lots of people making the most of the fantastic weather we had today. One of the highlights of our visit was the playing of all of the James Bond themes by a military band. They sounded great and looked fantastic in their uniforms All in all a very pleasant day. We also went through the local museum which was very interesting and we visited the tourist information centre. They do not have tourist information centres in every town like we do, this is actually the first one we have seen. Will had a practice shoot today and he was not all that happy with the way he shot but I am sure it was very good anyway. We have decided to keep the hire car for another day just to do some bits and pieces. I plan on having a very easy day tomorrow, some packing up ready to head to Scotland on Wednesday morning but mostly just sitting in the sun, it is supposed to be another nice day tomorrow, reading my novel and relaxing. Hope all is well with you Till tomorrow Cheers Julie

Another post of my daily adventures. Today Anne and I drove to Brighton. The drive there was great. Peaceful and scenic. We went through Guildford then Dorking, Reigate, Redhill, Crawley and Hove to get to Brighton. This photo is of the beach to the right of Brighton Pier This phot is of the Brighton Pier And this one is to the left of the pier The weather has been pretty good today, overcast but sunny in places. No rain at all. I have actually had 3/4 pants and a long sleeved t/shirt on today. When we were in Brighton it was very windy but we enjoyed our walk through the Lanes and out to the end of the pier. Was tempted to buy an icecream but resisted. We also got our laundry done which is a good thing, I was beginning to wonder where that might happen as there are no laundry facilities at the park we are staying at. Not sure where we might go tomorrow but Wincherster Cathederal is on the list of possibilities. I would like to see it because of the song if for no other reason. Stay happy Till tomorrow Cheers Julie

Another day in the UK. Today we went to Stonehenge. The Druids were having their Summer Solstice celebrations there today. There were people everywhere but it was good to see. It started to rain while I was walking around the rocks but it was very good to see this icon. Then we went on to Bath. On the way home we called in at Marborough. The shops were still open so we had a half hour walk through the main street. This photo is of a building that was just down the road from where we stopped for lunch...very interesting. Straw roofed buildings are always good to see, very neat. It has been a very long day of driving. We have done 214 miles on narrow winding roads and we are all warn out. None of us really felt like having any tea so we have just had some nibbly things and called it tea. Will's guns got held up in Singapore and did not arrive when expected but they arrived late today and will be available for pickup at 8:30am tomorrow from the armoury so they will be having shooting practice tomorrow. Anne and I have decided to head towards Brighton in the morning and see how far we get. Today was our wedding anniversary and I spent some time on Skype with Ray. It was good to see him. Thanks for dropping by Till tomorrow Cheers Julie

Hi everyone A bit more detail about our travels yesterday. We travelled south to Chitchester through Guildford, Godalming, Haslemere. As I said yesterday the scenery was very good. This photo was taken through the windscreen of the van and you can see the raindrops. We called in at a pub and had lunch. It was a beautiful old English pub. This photo shows Anne and Will sitting waiting for their lunch to arrive. The main part of this pub was built in the 1700's Today we drove over to Aldershot and bought a sim card for my iPad so I don't have to sit out in the cold now to do my blog posts. We also organized to hire a car for the next 3 days so it is easier to get around and be able to stop more often. It is very hard to find places to park a big motor home. The roads are only two very narrow lanes wide and they are not wide enough to park the van on. We had lunch at another English pub today. This photo shows the outside This photo is of the Pavillion Hotel here on the rifle range. The building looks great I received an email from Helen this morning, it was good to hear from someone in Australia. Used my new sim card in my iPad to book our flights to Zurich. Saved quite a bit on the price quoted by the travel agent. The plan at the moment is to go to Bath and Stone Henge tomorrow, but plans change by the minute here. Till tomorrow Thanks for dropping by Cheers Julie