The Queen in Cowes - 25th July

Went to see the Queen today in Cowes - the last stop on her Diamond Jubilee tour through the UK.

Thanks to Carly and PJ we got a great front row spot for the walkabout. No royal handshake for the kiwis but otherwise about as close as we could get!

Carisbrooke Castle - 23rd July

Explored Carisbrooke Castle today on the Isle of Wight - once the prison of King Charles I before his execution...





Found a cool sword for Harry - Excalibur, the legendary blade of King Arthur!

Now we just have to worry about getting it back in to NZ...

Blackgang Chine - 22nd July

Went to the Blackgang Chine adventure park today too.

A busy day for the boys who spent most of the day going around and around and around on the raft water slide with Carly's boys (Sam and Harry).









The raft ride and hedge maze...

The Needles - 22nd July

Went to the Needles today on the Isle of Wight - an appropriately named piece of coastline!





We took the boys down to the beach via the chairlift for a quick play on the beach and then visited some of the local attractions - glass blowing, lolly making, and sand figures - great fun for the kids and grown ups!

Back in the UK - 19th July

Left France today and returned to the UK. Sad to be leaving Europe but nice to be back somewhere that only speaks English!

We caught the Eurostar through the chunnel to London and then headed straight down to Portsmouth to catch a ferry across to the Isle of Wight.

We will be staying here for about a week to explore and catch up with another friend from our days in Guildford - Carly Thomas.

High Rope Course - 18th July

Took the boys to a high rope course today on our last day in the Dordogne.

They really enjoyed navigating the obstacles and harnessing themselves in for the zip lines and rope swings high up in the trees...





In the afternoon it was into the car for the long drive back to Paris - tomorrow we are heading back to the UK through the chunnel on the Eurostar!

Lascaux Cave - 18th July

Visited the famous Lascaux cave today to see the amazing 17,000 year old wall paintings.

We didn't visit the real cave but a near exact copy (Lascaux II) - the real cave has been closed for years now to preserve the paintings. Only super famous people get access to the real cave and apparently we didn't qualify...