Even though the weather wasn't exactly what you'd describe as "Summer" we had a real summer holiday! After the Irish wedding and traveling through the land of
Guinness, we did some good old English tourist sightseeing and caught up with old friends around the country. We spent a day in the lovely Scarborough, on the beach - only warm enough for a paddle. We spent time with Amy's Dad in Oxford, and had a weekend in London! We've done quite of bit of world travel this year - but London is still a very special place, with it's history, culture and vast Everything (over 12 million people in Greater London - that's 3 times more people than in the whole of New Zealand!) We
spen
t some time walking the streets and riding the Tube, visiting
Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament, The Tower of London, London Bridge and the West End - where we were treated to a rendition by by STOMP. Not what we expected, as there was no story line, but it was very entertaining and for those with a musical ear (?) - pretty clever too!
We spent a night with James' cousin, who is one of the head gardeners at one of the worlds most famous gardens -
Wisley Gardens. Neither of us are very green fingered, but having a personal tour, after hours, all to ourselves - was something special! Thanks Matthew! One of the main reasons for
coming to England was t
o spend quality time with the family, including James' nephew, Charlie and his 2 year old
niece, Gracie - who we hadn't even met! We've loved our time with the kids - who are just too cute! (no -don't ask, we're still enjoying the freedom!)
We attended a friends wedding down in Devon - only an 8 hour drive! After terrible motorway traffic we made it with 10 minutes to spare - Amy getting changed in the car and doing her make-up in the passenger mirror, James getting changed beside the church! We love the excitement! We also spent a day at one of
Englands most beautiful beaches,
Saunton Sands, playing cricket, and even braving the waters (well Amy did). We spent another long weekend camping at a Christian Conference - Grapevine! It was a chance for just the two of us to get away from it all and focus on God and our futures together (plus 10,000
others). The photo is our tent and car (Vectra - same as in NZ) with the Big Top behind us. We were both inspired and it was an excellent spiritual bonding time. We also spent a weekend in the North of England, around the
Sunderland area. We spend time with our new Romanian friends, from
Caminul Felix, who raise funds for the
orphanage through their travelling choirs. We went to a couple of their concerts and also spent the afternoon with the kids giving the parents their first bit of freedom on a 6 week tour! They really are a special group and we
definitely advocate the charity and those who are a part of it. They are always in need of child sponsors as they continue to grow and expand, so
please do visit their website and consider their worthy cause or even consider making a personal visit yourself:
http://www.caminulfelix.org/
Even though the weather wasn't exactly what you'd describe as "Summer" we had a real summer holiday! After the Irish wedding and traveling through the land of Guinness, we did some good old English tourist sightseeing and caught up with old friends around the country. We spent a day in the lovely Scarborough, on the beach - only warm enough for a paddle. We spent time with Amy's Dad in Oxford, and had a weekend in London! We've done quite of bit of world travel this year - but London is still a very special place, with it's history, culture and vast Everything (over 12 million people in Greater London - that's 3 times more people than in the whole of New Zealand!) We spen
t some time walking the streets and riding the Tube, visiting Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament, The Tower of London, London Bridge and the West End - where we were treated to a rendition by by STOMP. Not what we expected, as there was no story line, but it was very entertaining and for those with a musical ear (?) - pretty clever too! 
We spent a night with James' cousin, who is one of the head gardeners at one of the worlds most famous gardens - Wisley Gardens. Neither of us are very green fingered, but having a personal tour, after hours, all to ourselves - was something special! Thanks Matthew! One of the main reasons for coming to England was to spend quality time with the family, including James' nephew, Charlie and his 2 year old niece, Gracie - who we hadn't even met! We've loved our time with the kids - who are just too cute! (no -don't ask, we're still enjoying the freedom!)
We attended a friends wedding down in Devon - only an 8 hour drive! After terrible motorway traffic we made it with 10 minutes to spare - Amy getting changed in the car and doing her make-up in the passenger mirror, James getting changed beside the church! We love the excitement! We also spent a day at one of Englands most beautiful beaches, Saunton Sands, playing cricket, and even braving the waters (well Amy did). We spent another long weekend camping at a Christian Conference - Grapevine! It was a chance for just the two of us to get away from it all and focus on God and our futures together (plus 10,000 
others). The photo is our tent and car (Vectra - same as in NZ) with the Big Top behind us. We were both inspired and it was an excellent spiritual bonding time. We also spent a weekend in the North of England, around the Sunderland area. We spend time with our new Romanian friends, from Caminul Felix, who raise funds for the orphanage through their travelling choirs. We went to a couple of their concerts and also spent the afternoon with the kids giving the parents their first bit of freedom on a 6 week tour! They really are a special group and we definitely advocate the charity and those who are a part of it. They are always in need of child sponsors as they continue to grow and expand, so please do visit their website and consider their worthy cause or even consider making a personal visit yourself: http://www.caminulfelix.org/
