Back in the UK 6-11 Aug 2012 The flight back from Sydney to London was pretty good, made better by the upgrade to First Class in the new A380 - very swish, and importantly enabling a good several hours' sleep for both of us. As usual, we collected the hire car from the airport and headed straight up to Leeds. After a day or two of running around getting the van sorted and packed, the provisions bought and stored, we headed to the north east and the coa...

Portsmouth: Could the lovely Spring day in London yesterday last? Not a chance… It rained all night and we woke to heavy fog. The drive down to Portsmouth through Hampshire gave us a pretty, if misty, view of the western part of the rolling South Downs, past Chawton, Jane Austen's village. Later on we passed the little village of Wickham and I couldn't help but wonder if Ms Austen had used the name for a character in Pride and Prejudice - is there a ...

London…again: After all the rain in Peterborough and all the mud, we back to London for a couple of days, again to the Crystal Palace campsite which is so handy to the centre of London by the No 3 bus. No dramas with the bus this time - no change of destination halfway through, no shouts from the driver to run. Sunday was forecast to be 'wet and windy', not exactly enticing us outdoors. We have had exactly this for weeks now and the idea did not fill...

Peterborough: We were to spend a night at a site nearer to Peterborough as we wanted to go to the Camping and Caravan Show there (yes, I know, I know, many of you could think of better things to do with your time J). Scot, from whom we bought the van, and who looks after it while we are home in Oz, was to be on a stand there and was bringing us some paperwork, insurance certificates and so on, that we need to go out of the UK. But the sit emailed us to can...

Pidley: We weaved across the countryside heading generally north east. We crossed the Grand Union Canal with its narrow canal boats a few times, one time stopping for lunch and a walk along the towpath. Our destination this time was Stroud Hill Park in the village of Pidley (north of Cambridge), a site on a farm which has diversified in several directions. While the original farm still grows crops and sheep - black-faced Suffolks according to the old far...