After the Ulster GP we returned to East Kilbride for another 2 days. Greg cleaned the bike, got the chain tightened and rested up. Kerrie enjoyed a bit of retail therapy replacing some toiletries, caught up on the washing and read another book. Our time back in Glasgow was completed with a lovely dinner at the Leeburn Hotel with Craig and Susan McCall (Neils and Isobel's daughter and her husband) their children Connor and Leah and Craig's parents Gerry and Liz. The morning of our departure was the 12th - just a day before Neil and Isobel return from Australia. We had planned on staying until they returned but the ferry timetable - and prices - changed our plans. Before leaving East Kilbride we went to have a look at Craig and Susan's new home. While we have been here, Craig has been renovating this new property and it is just about done. He has done an great job and the interior will be amazing when it is finished in a week or so. Well done Craig (with a little help from his friends).

The next 2 days were travelling days in the UK. We set the GPS for Durham, about a 4 hour ride. We travelled on the A roads and enjoyed the English countryside stopping at Peebles for morning tea. A quick stop at Jedburgh and then on to the Scottish border. Lunch was at a roadside van at the border between Scotland and England. After a photo it was on to Durham. Our hotel was on the outskirts of town but ended up being one of those hotels that you would always stay at again if you were in the area. Modern rooms, parking just outside your window and a lovely bar and restaurant. We had a quick drive through the town in the morning and thought that this might be a town we would like to explore more next time. We rode out of Durham, catching only a glimpse of the Cathedral - next time! We spent the day riding down the coast through Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington. All of these towns were busy with tourists enjoying the last few days of the summer school holidays. These seaside towns all boasted their amusement arcades where tourists spent their hard earned cash. Most people were wandering about in their shorts and t-shirts - we had on jumpers! We rode on to Hull for our evening ferry to Rotterdam.

After a lovely dinner in the restaurant and a good night's sleep in our on-board cabin we rode off the ferry and back on to the 'right side' of the road. The next 2 days would see us ride mainly on the motorways of the Netherlands and the Autobahns of Germany. We skirted around all the major cities as all we wanted to do was get to our destination. The first night was spent in a Premiere Classe Inn at Kassel, a much bigger town than we expected. We found a restaurant close to the hotel, enjoyed a beer and dinner and returned to the hotel for the night. Back on the bike, we returned to the Autobahn for the rest of our ride. Days like today make you really appreciate that you are on a bike. The traffic was heavy as much of the road was being repaired. At one stage we rode for 15km - lane splitting the whole way through bumper to bumper traffic (don't tell the Poleizi). Every car pulled over and gave us plenty of room - amazing! We discovered at one stage that the traffic hold up was because of a burnt out car - in the middle of the road - going in the opposite direction. I guess our side of the road just wanted to have a look. As there were no ambulances in attendance we assumed that whoever was in the car got out safely.

We arrived at our hotel in Dresden about 3pm ready to explore a new city.