Day 22 - St Albans day (10 May)and Sam visiting the place of his birth. It was off around 9am (after the commuter rush, up the M4, onto the M25 and then into St Albans - with cousin Nigel as the driver/tour guide and me struggling to recognise anything! Eventually we got to the main street and the street market was in full action - just like back in 1978. Nigel went off the do some business and Sam and Jeff wandered around the okd town, the cathedral, Verulamium...

Day 23- 11 May - Cotswold church tour with a team of 4 Grimmett males - Nigel. Tom, Sam and Jeff - all seeking out where their shared ancestors came from. Turned out to be a small (20km diameter total) area more or less centred on Burford Oxfordshire. We kicked off at 18 Coxwell St, Faringdon, Berkshire - English home of our original Grimmett Kiwis - Richard & Charlotte Rachel et al. Couldn’t find it!! The street numbers went from 16 to 20?? - solved when th...

Day 20 & 21 - 2.00am start to get to the Amman airport, some technical hitch with my ticket, had to buy another ticket (ouch!!), separated from the rest if the team, but still managed to get to Heathrow OK (10hrs later) and there was cousin Nigel. Phew!! Lots if talk, cups of coffee and 2 hours layer Sam turns up - highlight of the trip!! A low and high day for sure - all good. Heard a good quote the other day - that losing is actually OK as losers get to learn...

Day 19 - we rolled out of Wadi Rum at 8.10am after watching the sun come up over the desert from our tent (fancy one with a shower & toilet). I went and climbed a rock pile and Jeremy set out across the wadi as the sun crept over the nearby hills - very still, cool and calm. Three camels with riders up, padded past in the distance and I knew I wasn’t in Nelson. Once the sun came over the tops it was time to go. 4 hours later we were in Amman, looking for the C...

Day 18- up early at Petra and headed south for 2 hours to Wadi Rum. VERY dry country, real desert territory, fabulous location for many films such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Martian etc. We stopped off at the visitors centre for coffee and a crispy chicken filled roll (nice), registered at our tent campsite and then rolled on out for a desert 4 wheel drive. Wadi Rum is a spectacular array of sandstone hills randomly scattered around about a barren desert floor. ...