Travelling Trappies

Well we’re in Bristol at the mo in the final few days of our Motorhome trip and in the UK (excluding Ireland where we’re going next).  We’ve had a lovely time in the South West visiting Devon, Dorset and Cornwall. Really lovely people, friendly, helpful and gorgeous scenery.   After getting off the ferry, we spent the night on a farm site in Devon – we knew we were back in the UK as we were driving on the other side of the road again and the ‘roads’ go from 2 lane to single lane to track before widening again with lots of potholes, lumps, cracks etc! One thing we will say for France is the tolls may be REALLY expensive but the roads are in good nick!   We then headed towards the coast to visit Lulworth Cove and Durdle door. There were some very hardy people at Lulworth Cove getting in the water, kayaking and cycling, the shingle beach didn’t really lend itself to sitting but they did do a yummy bacon buttie – breakfast of champions! Off to Durdle Door which was a bit of a...

Salut from the channel ferry. We’re on our way back to the UK after 9 weeks in Europe – it will be nice to be able to understand what we’re buying at the grocery store or ordering at a restaurant!!  Since crossing back into France from Italy we have travelled through the Alps, drunk our way down the Avenue de Champagne and eaten at Le Maori 2.0 restaurant!   A bit of a shock heading into the Alps with a drop in temp from 39 to 10 in just a week! After passing through the very expensive (nz$140) 11.6km Mont Blanc tunnel, we entered France. The Mont Blanc Tunnel is the world’s 2 nd deepest tunnel after the Gotthard Base in the Swiss Alps and on average over 5000 vehicles go through the tunnel every day. In 1999 a fire disaster occurred killing 39 people and resulting in sweeping safety and administration changes.   Our first stop in the Alps was a wee town called Saint Michel de Maurienne. Cute but very quiet – apparently everyone goes on holiday in August, although to be ...

We have come to the end of our Italian sojourn and what an epic 5 weeks it’s been. We’ll cross the border back into France tomorrow and start the trek back to the UK over the next 10 days. After leaving Rome we spent 4 days in Pompeii in soaring heat but got the chance to visit the Amalfi Coast as well as the Pompeii Ruins themselves. Before jumping on the ferry, I had the best donut I’ve ever had in my life – so soft! Heading to Positano first, we managed to hike our way up the steep streets checking out the shops and people watching along the way! The alleyways were pretty packed for a Thursday with a lot of tourists. In Amalfi we experienced one of their great snacks – sharing an iced lemon sorbet inside a frozen lemon. Pretty expensive (is definitely a tourist gimmick) but in the 38° heat it was a welcome relief. On the way back we actually sat inside the cabin away from the sun!!!!!   The next day we hit up Pompeii – entering as soon as it opened to try and get ahead of the he...