Back in London

Shetland Show in the Shetlands



Drum Castle Home of the Scottish Irvines




Beautiful Beach on Papa Stour Shetlands





Another Castle




Lovely Yorkshire Dales

 We have moved fairly fast down through Scotland and England fairly fast to get back to London in time to clean up the van ready for our flight on Tuesday. Had 3 days with good friends in Glasgow including one day at Edinburgh for the festival. Missed out on the Edinburgh Tatoo this time.Will have to settle for the TV version when we come home.We also spent a couple of days in Stratford Upon Avon and went ot a Shasespeare play." Little to do about nothing" to put it in modern English.  We enjoyed it but it did live up to its name quite well. We are currently at Epsom just out of London spending a couple of days with very good friends, saying our good byes. All in all, we have had a fantastic 4 months. Can't believe it is almost over. Wow! That time went quick. Looking forward to the lovely spring weather and seeing everyone. Just a few of our last photos. Thought we'd lost the lot with a computer breakdown but all is well.





THe Shetland Islands



Some of  many standing stones




Italian Chapel built by prisoners of war 1945




Skara Brae-5000 year old village uncovered by sandstorm



Ecco house with turf roof on Island of Hoy

We were so sorry to leave the Orkneys. We had a great time there and find the Shetlands very different. There are 22000 people here because of the oil and we can travel to all of the surrounding islands for 10 pound return. The scenery here is dramatic compared with the agricultural land in the Orkneys and some of the cliff walks are pretty treacherous especially with the wind we are having today. We went to see the Gannets nesting on the rocks this morning and the rocks are just covered in white birds, thousands of them. The weather is overcast today but we have had a couple of beautiful days, the best since the start of the holidays. The seas on the ferry crossing were rough today. We  have been to the far north of the Shetlands so now we can only go south.  Had a great day at church with the Church of Scotland (only church available) but really pleasant people.  We missed seeing the northern lights called the Aurora Borealis. They say it occurs more often in the cold nights but we did see a magnificent sunrise which did light up the sky. Only 3 weeks today before we fly out to Shanghai on our way home and 4 weeks and we'll be back on Australian soil.. Oh for a decent haircut.

The Orkneys

Plane landing on Barra beach



Shoreline at Outer Hebrides



Wild flowers on Hebrides



Scene from ur campsite



Eat your heart out Bondi

There is a real problem with network in this part of the world. We are now in the Orkneys , arrived Thursday and will be here until next Thursday before we sail off for he Shetland Islands. I love this place as I did last time I was here. The archeology finds are just continuing all the time and there is a lot more to be seen. The Catherdral here has tombstones from 1500's and we seen a wedding here yesterday. Haven't downloaded pictures as yet. We saw photos of 5000 year old skulls found in a burial chamber and lots of artifacts recovered from the chamber. We also climbed inside it, a bit claustaphobic. The people here are very much like they are at home and sometimes we have to pinch ourselves to remember where we are. The plane on the beach at Barra is landing on its airport. The plane comes in when the tides are out. It has a surface like tiny shells compacted down. We are on count down now and only have one month today before we fly out to Shanghai.  Midgies are not so bad this time, but the weather remains a bit on the wet/overcast side and photos can still be a bit dull. Hoping to get a haircut today. Wer haver found a pentecostal church in Orkneys to go to tomorrow. We have had some very varied church services I muxt say. Hope you are all keeping well and looking forward to seeing you all again. Very mixed feelings as we are enjoying ourselves so much We could easy stay on longer oif it wasn't for our commitments and doggies. Till next time. Love you all