S​emester 2021 The slow process of scanning at 1,200 DPI, selected pictures from our 16,000 35mm slide library continues; I have a lot of countries still to cover and as part three continues, more countries will be added.                           ******************************************************************************************************************
 PART THREE W.0.W. BEGINS WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM (BRITISH ISLES) NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND PARTIALLY FINISHED............   *************************************************************************************************************************

The United Kingdom (UK) is an island nation in northwestern Europe and is comprised of four countries: England, Scotland, and Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland (which is variously described as a country, province or region of Ireland). 

England, birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles, is home to the capital, London, a globally influential centre of finance and culture.
​England is also site of Neolithic Stonehenge, Roman spas and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge.

Population: 66.65 million (2019) Eurosta)

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​In the United Kingdom, England(1) is where a lot of the action is and there’s a lot to see and do there But we won't be forgetting about Scotland, Wales and Ireland, they'll get their fair shoe late. London(10 million)), with its“melting pot” of ethnic diversity(1), is a magnetic place(2) to visit. 

"it's a “melting pot” of ethnic diversity(1),"

"London is a magnetic place to visit."

Throughout our travelling years we seem to end up there several times for one reason or another; the city is one of the travel hubs of the world(1) and we used it as a home-base to plan forays into Africa, Asia, Far East, the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic islands. We had no problem with returning to London many times, once out of the city there was always something new to  discover(2).

"one of the travel hubs of the world(1)"

" there was always something new to discover"

As for the English themselves, they are generally friendly(1) and chatty(outside of the cities); they are also devoted history geeks(2), animal & flower lovers(3), candy freaks(4), Garden fanatics(5) and would soon cease to exist without their local pub(6-7); we had no problem with them other than the fact that they like to mind everybody else’s business as well as their own but we could live with that. 

"they are generally friendly "

" they are also devoted history geeks"

"animal & flower lovers"

"candy freaks"

"Garden fanatics"

"and would soon cease to exist without their local pubs"

In England, some 56 million people live in an area roughly the size of USA's Louisiana that has a  4.6 million population; you may think that would mean wall-to-wall people throughout the land but in really, one of England’s attractions is the extent of its manicured rural areas(1) interlaced by meandering tree/hedge lined roads(2), narrow, sealed country lanes(3) that provide unlimited opportunities to explore away from the bustle of the cities(4).

"IS THE EXTENT OF ITS MANICURED RURAL AREAS(1)"

"INTERLACED BY MEANDERING TREE/hedge LINED ROADS(2)"

"NARROW, SEALED COUNTRY LANES(3)"

"THAT PROVIDE UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLORE AWAY FROM THE BUSTLE OF THE CITIES(4)."

​Most of the population are city dwellers and live in dense suburbia(1) but what kept bringing us back to visit this part of the world time and time again was that the lesser of the population live in smaller, charming towns many of which have postcard appeals of their own(2). Historic towns like Oxford and Cambridge, famed for the universities and colleges had their moments(3-5) but for us we had so much more fun exploring quaint, Photo friendly thatched roof villages the variety of which was never ending; unlike anything that that we grew up with(6); even the B&B's had so much charm of their own with their facades of clinging vines(7) especially memorable n the fall. 

"MOST OF THE POPULATION ARE CITY DWELLERS AND LIVE IN DENSE SUBURBIA(1)"

"CHARMING TOWNS MANY OF WHICH HAVE POSTCARD APPEALS OF THEIR OWN(2)"

"UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES HAD THEIR MOMENTS(3-5)"

:PHOTO FRIENDLY THATCHED ROOF VILLAGES(6)"

"EVEN THE B&B'S HAD SO MUCH CHARM OF THEIR OWN WITH THEIR FACADES OF CLINGING VINES(7) SPECIALLY IN THE FALL(7)"

It seemed that every time we returned to England, we would discover different things like the picturesque county of Kent where rhododendrons were nearly as tall as the houses(1); or East Anglia where windmills(2) actually work and a forest(3) where Robin Hood once flourished. As well, there were always new trails(4) that we had not previously discovered; trails that climbed high above the picturesque lakes(5) of England’s “Lakes District” which in autumn are ablaze with reds and golds(6). 

"WE WOULD DISCOVER NEW THINGS LIKE THE PICTURESQUE COUNTY OF "KENT WHERE RHODODENDRONS WERE ALMOST AS TALL AS THE HOUSES(1)"

"OR EAST ANGLIA WHERE WINDMILLS ACTUALLY WORK(2)"

"A FORES(3)T WHERE ROBIN HOOD ONCE FLOURISHED.(3)"

"AS WELL, THERE WERE ALWAYS NEW TRAILS(4)"

"TRAILS THAT CLIMBED HIGH(5) ABOVE THE PICTURESQUE LAKES "

"“LAKES DISTRICT” WHICH IN AUTUMN ARE ABLAZE WITH REDS AND GOLDS(6)"

England was our first encounter  with a culture greatly enhanced by its history(1) especially when compared to our much younger Australian history.  As is the case with Europe generally, there was so much to see(2-3), so much to learn, but at least in the UK they spoke English, well sort of! ​Growing up in Australia with its rain starved deserts and sunburned, sweeping plains(4) it was little wonder really that we returned many times to visit the rain blessed, evergreen, flower bedecked England(5). ​

" ENGLAND WAS OUR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH A CULTURE GREATLY ENHANCED BY ITS HISTORY(1)"

"AS IS THE CASE WITH EUROPE GENERALLY, THERE WAS....

"SO MUCH TO SEE(2-3), SO MUCH TO LEARN"

"WE RETURNED MANY TIMES TO VISIT THE RAIN BLESSED, EVERGREEN, FLOWER BEDECKED ENGLAND(5)."

Scotland’s “John o' Groats” Village (above) was  an end-of-the-road for folks in Great Britain, touted as the northernmost point of Scotland but it really isn’t, (nearby Dunnet Head (below) is farther north). But the village does have some notoriety because it marks one end of the longest distance between two inhabited British points on the mainland, with “Land's End“ in Cornwall lying 876 miles (1,410 km) to the southwest. (see pix)......... 

Dunnet Head

WENDY CHECKS OUT "LAND'S END"

"GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA WITH ITS RAIN STARVED DESERTS(4)"

As Australians, well accustomed to wide open spaces, (above) the distance of 876 miles meant very little to us but it was a big deal to the British; so many we met told us that one day, when they get a chance, they would drive from “Land’s End” to the “Groats” but in our experience, such folk get so tied up with earning their daily bread, raising and providing for their children, (below) they rarely fulfill their “bucket” lists…..c’est la vie. Wendy and I chose a different path and more than fulfilled our bucket list. (see Africa below)

"raising and providing for their children, they rarely fulfill their “bucket” lists"

"chose a different path and more than fulfilled our bucket list"

 ARRIVING IN THE U.K.
Our introduction to the United Kingdom began IN February 1967 when we disembarked in Southampton after a six week cruise in the "Fairsky"/1 from Australia. It was along time at sea and we didn't fare well with it but we made a lot of new friends./2 It is also worthy of note that part of the entertainment on the fair sky was a group of four young lads that in time became known worldwide as the Bee Gees. Full of ideas, hopes and plans we soon realized how ignorant we were regarding the northern hemisphere because on the train trip from Southampton to London, we became convinced that a blight/3 had ravaged the land for the entire two hour journey; having spent all our lives thus far living  in semi tropical conditions, we had no idea what effect that winter has on the landscape in the northern hemisphere. London/4's climate is maritime and coupled with the dampness, the city at 6c  was freezing and even colder in our hotel room until we started pumping coins into a gas meter to get some heat. But the coins soon ran out as did the heat and as it was already dark, we figured it was time for bed anyway and fully closed, we climbed under some sheets, cuddled up and tried to get warm; it was then that Wendy took note of her wrist watch glowing in the dark and realized it was only 4:00 PM in the afternoon…… Oh My God, we had so much to learn..........we hadn't even had dinner yet, nor did we bother. Frost/5 on our hotel room window next morning indited the lack of room heating.

"but we made a lot of new friends"

"we became convinced that a blight/3 had ravaged the land "

"London's climate is maritime "

"Frost/5 on our hotel room window next morning "

                                                   ROADRANGER (1)
With our pajamas under our jeans and two pairs of socks to keep warm, we roamed London and its suburbs/1 by Metro, bus and on foot looking for and eventually buying a new, quality, English made "Roadranger" motor-home/2 which soon proved to be a great asset to us (it was heated) as it provided free accommodation in the years to come which in itself was a saving of thousands of dollars. By playing hide and seek with the authorities/locals, we rarely used a campground and ​Cooking/3 our own meals with supplies bought from street markets/4, was a lifestyle that we were to follow throughout a 20 years around the world journey that began from London. 

"roamed London and its suburbs"

" English made "Roadranger" motor-home"

"and ​Cooking our own meals"

STREET MARKET

                                   LONDON, A LEASNING EXPERIENCE                            London is the third largest European city and we could not have asked for a better training ground that accommodated our independent lifestyle; with so much of  interest to see there(1-6),  Although we returned to London  several times over the years; our first visit was not so much a sight seeing one but much- more of an  information gathering one, arranging visas, attending embassies and consulates, visiting the automobile Association, following up on warranty service with our new vehicle interior, setting up mail forwarding, opening a bank account and following up on money transfers, purchasing camping equipment, modifying our vehicle to suit our needs; actually the tasks seemed never ending and very tiring. Our day started by moving into supermarkets car-parks at 8:am for breakfast(7), leave our home there all day,(8) perhaps returning for lunch; after dinner and a chat, we would make up the bed and move out just before 11:pm when they closed  the security gates and then relocate quietly into suburbia to sleep (9). We could write a novel filled with experiences that we encountered doing exactly that in many world cities.

"WITH SO MUCH OF INTEREST TO SEE THERE(1-6),"

QUEEN ELIZABETH

"MOVING INTO SUPERMARKETS CAR-PARKS AT 8:AM FOR BREAKFAST(7)"

"LEAVE OUR HOME THERE ALL DAY,(8)"

"AND THEN RELOCATE QUIETLY INTO SUBURBIA TO SLEEP (9)."

                                          ESCAPING LONDON PART ONE
Being in London in February-March meant that tourists were few so we had no lineups to deal with although waiting foe the Russian consulate to approve our itinerary in the Soviet block was frustratingly slow. But, the delays did provide the time to test the living capabilities of our new motor home in colder higher Derby-shire(1) and also take advantage of the relatively deserted trails of that area(2). In England,  hundreds of miles of tracks and trails crisscrossing the land over what we would consider in Australia to be private property but hikers have rite of passage anywhere in the countryside(3-5)  as long as they respect the property  owners's privacy and ensure that any gate they open is always closed again. England has it's fair share of hikers; however, such activity dwindles(6) to a dribble in winter which suited us fine so that on extended weekends, we could escape to the highlands for some serious unhindered hiking(7).

"BUT, THE DELAYS DID PROVIDE THE TIME TO TEST THE LIVING CAPABILITIES OF OUR NEW MOTOR HOME IN COLDWR, HIGHER GROUND CONDITIONS.(1)"

"AND ALSO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RELATIVELY DESERTED TRAILS.(2)"

"HIKERS HAVE RITE OF PASSAGE ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE(3-5) "

"AS LONG AS THEY RESPECT THE PROPERTY OWNERS'S PRIVACY

AND ENSURE THAT GATE ARE KEPT CLOSED"

"ENGLAND HAS IT'S FAIR SHARE OF HIKERS; HOWEVER, SUCH ACTIVITY DWINDLES TO A DRIBBLE(6)

"ON EXTENDED WEEKENDS, WE COULD ESCAPE TO THE HIGHLANDS FOR SOME SERIOUS UNHINDERED HIKING(6)."

                            ESCAPING LONDON TO THE COTSWOLDS
During our 20 years of motor home travel we returned to London several times on travel business and when in need of a break, we always escaped the bustle of the city to revisit the nearby  Cotswold Hills only two hours away from central London; the hills are full of tree shrouded roadways, cross country foot tracks, narrow access lanes, secluded walkways, and all leading to and passing through historic towns and rustic villages with picturesque home, pubs, restaurants and B&B's', for us the Cotswold are a classic example of the many facets of England's charm. Join me as we ramble through examples of this delightful area as I nave described above.

COTSWOLD HILL HIKERS ENTER THE FOREST

LOTS OF TREE SHROUDED ROADWAYS

HIKERS HAVE RIGHT OF PASSAGE ACROSS THE LAND

LOTS OF HIDDEN SHORTCUTS

SECLUDED WALKWAYS

RUSTIC VILLAGES WAITING TO BE EXPLORED

ALWAYS NEW SCENES ASKING TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED

THE COTSWOLDS ARE FAMED FOR THEIR QUAINT THATCHED ROOF HOMES

EVERY ONE IS A PICTURE IN ITSELF

SO MANY PEACEFUL SCENES LIKE THIS IN THE COTSWOLDS

CUTE LITTLE STORES ARE EVERYWHERE IN ENGLANDBUT WATCH YOUR HEAD IF YOU’RE TALL

PUBS, RESTAURANTS AND B&BS ARE POSTCARD WORTHY IN THEMSELVES

THE PIX COULD BE ANYWHERE IN ENGLAND REALLY BUT THIS OLD MAN AND HIS DUCKS HAD APPEAL

THE ENGLISH DINE OUT WHENEVER THEY CAN; IT RAINS A LOT IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD

IN THE SMALL TOWNS THERE IS OFTENYS A LOCAL STREET BUTCHER

                                 UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE
Generally speaking UK residents are receptive to visitors even moreso when they learn you originated from England, (the “home country”), we soon found that Great Britain’s are happy to have a chat, you may even get an invite(1) for a cup of tea (universal drink).  But, that sort of thing tends to wane when you crossed into Scotland, folks(2) there can be a somewhat dour lot at times; understandable I guess considering the inclement climate they have to put up with. But when it comes to chatting, the Irish lead the field, sometimes you can’t shut them up, especially after downing a few Guinness's in the local pud(3); pubs seem to be the main hub of Irish social life as it is in the UK generally.  Depending where you were in the Kingdom, we found the locals hard to understand at times(4) and Scotland is no exception; this couple(4) doing some volunteer church work, went on to explain the history of their church, we smiled and indicated we understood but in reality, understood very little but that’s part of the charm of exploring the UK, the variety of accents are endless. Another good example was this Yorkshire fellow(5) who seemed to have an abbreviation for just about everything; he talked in great length about his garden, puzzling Wendy no end. Star performers when it comes to understanding their form  of English would have to be the Welsh with their distinctive Celtic based language; in the pix(6), Blodeuwedd, a Carnarvon local, is amused as Wendy attempts to pronounce her name correctly. However, the Irish accents remains my favourite derivation of the English language; and just listening to Cara,an Irish colleen (8) was an almost musical at times.

WENDY TAKES OFF HER SHOES BEFORE GOING IN FOR A CUP OF TEA, ENGLAND’S ANSWER TO JUST ABOUT EVERY SITUATION.

NOT THE SAME KIND OF WELCOME WHEN YOU CROSSED INTO SCOTLAND, FOLKS THERE CAN BE A SOMEWHAT DOUR LOT AT TIMES/

THE SCOTTISH BROGUE IS TRICKY; THIS EDINBOROUGH COUPLE SPOKE OF THEIR CHURCH HISTORY, BUT ONLY 50% OF WHICH-WE UNDERSTOOD.

BUT THE IRISH LEAD THE FIELD WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIALISING, AFTER A GUINNESS OR TWO, YOU CAN’T SHUT THEM UP.

ENGLAND’S YORKSHIRE FOLK SEEM TO HAVE AN ABBREVIATION FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING; WENDY ENJOYED THIS SHEFFIELD MAN EXPLAINING HIS GARDENING PROWESS BUT SHE WAS PUZZLED ABOUT A LOT OF IT.

WHEN IT COMES TO BEWILDERMENT, THE WELSH “TAKE THE CAKE”; BLODEUWEDD, (pictured) WAS AMUSED AT WENDY’S ATTEMPTS TO PRONOUNCE HER CELTIC NAME CORRECTLY .

THE IRISH ACCENT IS OUR ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, JUST LISTENING TO CARA, (pictured) FROM COUNTY DONEGAL, WAS A MUSICAL EXPERIENCE IN ITSELF.

As much as we loved England with its never ending supply of historic cathedrals, castles, palaces and public gardens, the 56 million that live there can wear you down at times and in our case, especially when it came to parking our motor home by day or finding a place to sleep overnight. It wasn’t all that easy to find a place that someone was not going to complain about, often about petty stuff like even though we were legally parked in a suburban street, a homeowner (above) ventured down his driveway to inform us that we were blocking his city view; you can see by the pix that was rubbish as the house was on much higher ground than the street .... the English were like that, always wanting to cross swords. But to avoid such nonsense all we had to do cross the border into less populated Scotland, in contrast to England, was a country tailor-made to our style of freedom travel with deserted hiking trails, solitude and ideal campsites in abundance.

SCOTLAND

there were some big cities too, pictured here on their ugly side (1) but in reality, much of Scotland is primarily a land of low lying mountains, (2) unfettered snow-fed streams,(3 many lakes,(4)  and secluded valleys (5) that echo the calls of wild Red deer on the rut. (5)  

We crossed the border of England into Scotland many times and with both vehicles Road Ranger one and RR2. (above) We spent three years exploring the European continent and on occasion n crossed the channel into England to stock up on lots of cheap food of the non-perishable type like large cans of dried milk, bulk coffee and we loved their rice cream, jams and jellies. such items on the continent were expensive. In warmer months England was far too crowded for us with gobs of tourists and to retreat from the throngs we returned to Scotland until the first snowfall scattered across the Highlands and it was then time to retreat back to the continent for the next ski season.

"returned to Scotland until the first snowfall scattered across the Highlands"

​There was always lots to explore like some of the fishing villages on the eastern seaboard where we often camped on wharves and jetties so as to pick up something of the morning catch. Other times we stayed on at some of the county fairs where high-stepping bonny lassies were always a treat to watch. Scotland does have his share of villages worth exploring but rarely with the charm of those in England and even the castles were more drab than their English counterparts..

MOUNTAINS AND STREAMS

MANY LAKES

SECLUDED VALLEYS THAT ECHO THE WILD CALLS OF RED DEER

GRAZING RED DEER