Two more walks today. This time in the Peak District. The Roaches and then The Nine Ladies. Looks like the weather will be closing in the next couple of days so we'll hibernate and watch a bit of telly.

We left New Mills on Sunday to spend a couple of weeks visiting some of the towns and countryside to the south before flying out.

We've moved our flights forward a bit and will be leaving the UK on the 24th November which will give us two months in NZ before returning on the 17th January.

So far we've visited Sue and Nick in Collingham, walked up a hill in the Cotswolds from Broadway, walked the Clifton suspension bridge and surrounding river and cliffs in Bristol (the photo above is from Bristol). Today we did a walking tour of Bath.

Does anyone remember Sally Lunns? We had them at school. This is where they originated albeit without the sickly pink icing we smear them with in NZ. These ones are just a giant, plain, soft, sweet bun.

We spent three nights in Abbey Wood in East London and did a couple of London-based walks: around Richmond Park followed with a lunch in Richmond with friends and yesterday along Regent's Canal with Graham and Kerry (Sally's cousins).

Today we drove down into Surrey and did the Devil's Punch Bowl. Tonight we're parked up near a cricket ground.

Spent the night last night in a church car park near Cambridge. Awoke to a flat tyre. Looks like we've driven over a nail at some stage.

Glad that it wasn't raining, it wasn't on the Auckland harbour bridge, we weren't flying out from Heathrow that morning, it wasn't on a hill, etc, etc. Quite possibly the best flattie we could have had.

Also glad we paid extra for the full-sized lowering spare under the back. Wasn't difficult to change.

Now to find a place that'll fix it.

It's lovely being back in NZ.

Bridget and Ken kindly put us up for a couple of nights when we first arrived and we managed to overcome our jetlag faster than last year's visit.

From there up to Warkworth for a couple of nights for a joint 80th celebration for Peter and Anne.

Back to Auckland for the weekend with the Childs family and a day trip out to Shakespear park at the end of the Whangaparaoa peninsula.

We've been in an AirBnb in Birkenhead since then and catching up with various friends.

Yesterday Tom and I took his kayaks out for a 10km paddle around the usually-inaccessable cliffs and bays of the North Shore. It's nice to have pristine areas so close to the largest city.

Ice creams again with Marika, Martijn and Sasha but this time in Takapuna rather than in The Netherlands as we were four months ago.

So. It looks like Sally's prospective contract in UK/Sweden hasn't come through and we've decided we might as well spend the next nine months or so traveling around more of Europe before returning to NZ properly.

We're thinking of heading across the channel early February, through France and into Italy and then Greece. Then around May heading into the Balkans for a further three months followed by three months back towards UK via Austria, Czech Republic, etc.

More planning is required but this seems the best time to do it.

We'd possibly look at leaving the van in the UK for the next few years as a NZ-winter-holiday getaway before possibly shipping it back to NZ. Lots of 'possiblys' there so let's see what happens.

Back on the road; walking boots on!

We arrived back in London on Saturday, stayed at a hotel near the airport and headed out to Simon and Sally's (different Sally) out near Grantham where we'd left the van. Stayed the night with them and struggled to stay up past 8pm.

Then yesterday we drove out east to Sandringham (yes, where the queen lives) and we've parked up at a caravan site for a few days so we can explore the area while we figure out what we're doing with insurance and whatnot.

Today's 12km walk was along the spit near Cley-next-the-Sea (I love English town names) and Sally got the opportunity to try out her new walking poles.

A little grey seal pup. Hiding.

Today's walk was from Wells-next-the-Sea out to the beach huts and back via a wetlands nature reserve. 14km.

Finally here is my 1 second per day video from last year

Over the last week we've been pottering around the Midlands sorting insurance, visiting relatives, walking, and getting ready to hit Europe.

We walked around Sandringham but were unable to get into the grounds. After that we went west to walk Bradgate Park and on up to Beacon Hill staying overnight in the car park of a nearby pub. Then up to Sue and Nick's in Collingham, down to Graham and Kerry's in Codicote and last night at a campground near Colne Valley regional park on the western outskirts of London.

Today we head to Auntie Rosemary's and over the next few days will be travelling south to Kent where we hope to do three more walks before taking a ferry from Dover to Calais on Monday.

Above is from our walk around Bradgate Park just north of Leicester. When Lady Jane Grey was executed by Mary I back in 1553 the groundskeepers pollarded (new word to us) the oaks on her estate. Here's one of them; it's a shell of a tree but there's still growth.

Last night we stayed in the station car park in Rye and today we walked around Rye harbour and the beach. The weather is overcast and windy but it was nice to get out and blow the cobwebs away. We'll go out for dinner here tonight and stay again in the car park before heading to Margate in the morning.

King Henry VIII's defensive Camber Castle. The mortar has outlasted the stones.

She just wanted to have a snuff of my hand and then lick a rock. Lovely animals. No beef for me tonight.

A stroll from Margate to Broadstairs and back yesterday followed by dinner and a stay over with Pam and Roger.