Oxford
Tuesday, 9 July

It never occurred to us that this would ever happen to us in England, but yesterday when we were traveling on a freeway and we decided to stop for coffee, we  actually looked for a shady (!) spot to park.  In fact it has been quite warm to hot for the last few days.  All the English people we've come across have been so happy, and quite a few have been quite sunburned!  We've been told that if the weather turned back to wintry now, it would already be the best summer here for several years.

And to capitalise on this glorious weather, we've been to some fabulous spots.  Our caravan park at Curnon Downs was between Falmouth and Truro, and right beside a bus stop.  So on Friday we caught the bus into Falmouth, as planned, and then we did the same with Truro on Saturday.  This was a much better strategy than trying to drive in and park.

We used a variation on that same idea yesterday and today (Tuesday) by using the park-and-ride services at Bath and Oxford. 

Between those Cornish towns and here, we visited St Mawes (just opposite Falmouth) and Charlestown, near St Austell.  We also drove across Bodmin Moor and camped one night beside Dartmoor (the evening that Andy Murray won the men's singles at Wimbledon. 

We had been to Charlestown in 2000 and loved it so much we were keen to revisit.  Here's one of the square-riggers in the harbour.

This morning we were going to visit what we thought was a quiet English village, Avebury, where Judy's sister and brother-in-law once lived for a short time.  However it is no quiet village any more!  The whole town is now a hive of tourist activity, and not just because Marion and Doug were there.  There is a circle of standing stones and henge, which partly encircles the village.  The whole village is now part of the English National Trust (free to us with our Australian National Trust membership) and on a beautiful sunny summer's day, it was thronged with visitors.  But very well managed and accessible.

Best wishes to all.

Judy and Rob