Our trip to the UK was finally happening !! After at least 10 years in the making,
we were actually going overseas on our first real holiday together
in 26 years of marriage.
It was to be a very special trip indeed. Chris had not seen his parents
or younger brother for 28 years and I had 
never met my in-laws at all, so to say we were excited
was an understatement.

Due to work commitments, our time away was limited – only two & a half weeks,
but what a fortnight it was ! It just so happened that our trip
coincided with the world’s largest dog show – Crufts.
So of course, it was a done deal that we would attend.
Weimaraners were being shown on the first day –
Thursday, 8th March – Gundog Day.


Unfortunately, my video recorder wasn't working terribly well on the day we
visited Crufts, so I was unable to get any really good photos, 
but my trusty Pentax worked beautifully
for the rest of the trip and I managed to take over
1,000 photos in a fortnight !!




We managed to pack so much into such a short time !!
I had never been overseas in my life (Tassie doesn't count)
and the longest plane trip I have ever been on was only
for 2 hours, so the long 23 hour haul to the other side of the world
was an experience I will never forget.  We stopped over in Singapore and
Dubai on the way.  Dubai airport was very impressive with beautiful, big
palm trees upon entry to the main floor of the airport.  Huge chandeliers
on the ceiling and a most stunning Arabian horse mural on one wall.
The duty free shopping was amazing !!


Both of us didn't sleep a wink the whole trip, we were just so excited about
seeing everyone.  Once we arrived in chilly London and after collecting our
rental car, we made our way on the 2 hour trip to Dursley, Gloucestershire -
'Cotswold Country'.  I was amazed at how green everything was !
We had just left a drought ravaged Australia where everything was as brown
for as far as the eye could see.

We finally arrived at Dursley and had the much awaited family
reunion. There were lots of tears and hugs and we spent the most
wonderful 2 weeks with Chris's parents. Every day was filled with day trips
to places like Bath, Cirencester, Bourton-On-The-Water, London and of course,
to the NEC at Birmingham to see Crufts.




The time went by much too fast and before we knew it, we were saying
our goodbyes and heading back to Oz.  We had a stopover for a few hours
again in Dubai and a 2 day stopover in Singapore.  Both of us had managed
to get colds while we were away, so we weren't feeling very much like
doing the touristy thing in Singapore, as the humidity was stifling, but we
did manage to go on a 4 hour tour of the city, which proved to be very interesting.

We arrived back in Melbourne at 2.30 am and stayed at a motel closeby
to catch a few hours sleep before collecting our car and heading home a
little later in the morning.  Well, what a welcoming home reception we had !!!
Three very excited Weimaraners who nearly turned themselves inside out
when they realised that 'Mum & Dad' hadn't deserted them after all


Our deepest thanks goes to our friends Gail & Nikki Smith who
cared so wonderfully for our dogs whilst we were away.
Nikki has been booked again for our next holiday in August 2009.
(This time she also has Bree - aka Miss Feral to care for) - Good luck Nikki !!!




Below are some pictures of our holiday:


Bourton-On-The-Water is a beautiful, little town with a stream
running right through the middle of it. 
It has many small art galleries and interesting curio shops which attract
many visitors on the weekend during the Summer months.