Apr 18th- 20th Leaving Andorra behind, we had a 5 hour journey in front of us to Bordeaux. It actually didn't seem such a long journey though, maybe cause we knew it was the penultimate drive. We had booked to stay at F1 hotel, it wasn't great, £20 it was cheap but it looked ideal for truck drivers, the bedsheets had a thick cover which I imagined hadn't been washed. We got up and out as quickly as possible, not showering in the communal showers. We embarked on our last long

April 17th and 18th Up early and out of Valencia for our shortest drive of the trip to Barcelona at 353 km (3 and half hours). We had planned on going to Saragoza which would have been an extra 2 hours and as stunning as it looked on google images we were starting to wane and a shorter day sounded very appealing. We did get stuck in some traffic for an hour but with the windows open and the sun pouring in it wasn't too bad. Arriving in the Catalunya (Catalonia) region we quic

It was Easter Sunday, we had exchanged our cards and gifts yesterday and in the morning it was time to wave my family off to the airport, we then made our way to Granada through the stunning scenery of the Seirra Nevada. We were under pressure as it was a long day of driving but we couldn't help absorbing the beautiful landscape. It was just over an hour and half to Granada from the Costa Del Sol, upon arriving we drove through the busy streets before finding secure parking w

During this whole Brexit saga, we decided to visit Gibraltar, which although geographically borders Spain, is in fact a British Overseas Territory. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in two referendums. Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the respo

April 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th The time had finally came, we were making progress down to the Costa Del Sol, we just had to find our Airbnb first, but the address was hard to find, we ended up asking some locals for help, who then even called the owner to help us. Once inside the apartment we were so chuffed, it was absolutely massive, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, laundry room, balcony which stretched the length of the apartment, with mountain views and a pool. We quickly hot foote

A quick stop in Seville to see the famous Alcazar and Bull ring, a drive from Madrid to Costa Del Sol

April 12th and 13th. Leaving Bilbao we headed to Segovia, which was a small detour on our way to Madrid, the drive to Segovia was over 3 and half hours. We had read there was a Roman Aqueduct there, but didn't know much else, but when we arrived we were enchanted by its beauty. In 1985 the old city of Segovia and its Aqueduct were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The old city contains a multitude of historic buildings both civil and religious, including a large number

April 11th and 12th. A quick pit stop to the supermarche to pick up some jambon and stacks of water for the trip. This was to be the first of many long drives, leaving St Malo and driving to San Sebastián in Spain, with a detour to Plya Sur Mer near Bordeaux where we went to see the famous sand dunes which we weren't too over awed about though, happy we went, but wouldn't recommend the detour. hen we continued our 860km drive. Already experiencing our first issue with the Min

Day 13 Only a 25km drive out of Salzburg and on the German- Austrian border, we went to visit Berchtagaden and Lake Königssee. On the way it started to rain and then snow, there was also low lying mist and fog clinging to the Alps. So we relaxed for a bit, taking cover in McDonalds until the skies cleared. We had planned to visit The Eagles Nest, which was Hitler's lair. Unfortunately when we arrived, we realised we hadn't planned very well, as the road to The Eagles Nest is

Day 12 and 13 We left Hungary in the morning and drove a nice short 2 and half hour drive to Vienna. Upon entering Austria by vehicle you must purchase a vignette, we bought ours at the border. It cost us €9.80 and lasted 10 days. We had only a few hours reserved for Vienna so we conducted a whistle stop tour, visiting the Opera House, St Stephans Dom, Christmas Markets, before admiring the busy shopping streets lined with designer shops set in stunning baroc buildings. A mu

Days 9, 10, 11 We set off from Krakow early morning as we had a long drive ahead of us to Hungary via Slovakia, around 395km away. The maps looked liked it would be mountainous roads but they were actually much better, duel carriage ways most of the way, with rolling hills and passing lovely quaint villages and little towns along the way. In Slovakia we could see an impressive castle coming into view, it was perched high on a rock face. We parked up next to it and sent the dr

Day 7, 8 The drive to Krakow from Berlin would be our longest drive at 600km and over 6 hours. Just after setting off there were road works and we got stuck bumper to tail for just short of 1 hour. The rest of the drive through Germany was fine. The fog that had been lingeringly all through Germany, lifted as we got to the Polish border, but the roads became real bad, bumpy as anything, and it lasted for ages too. It was a long day and after a bit of trouble finding the AirBn

Days 4, 5, 6 We left Prague for Berlin with a detour on the way to Dresden. We started on the motorway but as we entered Germany it turned to B roads for a while. The fog was following us and the roads were curving and we witnessed a few overturned cars in roadside ditches. Not the best feeling I must say. The fog cleared as we neared Dresden and from the U-bahn we could see the city below. Dresden had been heavily bombed by allied forces during the second world war, but look

Day 2 Woke, showered and left the Ibis by 7am. First stop- a bakery for frühstück (breakfast), then it was my turn to drive. I've driven my right hand drive in Europe before but never driven a left hand drive. I was nervous before hand and for a little to start with, but then I got into the swing of things and drove 187km to Nürnberg (Nuremberg). This was a late addition to our plans as Shan looked it up last minute, and it wasn't much of a detour from our destination of Prag

Day 2 and 3 As we departed Germany it slowly became apparent that our Satnav didn't have Czech road maps (nor would they have them for Poland and Hungary). Thankfully Shannon used his google maps on his phone as well as map.me so we were okay. It was my turn to drive as we were entering Prague and it was a little stressful trying to find the right way. We did manage to find our AirBnB which was above our expectations, it was £108 for 2 nights, it was a studio with the bedroom

Day 1 Unsure of where to go on our leave from work we decided upon a road trip around Europe, stopping in Germany, Poland, Hungary and Austria. Here is our day to day taster and diary of those places... Having flown in to Southampton from Guernsey the day before, where we went shopping and ate food at West Quay shopping centre, and stayed the night at the Premier Inn at the airport for £45, we had a leisurely morning of eating hotel breakfast and wandering across the road to

Nov 28th - Dec 4th Back in Kuta, with the scooters safely dropped off we spent the rest of our trip relaxing and being relaxed with various massages, as said previously, it can be as little as £4 for an hour, not all massages are relaxing though, some make you feel like your being pulled in a way you didn't think your body could move, but it's an enjoyable experience none the less. We spent time lazing at the hotel pool or catching a wave at the beach. Or browsing the shops a

Nov 27th - 28th We drafted up our plans to continue on our bike trip, then we jumped back on the scooters and braced ourselves for more sore bums, heading west first to Tanah Lot then to Seminyak which wasn't far away but Bali roads are congested with traffic and junctions aren't operated correctly, so you need to be careful and therefore drive below the speed limit, it wouldn't feel safe driving at the speed limit. We left the serenity of Ubud and its slow paced traffic and

Nov 23rd -27th We embarked on a 4 hour journey to Ubud, the breeze as we rode was lovely but it was still hot and humid, and every bump in the road was felt. We checked into our pre-booked expedia hotel 'Kampung Ubud Hotel and Spa' at £20pn and we booked 2 nights. Kampung Ubud Hotel and Spa, I even treated myself to a hair treatment at the spa as my hair is rather damaged and brittle at the moment, I don't know if the treatment will do much but it felt lovely to be pampered

Nov 12th- 15th Our flight on Virgin Australia from Brisbane to Perth took 5 and half hours with a 2 hour time difference, we took off in the evening so we had time to doze and we passed our time by following a massive thunder storm out the window, the lightening was immense and the colours mesmerising. We chose to visit Perth for two reasons, we had never been before and also our friends from home, Shaun and Jodie are currently living there on their years Working Holiday Vis

Nov 4th- 12th We turned up at Christchurch airport for our flight to Bali, only to learn that over night a volcano in near-by island Lombok had erupted, the ash cloud was affecting all flights in and out of Bali for the foreseeable future. Check-in weren't too helpful, but that was only cause they didn't really know what had happened. We had to think quick, we could end up staying in New Zealand for a while, which would be fine- except our one year working holiday visa ran ou

Oct 6th- 9th Located on the South Islands West coast, 2 hours from Westport and 4 hours from Wanaka, lies the township and Glacier of the same name - Franz Josef. Franz Josef Glacier was first explored in 1865 by geologist Julius von Haast, who named it in honour of the Austrian emperor. The glacier is five kilometres from the town and you can walk to the base of the glacier in around 40-60 minutes. Or take a tour like we did, many companies offer a similar range of options.

Oct 5th - 6th Leaving Kaiteriteri we drove inland to the pristine Nelson Lakes National Park which surrounds two lakes. It took us almost 2 hours to reach the stunning Lake Rotoiti. The views were amazing, we didn't fancying for a swim though as there were swarms of eels around. Then we drove to the near by Lake Rotoroa which was also stunning. From the lakes we drove 2 hours 30 to Cape Foulwind. Not named after what you are thinking, but when Captain Cook sailed to these pa

Sept 30th- Oct 5th Leaving Kaikoura we headed back up the coast to Blenheim and to the Marlborough wine region, where we visited a few wineries and their cellar doors. First stop was Yealands. I have purchased this wine in Countdown and New World before and love it. We sampled a few of their best wines before taking a drive around the vineyard and the estate, we even spotted the North Island keeping to its name of 'the land of the long white cloud' as it was shrouded in cloud