Family day out to Glasgow

 Over the hill from Crawfordjohn to Glespin

Then along the A70 to join the M74 towards Glasgow until we headed for the railway terminus at East Kilbride

The older towns have their older Gaelic names on the signs, others are only in English

A picnic lunch by the Clyde, then to the canyons of Glasgow (Glaschu) ...and murals...

Oor Billy...

A mosaic of photos..a portrait of Mr Mackintosh.... unfortunately The Lighthouse gallery was closed..

Which primed us nicely for the Banksy exhibition...and all equipment capable of photography was locked in bags for you to carry, or like my tablet, the lenses taped over.....

What I missed on the horse was a new Banksy.....a traffic clamp on its rear leg!!

The shop over the road taking inspiration....

The exhibition kept my grandsons...age 13 and on the Autistic Spectrum... interested and attentive...for an hour and a half...that says a huge amount.

Then back to Glasgow Central, a great building...

And then returning to the car and on to deliver me home and have supper together..a great way to celebrate Daughter's birthday!

Heading slightly North

 We came up the Parapara road, re-opened again after last week's heavy rain...the latest washout has increased rather scarily, but the huge reconstruction site is steadily coming along.

The day started cloudy but gradually warmed up to hot by Raetihi at the top of the climb, nearly 90 km from Whanganui. Then across to National Park Station cafe for a quick lunch.

We didn't see the passenger excursion train..that comes in at 1.15pm..but after all the times of seeing the signs "Watch for Trains"...Pirate had gone to the toilet as the first goods/freight train passed going south!! He did see the other going north though, with much graffiti art on its curtain sides..some of it very good indeed. (Sorry no pictures)

Across the rolling countryside to Te Awamutu...and 300km done..a takeaway supper before arriving at our friend's house.  

And a restful night once we had unwound from the drive...

The weather forecast is worrying...Cyclone Gabrielle is on her way.... Auckland is forecast another 3 to 6 inches of rain, as if they needed any more...and here we are forecast strong winds from 10am Monday to 12 noon Tuesday.

So we should be safe to return to base once that has passed, all being well.

Blenheim and onwards

 We stayed in Blenheim bridges ex top 10 campsite for three nights...a good rest!

And....in the same cabin!!!!

We managed to have a wander this time and realised that the property is far larger than we had ever realised, with the riverbank and two terraces for tents, camper vans and camper buses.

The bridge that was proposed three years ago has now been completed, so you have the rail bridge, the old road bridge now for walkers and cyclists, and the new road bridge.

Again, subtle and beautiful patterning on the concrete of the new bridge.

We caught up with old friends and had a little wander around the town. But mostly resting as the thermometer registered 30⁰!

And we saw trains!!!!

Today we are on the Interislander ferry...the Bluebridge is preferable, much better coffee

and friendlier....but we couldn't turn down 15% discount due to our top 10 membership!!

A misty but calm crossing so far, just a metre swell..and we should land in an hour's time.