England

Cheddar Gorge, Wells, and Glastonbury, England

Adventure Overland Show

We went to the Adventure Overland Show and parked up with our friends from the Silk Route Network. The show had lots of interesting vehicles and some really good talks on overlanding trips.

Our friends from the Silk Route Network.

The Sprinter trying to blend in with the big Overland vehicles.

I think this was the biggest truck there. I really don't know why you would need it.

And I thought living in the Sprinter for 6 months was tight. This bug went from the UK to Singapore.

Evesham, England -

 Near Stratford-upon-Avon where the Adventure Overland show was held.

A church in Evesham

Church tower in Evesham

A very old interesting building in Evesham

Another interesting building in Evesham

 Cheddar Gorge - 

We hiked a loop route from the town of Cheddar, through the gorge, along the cliff top of the gorge, and back down into town. The gorge is England's deepest natural canyon. The views were great!

Looking into the gorge from the cliff top.

Cliff views of Cheddar Gorge

Gorge visitors center

Wells, England - 

We visited the cathedral and Bishop's Palace

Wells Cathedral

Hallway in the cathedral

Scissor Arches built in the 1300's to hold up the church tower.

The Wells Clock installed in 1390. Every 15 minutes jousting knights go around above the clock face.

The cathedral organ - someone was playing the organ while we were there.

Worn stairs to the Charter House built in the 1300's.

Ceiling in the Quire - the oldest part of the cathedral.

Playing croquet on the lawn of Bishop's Palace.

Part of the Great Wall in the palace gardens.

Part of the Great Wall in the gardens.

Glastonbury - 

The capital of alternative culture, a lot like Shasta City in Northern California.

Glastonbury Town Hall

Wall art in Glastonbury

View of the town from Glastonbury Tor.

Chapel of St Michael on Glastonbury Tor.

Wales

Cardiff, Botanical Garden and Transporter Bridge

While in Wales we visited several places we had wanted to see but were unable to on our past visit. With more time and our own vehicle we are able to see what we want.

Cardiff - the capital of Wales

The waterfront has an interesting mix of architecture. The town center a busy mix of pedestrian only shopping streets, museums, and parks.

Wales Millennium Centre on the waterfront. The centre is an arts complex.

Modern office building on the waterfront of Cardiff.

The Pierhead Building built in 1897.

Apartments on the waterfront.

Scooby-Doo  We found you!

A bear on Animal Wall along Cardiff Castle.

A lynx on Animal Wall.

Service entrance to Cardiff Market - a Victorian indoor market. 

Some clown standing on the street corner in central Cardiff.

National Bontanic Garden of Wales

Butterflies in the Tropical House

Redhot Poker plant

White Poppy

View of a planting along a garden wall.

Yellow Coneflower

The Great Glasshouse - it looks like a giant rain drop.

Inside the glasshouse. The glasshouse measures 110 meters long by 60 meters wide. It is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world.

Transporter Bridge in Newport

Transporter Bridge over the River Usk. One of only eight in use in the world. Our ticket allowed us to climb the stairs and cross the upper structure, then ride the transporter platform back.

The span between the two towers. The platform hangs from the span.

View of the River Usk and the platform that takes cars and people across the river.

Wales

Hiking in Wales

On a previous vacation we hiked parts of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. We wanted to return and hike some more. This time we did a day hike from Porthgain to Trefin and back. We also did an overnight from St. Davids to Solva. After spending the night in a B&B we rode the bus back to St. Davids. We spent the day wondering around St. Davids before driving south to Gower.  Our last hike in Wales was Rhossili Bay and Worms Head.

Porthgain to Trefin

Porthgain harbor at low tide.

Harbour Lights Gallery. All the building in Porthgain are like this, lots of plants and colorful.

White beacon on top of the cliff overlooking the harbor.

View of the cliffs. The whole day we had cliff views like this.

Stile through a stone fence.

Small stone circle along the trail.

The trail is neatly trimmed.

The bay just before Trefin. Trefin was our lunch destination and turn around point.

St. Davids to Solva

Coastline view on our hike from St Davids to Solva. The coast was rugged and the water beautiful shades of blue.

The trail - every where you turned the views were fabulous.

The trail follows the cliff tops for most of the distance we traveled.

The inland views were great too.

A colorful footpath sign.

Solva harbor at low tide.

The Harbor Inn. We had a cool drink at the end of the hike.

St. Davids is full of colorful restaurants and galleries.

St. Davids Cathedral.

Rhossili Bay and Worms Head

 Cliff view looking toward Rhossili Bay.

 Worms Head at low tide.

 Stone wall along the trail.

 View of the coastline.

 Rhossili Bay - the beach was huge.

 Rhossili Beach at low tide.

Sunset from our parking spot for the night at Rhossili Bay.