Final hurrah...or maybe not?!

Don't want to think that this might be the last post (toot toot), so I guess we will have to keep going! So, where are we now?
Well...after St Valery we decided the need to get back to blighty was fairly important. Lots of things to sort (schools for the boys being the most essential-that's going to be a shock to the system!) So, we had an overnighter at Calais (just south actually) and took the tunnel back home.
The tunnel was brilliant by the way. I really wan't looking forward to it, not natural being under all that water! However, we were sniffed for explosives by a frenchman (using an electronic sniffer, not his nose), passport checked, asked if we had gas (comedy moment would have been nice, but didn't want to risk being jumped by armed guards) and queued for about 10 minutes, then drove onto the train 5 minutes before departure. The carriages are really big, although they don't feel too wide with the walkways up the sides. I think I had about 4" to spare between the wheels and the sides!
Then we were away. It takes about 25 minutes to cross, apparently doing 140km/h. At the other end we drove straight out without any checks and into blighty. How depressing!
Decided to avoid London and head for home straight away. The first night was spent in Peterborough. It doesn't sound very promising, but I rather liked it. The sun shining really helped. Got shouted at by irate englishman for going the wrong way up a one way system (on a campsite I hasten to add), then advised by his wife to ignore him...which I managed beautifully.

Off again, closer to Scotland with every mile...this time to Powburn in Northumberland. We kept driving past Alnwick castle on all our visits down south looking for motorhomes, so this time we promised to visit. The camp was idyllic. Really busy with it being thew last weekend of the school holidays, but the number of birds singing and the peace and quiet (once the kids had gone to bed) was lovely. Visited the castle the next morning. Lovely gardens with impressive cascade down the hillside. Looks a bit like a scorpion...only wetter. The weather was fabulous, although the hard winter you lot had meant that many of the plants were not out. Had a few funny moments with kids playing in the water spouts and fountains, which were freezing. They breed them hard up here if that was bathtime!

After all that fun we went to Dunfermline and caught up with the folks. Had a very pleasant couple of days eating, chatting, boring people with photos! Then back to Aberdeen to tackle the monstrous pile of mail and final demands! One bonus is that the flat now seems really big. And, I can pour cooking water down the sink, rinse lettuce with lots of water without worrying about tanks, spillage and waste. Simple things! Did I mention the bath? I did threaten to be in there for a couple of hours, but I didn't want to soak my tan off, as there aren't the sunbathing opportunities here at the moment...because it's bloody snowing! Welcome home...