Mrs Modra's on the Move ....

 This area was and still is a war zone. Only since the 1990's has free speech been allowed in most of the area we visited ( former  East Germany and Poland )with Belarus still clearly under the heavy cloud of dictatorship.  The mixed group of us on the bus were so moved by meeting people affected that we all celebrated our freedom by all turning up at the Australian embassy in Berlin to vote on Monday , Hooray ! Did we all vote the same way ? Unlikely! Major splits in everything from the State of our ABC , the reasons why the turbines weren't turning and what the heck they were doing reviving fossil fuel burning set us to focus on other more consensus things in the very first days of the trip.  And we had a great time sorting the good from the bad in our inheritance from the old country. Its meeting real people, not the politics, that made our time so worthwhile and me so grateful my various 5 branches left for Australia when they did; mostly 150 years ago  ...

 

4 weeks in:   What's made an impact/what have I noticed???? Well, things haven't worked out like I thought.  Yes, at the end of the day, the last thing I've felt like doing is making notes on a laptop.   We're in Tollerton, on the outskirts of York atm, having encountered the various motorways from .......... in NW Wales.  Much smaller cars than in Oz - very few SUVs on the roads - let's face it, on the roads we've been travelling on in SW England and Wales they wouldn't fit!! The roads have been incredibly skinny, single laned - I mean bound by hedgerows or in NW Wales tall stone walls no run off, the occasional passing extra yard (not a whole land) Extremely patient and polite drivers, especially when confronted by a vehicle head to head in one of the tiny lanes we've travelled - we've got used to backing up In the towns, parking is often on the one side of the street but you don't have to trun around to all park the same way.  When you drive a...

 

 This is John just making space for Chris to tell  you  about South West . When she gets around to it !  Question from her to me --- because we often fight you see .  Which is harder ?   The job of navigator or the job of driving?    And don't forget to mention in your answer . learning to use the new NAVSAT  and the cars automatic climate control for both sides, including the window , face and feet blasting, heat seating and the hot steering wheel. 

Just  for the moment, .we are both finding it hard to keep you posted as we are so busy and moving around , so  if you really want to follow us , look up our Facebook Pages . Here's me though enjoying the very fast free clean air off the Atlantic Ocean on the Isle of Wight, with Coral and John.