The New Car

I took delivery of the new car today and took a very nice drive from Ferntree Gully up through Emerald and Gembrook to Millgrove.

The car is a Holden Cruze Equipe, slightly more than a year old.  However I did have a misunderstanding with the salesman.  I thought I was getting a Diesel vehicle, but I ended up with a petrol one.  C'est La Vie!  It is a very nice car.

The last few days of my visit to Europe

 Visiting Coleton Fishacre Gardens.  Coleton Fishacre is situated on the South Devon Coast between Dartmouth and Torbay

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleton_Fishacre

 Visiting Dartmouth Castle

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_Castle

 Celebrating 400 years of trade between Plymouth and Japan during the Barbican Seafood festival late in September

 Japanese style drummers

 On the last day on our way to Gatwick Airport we stopped at Stourhead Gardens for lunch.

 The house

 In the gardens

 My mother and my friend Eve strolling through the gardens.

A Trip to Wales

Early in September I took a trip to Wales

 On the way we stopped at Newark Park Near Gloucester

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark_Park

 We also visited Clun Castle in Shropshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clun_Castle

 We stayed at the Premier Inn in Caernarfon

We admired the sunset over the Menaii Straits from the restaurant

Caernarfon Castle

e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caernarfon_Castle

We took a trip on the Welsh Highland Railway from Caernarfon to Porthmadog over through Snowdonia

http://www.festrail.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Highland_Railway 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulE965xEcnU

 Harlech Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlech_Castle

 Cymer Abbey near Dolgellau

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymer_Abbey
http://www.castlewales.com/cymer.html

 Reconstructed Iron Age Roundhouses built on the foundations of Roundhouses excavated at an Iron Age at Castell Henllys Hill fort near Fishguard

Inside three of the huts

It should be remembered that that these are reconstructed with only the available archaeological evidence uncovered during excavations

 http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Castell-Henllys-Iron-Age-Fort/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha94dOAZbyY

Fishguard a Ferry port linking Southern Wales to Ireland

St David's Cathedral - reputedly founded by St David, patron saint of Wales

 The cloister
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_David%27s_Cathedral

 The medieval Bishops palace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Davids_Bishops_Palace

 Two views of St Brides Bay from Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembrokeshire_Coast_National_Park

Pembroke Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembroke_Castle

Carew Castle near Pembroke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carew_Castle

The view near Crickhowell on the edges of the Brecon Beacons National Park

 Raglan Castle the Tudor Palace in Monmouth shire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raglan_Castle

Tintern Abbey on the banks of the River Wye between Monmouth and Chepstow, a powerful and influential abbey in the middle ages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintern_Abbey

Chepstow Castle situated on the River Wye near it's mouth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chepstow_Castle