Our accommodation in Plymouth was a fort! This was the fourth and final Landmark Trust property of the gap year. Crownhill Fort was built in 1860 as part of the land defences of Plymouth’s naval base, and used by the military until the 1980s. Now it is owned by the Landmark Trust and part of the officers’ accommodation is a holiday let, while other buildings are occupied by various businesses. We had fun exploring outside on our first evening, and were treated to watching an

Our five week trip to SW England and S Wales began with a long drive down to Salisbury. Despite a slow start due to lots of road works and volume of traffic, we made reasonable time overall. Once we had checked into the Premier Inn for our overnight stay, we set off to explore the city and find somewhere for a meal. Salisbury gets a big appreciation vote from us for having a dedicated blue badge car park in the centre, each space having its own ramp up to a wide pavement. Aft

We had booked to go to Keukenof on the last day of our Netherlands trip and it was amazing! We had the best weather of our week away, the tulips were stunning, everywhere (just about) was accessible, and we thoroughly enjoyed our day. The photos speak for themselves. We had arrived at 11am, stayed until 4.30pm and didn’t see everything. A lot of the tulip fields around Keukenof had already been harvested, but one remained in all its glory. As well as the incredible gardens, t

The Netherlands holds a flower parade each year which follows a 42km route from Noordwijk on the coast to Haarlem. We checked the route and decided to watch it in a small town south of Haarlem where it was due to arrive around 8pm. So we had a relaxed morning visiting charity shops in Alkmaar, where Summer picked up some bottom drawer bargains ready for going to uni. We also bought our train tickets for a day out in Amsterdam the following day and stopped off at a pizza resta

Our final foreign foray of the Wheely Amazing Gap Year was to The Netherlands. It was a shorter trip, being just over a week long, but we had lots to pack in. We took the Shuttle from Folkestone, as we had on our Europe adventure before Christmas. It is so convenient and much easier to have the car packed with everything we need. As before, we stayed in the Premier Inn near the terminal so we could catch an early train the next morning and get on our way. Our route took us ac

This was the last location of our Spain and Portugal trip. With six nights in the same place, we were able to slow down and relax a bit more. Our accommodation is described in another blog, ‘Basque Paskua’, along with Easter celebrations. Between attending local festivities, we explored some of the countryside, towns and villages in the area. The village of Meano, where we were staying, was small but had some interesting features and stunning views. Racheal particularly enjo

We arrived in the Basque region in time for Easter. We had booked a three storey house on the edge of a small village in the mountains. It was a beautiful place to stay, with a ground floor bedroom and wet room for Racheal, and a big family room. Upstairs were four more bedrooms each with en suite, and two with their own sitting rooms looking out over an amazing view. Having had a busy time in Seville and Ávila, Thursday was a fairly relaxed day just gathering information fro

The next stop on our Spanish adventure was the ancient, walled city of Ávila. Although our apartment was in no way historic, it was within the walls making the experience of staying here extra special. Our ground floor apartment was in a rabbit warren of small apartment blocks, down some steep ramps and quite a distance from the nearest point we could get the car. It took longer to unload. We don’t travel light! With the changing table balanced on the hoist, boxes stacked on

We were sad to leave Portugal, but very excited to see Seville. The drive south had less impressive scenery once we left the mountains and got onto the motorway which took us over the fairly flat plains. We made good time until we got to the outskirts of Seville which was congested, adding an extra half hour to our journey. When we finally got to our accommodation, the host was waiting for us, and the villa did not disappoint. Maybe it was a little smaller inside than we expe

Following our few days in Lalín, we travelled south into Portugal stopping at Lamego, for a picnic lunch and a short walk. We had a lovely day for driving and enjoyed more beautiful scenery along the way. Our destination was a small village, in the district of Castelo Branco, called Vale de Prazeres where we had booked a self catering property perched on the hillside. As soon as we arrived we knew we were going to love it. Peaceful, private and with a traditional feel, it had

The next leg of our journey took us to Lalín in Galicia. Another beautiful drive with incredible views which are impossible to capture on camera when driving on motorways. We stopped off half way in the town of Mondoñedo, where we enjoyed lunch in the sun at a cafe, before having a wander around the old town. This was our first encounter with the way markers for the many pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. From the car park we could see the motorway in the distance,

Having met Dad in Santander, we spent a couple of hours exploring the city. We wandered through the old town and by the port, enjoying being back on terra firma and getting some fresh air. It was interesting to see how large furniture is delivered to top floor flats in the city! After lunch in a café we got on our way to Ribadesella to find our first apartment of this trip. The journey along the motorway provided spectacular views of the mountains, sea and valleys. Our accomm

Our adventures in Spain and Portugal began with 33 hours at sea on board Brittany Ferries’ Santona. We drove to Portsmouth ferry port via friends who live on Hayling Island. Our ferry sailed at 10.45pm which was not the most convenient time, but having friends nearby helped. While visiting them for a few hours, we had time to catch up and enjoy a delicious meal, prepare Racheal’s medicines for the voyage and get her ready for bed, before heading off to check in. Once through

Since we got home from Malta, we have had a few days at home and then off to Yorkshire for a short trip. While we were at home, Racheal enjoyed meeting up with one of her friends from Rangers. Summer was caring for Racheal that afternoon and it was lovely to see the three of them spending time together. They went out for a walk in the rain to a café, spent some time at home showing off the scrapbooks that they’ve been working on and had fun making music together. Auntie Ann w

And finally, the last Malta blog! Kurt, our friendly wheelchair accessible taxi driver, picked us up from our little house to take us to the airport. We had been up at 6am, having done most of the packing the night before. Kurt was due at 8am, but there was a slight miscommunication so he was about 10 minutes late. It didn’t matter as the airport wasn’t far. We could have travelled by bus, but I thought it would be busy at that time and we had all our luggage too. So, with th

Malta carnivals are out of this world, and particularly in Valletta. Lasting for 5 days, incredible floats and people in costumes parade through the streets night and day. Sometimes there are marching bands, more often blaring, tinny music and the carnival song repeats over and over from speakers down the main thoroughfare. There are dancing competitions in St George’s square and float judging too. The first evening, the vehicle floats couldn’t be used because of strong winds

One of the things Racheal really enjoyed in Valletta was going out in the evenings. Walks, meals out and visits to bars with patio heaters! Other places we visited during the day included the secret garden at St Catherine’s monastery. Once an orphanage run by nuns; the nuns still live in the upper floors of the building surrounding the courtyard garden and a turtle lives in the fountain! There were six long steps to get in and some of the paths were too narrow for Racheal’s c

We spent a couple more days exploring outside Valletta, by bus. Due to the carnival, the bus terminal had been moved a little further from the city which was a bit more difficult, especially in the pouring rain. During this time we discovered the smaller bus providing a half hourly service around the centre, with a stop at the end of our road, was also wheelchair accessible. With the crowds attending the carnival celebrations, this was particularly useful. Off we went to Raba

On Malta, nowhere is very far away though the suburbs around Valletta stretch for miles and the amount of traffic makes bus journeys slow. That doesn’t matter to us as the bus ride is part of the fun and we don’t need to be anywhere at a particular time. The walk to the bus station, from our Valletta house, is 10-15 minutes and mostly uphill. Summer valiantly tackles pushing Racheal up the first section, which is very steep, each morning and then takes off at speed on the les

On Thursday, we spent a day visiting some of the sights in Valletta. Our first stop was St John’s Catholic Cathedral in the centre of the city. A ramp took us to the top of the steps, and to the front of the queue. Having had our bags and Racheal’s wheelchair searched, we were admitted to the ornate, gold covered interior and join the line of people slowly making their way around the various smaller chapels surrounding the nave. It was interesting to watch a lady restoring on