Saturday 28^th July

Up the beautiful East Coast on Saturday morning.

But…not on 2XS, as we did in May last year.  This time Pete and I travelled in a big van fitted out with a big ramp and wheelchair facilities, with his mum securely fastened in the back.  I sat in the front next to the very capable driver/carer, Leanne, while Pete sat, a bit cramped, in the back, with his mum.  Who, amazingly, stayed wide awake until the very last few minutes when we arrived at White Sands Resort, north of Bicheno.  She was actually in fine form and only really blotted her copybook by deciding , quite firmly, that my name is Beryl.  It could hardly be worse…maybe Doris, or Beris…but some of Pete’s younger relatives – and I am looking right at you, Michael Agnew!  thought this was MUCH too funny and I very much fear that, to him and his family, I will forever more be…Beryl…

We are here for the annual Headlam family weekend.  42 humans, many of them under 10, all, more or less, related…all massed together in one very nice resort.  So far so good!  The young cousins all thrilled to see one another; the older ones equally so.

Pete and I started the day very early with…of course…the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games!  So amazing!!  We decided that if we hadn’t had Our Eddie telling us what was what, we would have been totally bewildered…but it was all a great and enthralling spectacle.  Is it now revealed that Our Queen Liz is really M?  How funny was Rowan Atkinson aka Mr Bean, playing with the London Symphony Orchestra?  WHY weren’t the Spice Grils represented?  Or maybe they were, after the parade…we and to leave at the letter M - by the way, how very many countries start with the letter M??? -  to go and meet Leanne and The Van…