Whānau
Whakapapa Journey

• Ann, Keri & David fly AKL → IVC (NZ696, 12:25pm) — stay Novotel Auckland Airport
• Kay arrives from Whangārei 1:05pm
• 8:15 pm — NZ6, Auckland → Los Angeles → London (Business Class)
• Arrive London Sunday 31 May, 10:05 am BST (booking ref S5IVQH)

• Group 1 (Ann, Kay, Keri, David) arrives Sunday morning
• Sunday = Nanny Keri's Birthday! 🎂
• Buy Oyster card or use contactless bank cards for all London transport
• Exchange rate: NZ$1 ≈ £0.46 · so £100 ≈ NZ$215

• Tomorrow: London HOHO Tour — 10:00 am start
• Wednesday evening: Mamma Mia! (7 people — Ann, Kay, Keri, Te Haakura, Kairangi, Maioha, Māhina)

• Golden hour on the Southbank — walk the Thames path from Tower Bridge to Waterloo Bridge around sunset. St Paul's reflection in the water is iconic.
• Tower Bridge from below — best angle is from directly underneath, looking up at the towers
• Notting Hill coloured houses — Lancaster Road and surrounding streets. Best in morning light before cars park.
• Covent Garden cobblestones — wide angle from the market piazza balcony looking down
• Hyde Park deer — there are red and fallow deer in Richmond Park (30 min on the tube) — stunning wildlife photography within London

• Eiffel Tower sparkle — every night at the top of each hour from dusk, the Tower sparkles with 20,000 LED lights for 5 minutes. If you're still in Paris at dusk, find a spot on the Trocadéro or Champ de Mars to see it.
• Pont de Bir-Hakeim — the two-level bridge near the Eiffel Tower with iron arches. Used in Inception. Beautiful framing for tower shots.
• Narrow streets of Le Marais — medieval Paris, if you hop off near the Hôtel de Ville. Very different feel from the grand boulevards.
• Local tip — Vélib' bikes — Paris has a city bike share scheme. If the group wants to explore independently for an hour, they're easy to use with a card.
• Local tip — water fountains — Paris has free drinking water fountains everywhere (Wallace fountains, green cast iron). Stay hydrated without buying plastic bottles.

• Passports required — French border control at St Pancras
• Currency: Euros in France (different from UK pounds!)
• Paris time is 1 hour ahead of London all day

• Woodham Walter Church (CM9 6RX) — St Michael the Archangel, built 1563. Flint exterior is beautiful and very "Essex village". Churchyard yew trees are ancient.
• Maldon waterfront — the Thames Estuary barges (Thames sailing barges with red sails) are sometimes moored here. Very distinctive and photogenic.
• Maldon Mud Race — not happening in June but the estuary mudflats are worth photographing at low tide
• Essex countryside — the road between Purleigh and Maldon passes through rolling farmland that looks almost unchanged from the 1800s when the Webbs farmed here
• Local tip: Maldon Sea Salt is still made here — you can buy it locally. A nice souvenir that connects to the ancestors' landscape.

• Woburn Abbey & Safari Park — the grounds of the Duke of Bedford's estate are extraordinary. The safari park (separate entry) has free-roaming animals including zebra and giraffe — unusual in England!
• Dunstable Downs — chalk grassland above the town with sweeping views. Famous for gliding and hang-gliding. Great for wide landscape shots.
• Ivinghoe Beacon — top of the Chilterns, start of the Ridgeway. Panoramic views across several counties. 30 min from Woburn.
• Houghton Regis Plait Sculptures — life-size bronze figures of women making straw plait. A direct visual connection to Sarah Ward's childhood.
• Local tip: Woburn village is one of the most photographed villages in England — Georgian architecture, independent shops, completely intact. Allow time to wander.

• FREE Hot Breakfast tomorrow morning — Holiday Inn Express MK
• Check-out 9:00 am Saturday

• Stratford-upon-Avon — Shakespeare's Birthplace on Henley St is a classic half-timbered Tudor building. The River Avon with swans and weeping willows is beautiful. RSC theatre on the riverbank.
• Cotswolds villages en route — if you pass through the Cotswolds (easy detour), villages like Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford, or Chipping Campden are impossibly picturesque — honey-coloured stone houses, flower gardens.
• Gloucester Cathedral (near Rainbow Street) — used as Hogwarts in early Harry Potter films. Free to enter. Magnificent Norman cloister.
• Thornbury Castle — just outside Thornbury town, a genuine Tudor castle (now a hotel) built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1511. Worth a drive-past photo.
• Severn Estuary views — driving into Bristol you cross the Severn Bridge area. Pull over for the view — second-highest tidal range in the world.
• Highland cattle — you won't see them this far south but start watching for them from Scotland Day 9 onwards. They're all over Galloway and the Highlands — shaggy, ginger, with enormous horns. Very photogenic!

• Highland cattle (Heilan Coos) 🐄 — the iconic shaggy ginger cattle with huge horns. Often in fields along the A75. Pull over if you see them — one of Scotland's most photographed animals.
• Galloway black cattle — a different native breed, solid black and stocky. Common in this region specifically.
• Red kites in the sky — watch for large raptors with forked tails soaring overhead on the approach to Laurieston and Castle Douglas area.
• Galloway hills — the rounded green hills that appear as you leave the motorway. Quite different from the sharper peaks further north — lush, ancient-feeling.
• Sweetheart Abbey — if you come via New Abbey on the A710 coastal route (adds 20 mins but more scenic), the ruined abbey appears suddenly in the village. Dramatic.

• GROCERY SHOP en route — cook together at The Coach House (saves money!)
• Get laundry on as soon as you arrive — you've been travelling 10 days!
• Return cars Edinburgh Airport 7:00 pm Wednesday 10 June — no cars after then

Look for these names:

• Lockerbie (Andrew) · Swan (William, John)
• Johnstone (Mary, Samuel) · Affleck (Jane, James)
• Black (Helen) · Jardine (Marion) · Roan (Jacobina)

Also check Torthowald, Mouswald & Tinwald churches

• Tuesday free choice: golf (see Golf section below!), shopping, Kirkcudbright, or relax at The Coach House
• Wednesday 8:00 am: Check out and drive to Edinburgh (2 hrs)
• St Mary's Church Dumfries: Buccleuch St DG1 2AH · Swan Hotel: Bank St DG1 2LY
• Return cars 7:00 pm Wed 10 Jun: SIXT, Edinburgh Airport EH12 9DN — no cars after this point

• Group 1 (Ann, Kay, Keri, David): Holiday Inn Express Edinburgh Royal Mile, Cowgate
• Group 2 (everyone else): a&o Hostel, 50 Blackfriars St EH1 1NE · 0113 526 6370
• Both are 5 min walk from each other on the Royal Mile

• Calton Hill at dusk — the classic Edinburgh panorama shot with the castle, Salisbury Crags and Holyrood. Go 30 mins before sunset for the golden light.
• Victoria Street — the curved colourful street from above (looking down) is one of the most photographed views in Edinburgh. Best early morning before the crowds.
• The closes (alleyways) off the Royal Mile — dozens of narrow stone passages with beautiful light and atmosphere. Mary King's Close is famous (underground tour, book ahead).
• Scots pine trees on Arthur's Seat — from the summit on a clear day you can see the Bass Rock (world's largest gannet colony), the Forth Bridges, and on exceptional days, the Highland mountains.
• Puffins! — from late May into June, puffins nest on the Isle of May and on the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth. Boat trips from North Berwick (45 min drive from Edinburgh) get you right alongside them. A genuine wildlife photography bucket-list experience.
• Local tip — Stockbridge Sunday Market — (if time on Sunday morning) artisan food stalls and crafts in a beautiful Georgian neighbourhood 15 min walk from the Royal Mile.
• Local tip — Arthur's Seat wildlife — peregrine falcons nest on Salisbury Crags, very close to the city. Also roe deer sometimes visible early morning.

• Pack tonight — big travel day tomorrow!
• Tomorrow's flight is 10:15 am — easy as you're staying at the airport hotel
• Celebrate! You've done it 🌿

• Best day: Tuesday 9 June — the free choice day
• Book Colvend now: Call +44 1556 630398 — mention party size and preferred tee time
• Non-golfers on golf day: Kirkcudbright town (40 mins) — galleries, harbour, Selkirk Arms. Or relax at The Coach House with the llamas!
• What to pack: Golf shoes, waterproofs (Scottish weather!), gloves
• Cost vs St Andrews Old Course: Colvend £25 · St Andrews £295. Enough said.

• Camera tip: As you know from Aurora Australis — camera sees colour your eyes miss. Always try a 5–10 sec exposure even when sky looks faintly lit.
• Moon phase: Check moonrise/set for 8–9 June 2026 — a bright moon can wash out fainter aurora.
• If the alert goes off at 11 pm: mobilise the whole group — this is a once-in-a-decade location and timing!