STAR WARS

The Muru's and Kennedy's went to London's County Hall for the Star Wars Exhibition. They had a great day looking at the life size characters and displays
Imperial Storm troopers on guard outside the County Hall

A Jedi Knight protects his young Padawans while being evacuated from the hall during a fire drill
Liam's impression of the young Anakin

Ngahuia and Bethy's favourite R2D2


The Muru's and Kennedy's waiting for the Jedi School to startNgahuia was chosen from the audience for Jedi School and trained to fight Darth Vader

THAMES BARRIER

The Muru's and the Kennedy's visited the Thames Barrier. Built across a 523 metre wide stretch of the river, the barrier divides the river into six navigable and four smaller non-navigable channels between nine large concrete piers. All the gates are made of steel. The four large central gates are 61 metres long, 10.5 metres high (above local ground level) and weigh 1,500 tonnes; the outer two gates are 31.5 metres. Additionally, four radial gates by the riverbanks can be lowered. These gate openings, unlike the main six, are non-navigable. The gates are normally left open to allow ships to pass through, but can be rotated closed to stop water travelling up the Thames estuary. Constructed between 1974 and 1984 at Woolwich Reach, London. It is the world's second largest movable flood barrier (the largest is the Oosterscheldekering in The Netherlands).

LAND OF THE GIANTS

Wimborne Model Town, situated on the edge of the town of Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, is one of the largest and most established model towns in England. It depicts Wimborne at the time it was originally made in the 1950s and captures the essence of a typical market town of rural England at that time. The concrete model, built at 1/10 scale, features 120 buildings including 108 shop fronts and a 15ft (5m) high Minster. The shop windows accurately show the goods the shops were selling in the post war years.

The Muru children were given quizzes that challenged them to find different items, shops and features. Below Liam counts the number of loaves of bread for one of his questions. We spent a couple of hours finding the answers it was way cool.

P-zzilla

When they completed all the questions they handed it back to the ladies in the shop and were rewarded with a bag of sweets.

LOVELY LULLWORTH COVE

Lulworth Cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, south England. The cove is one of the finest examples of such a landform in the world, and is a popular tourist location, with over 1 million visitors a year. Its popularity as a tourist attraction is also affected by its proximity to Durdle Door and other important Jurassic Coast sites.

CRAZY CARAVANING

The Muru spent the first week of their summer holidays in the Sea View Caravan Park in Weymouth. What an experience. It reminded Grant of the days he spent as a young lad when his family went on summer caravan holidays. unfortunately the weather did not play the game as the country was still on the tail of the UK floods (fortunately no flooding but lots of rain). the camp was something else. It was like Hi De Hi but a modern version. The camp was a one stop shop (bars, pools, playgrounds and entertainment). Thinking that "sea view" meant it was near the see was a mistake. What it really meant was that you could view the sea..... from 10 miles away. The Muru's also found the entertainment interesting. Great for the kids but lots of slot machines, location jokes and difficulty in understanding Jordy accents. Highlights were the seadoo aqua-jets and the Wimbourne model village.The Muru MansionYes you can just see the sea and below photo's of the palatial interior of the Muru Mansion The Master Bedroom which Sharon and Grant gave to Ngahuia and slept alternative nights with her
Liam didn't quite fit but the boys had their own room

The Dinning room/lounge doubled as the 3rd bedroom
Slot machines...lots and lots of slot machines
Each night there would be shows for children followed by bingo (give me a woooo...) then a show for the older ones
The meals were good value and portions ample

The kids loved the Seadoo Aquajets. It was their favourite said Paraone

DISCO IN DUNSTABLE

Ngahuia's school Lark Rise had a farewell to Yr 4's disco for the kids. Ngahuia's Mum and Dad can't believe she's growing up so quick

Ngahuia and her two friends Lucy and Isabell

RUGBY RE-VISITED

Grant made a return visit to Rugby School in Warwick shire once again on a YR 12 class trip.

Two of Grant's P.E colleagues Fiona and Hannah outside the main gate of Rugby School grounds
The 2007 YR 12 A level P.E students with their tour guide Rusty the resident historian
A pilgrimage for Grant to the home of Rugby but once again forgot the ball for the game of touch with the lads.
The commemorative plaque of William Web Ellis running with the ball.Head of P.E Rick Birch sitting at the desk of Thomas Hugh's author of "Tom Brown School Days". A testament of Rugby School's sense of tradition as any other school would have thrown the old thing out by now.
If you've read "Tom Brown" you'll understand the significance of the "Birching Room" at the top of this tower in the main building.