Rugby Pictures

Llandudno and Great Orme

Betws-y-Coed

Bodysgallen Hall

Home Safe and Sound

Well the bags are unpacked, the whistle has blown on the Final and we are all off to school and work - yes sadly, the holiday is over. What took years to plan and save for seems to have flashed past so quickly. We have all sort of returned to normal sleepwise, although still not making it past 8.30 at night and waking up at 4 in the morning (I'm sure this will stop soon!).Michael heads off to Melbourne this week, Jake goes to school camp, Elly gets into planning for Graduation and Bailey and I just plod along with them all. To say we had a fantastic time is such an understatement. We saw and did so much more than we could have hoped to and don't feel a single day was wasted. Wonderful memories were made and bonds formed and strengthened with both family and friends. We promise not to take another 12 years to go back (although might take that long to pay this one off ha ha!!!) I'll try to put some more of our (thousands) of holiday photos on this site for you all to be bored by, and will also keep all up to date with the happenings in our household. Hope everyone has enjoyed following along our adventure anyway. Luv Kylie and the Higgos xx

Sights of Conwy and surrounds

UK Family Photo Shoot

Anfield

Liverpool

Paul took us into Liverpool for the day and we had a good look around with a ride on an aquaduck around the old docks area. We also went out to Anfield to have a tour of the Liverpool grounds. It was awesome - yet another place to see on tv and say "been there, been there".

Family Weekend in Wrexham

Portmerion Day Out

We had a lovely day out to Portmerion and had a somewhat windy picnic on the way there at a little stream near Harlech castle. We drove through Snowdonia National Park and had some fantastic views all through. I will really miss the green hills and sheep with tails!!

Our weekend in Marseilles

Some photos of Marseilles and the Fiji V South Africa game. Great cruisers in the harbour.

Marseilles

Well what can I say? There is nothing quite so horrible as walking around the city of Marseilles being surrounded by gloating pommie rugby fans while you are wearing a Wallaby jersey after they've just lost!! Perhaps some of the Australian team should have tried it. The only glimmer of joy in an otherwise dismal day was the fact that the All Blacks lost too! (sorry Jo) After I stopped crying and pulled myself together, we had a pretty good night with some Liverpool lads sitting in an outside cafe watching the NZ/France game on the big screen in the main street. The Old Port was beautiful and there were some fantastic boats moored in the harbour. We went along to suport Fiji on Sunday and after a great game, they lost too. So that's it, we are now not suporting anyone because we seem to bring bad luck!!! From here on in we really don't care anyway, so long as the English get knocked out this weekend. Allez les Bleus!

London

After some low flying from Dover to Stevenage, we had a lovely night with Chris, Nikki and gorgeous little Harriet, then headed off in the morning for London. We did all the usual sights, We girls did Harrods and enjoyed observing the absolute decadence, while the boys did the Natural History Museum. We all enjoyed Billy Eliot immensely, it was the most fantastic show I have seen. Jake even managed to sit still (I think it was the swearing that kept him enthralled) and Elly was moved to tears (as was her mother and Aunty Susan). We went up on the London Eye although couldn't see much as the weather was lousy. All in all our time in London was cold, wet and expensive but glad we went.

Wales V Fiji

The atmosphere was fantastic! The Welsh anthem was sung like I've never heard it before, if there had been a roof, it would've been blown off! The game had moments of great rugby, but sadly Wales couldn't pull it together and a sadder group of supporters you have never seen!! We saw a grown Dragon crying which is something dreadful to witness. I'm glad we had a really great time before the game and last night, with wonderful fans out for a good time (just like us).

Some colourful Welsh fans

You can say many things about Welsh rugby fans, but boring and dull are not words used to describe these passionate supporters!! The singing and the outfits were fantastic, shame their team didn't live up to their country's expectations. Never mind, there's always 2011 (if they qualify).

Nantes

Well what were the chances of us being in the same hotel as the Fiji team? This would've been okay if WALES HAD WON!!!! Oh well, Fiji deserved the win and we had a pretty good time in Nantes anyway. The kids got their photos taken with the Fijians and all their autographs and we observed their celebrations downstairs, with some of us suddenly changing our allegiences to Australia and the Pacific region in general!!

Susan

For all her friends, family and general fans, here are a few shots of Susan on holidays. (She doesn't know I am putting any of these on, so this will be fun!! ) She has enjoyed a game at Liverpool (no she didn't get arrested) and a great time in Wales, Belgium and France so far, with London, Manchester and Edinburgh still to come!

The Rock

Elly, Susan, the Tower and the Mona Lisa

The Louvre

Notre Dame and Jake in his museum

Paris

After the drive from hell, we managed to find our hotel and the rest of our time in Paree was wonderful. We walked, ate, drank and spent our way around the city and crammed an awful lot into 3 days. In a nutshell, we managed to see Notre Dame (yes all those steps!), Arc de Triumphe (another set of long stairs), the Louvre (too many old things for Jake), Musee de Orsay, the Eiffel Tower and all the other things in between. Susan and I had a magical night on our tour with dinner at Altitude 95, a (freezing) cruise on the Seine followed by a show at the Moulin Rouge. Michael and the kids went on the huge ferris wheel in the Place de la Concorde that night so all in all everyone enjoyed themselves. We found Parisiens to be helpful and friendly, not at all like their reputation. Jake and Daddy discovered a great musuem opposite the Musee de Orsay which has all weapons, uniforms etc from various civil wars so they were happy, while we girls checked out all the famous painters. Elly got into the French theme with her beret and really looked the part. We had hot chocolates on the Champs Elysees (and paid for it too) and even found a rugby bar for dinner and drinks which apparently is a favourite haunt of John Eales AND Gareth Edwards (photos on the wall to prove it).

Belgium - Ieper

Belgium was beautiful and surprising in so many ways. Things didn't go as planned hotel wise but ended up being even better than we could have hoped for. The Menin Gate was so moving and hearing the Last Post will never be the same again. Tyne Cot cemetery was also an incredible experience, reading row upon row of names along with all those without names. Ieper was a gorgeous town and the Flanders Fields Museum was well worth the drive!

Cardiff

We did a big walk around the outside of Millenium Stadium, quite awesome up close. We could just peek into the current home of Cardiff Blues grounds next door.

Outside Cardiff Castle, too tight to pay to go in so we walked around the outside and had a good time anyway. Have seen our fair share of castles at present. Had a great walk around the park here called Bute Park, we just missed the turnoff to Glamorgan Cricket Ground much to Michael's dismay.