Day 27 Richmond-on-Thames Thursday 26th July 2012

Stunning weather and stunning views from our hotel room in Richmond-on-Thames greeted us this morning. What a lovely spot and we so enjoyed our night here in Richmond. Today is the day when we attempt to drive into London on the eve of the Olympics to drop off our hire car at Hertz. Everyone here told us we shouldn't do it because of the traffic delays etc but we are going to risk it so will let you know tomorrow how we went - PLEASE keep us in your prayers! I am really EXCITED now as we head into London for the 2012 Olympic Games - Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!!!!!

Now let me tell you about our day yesterday with the weather getting even hotter than the previous day reaching 32 degrees. We set off from Bourton-on-the-Water to drive through the georgeous little villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter, Snowshill, Woodstock and reaching Oxford for lunch. Oxford was amazing and we loved seeing the students riding their bicylces around the streets on such a beautifully warm summers day. Next we headed for Windsor Castle which was fabulous and eveyone there was enjoying the river Thames in boats, swimming or feeding the ducks. Royal Ascot was next on our list and we were very fortunate that the groundsmen had opened the gates to fix the reticulation at the front gardens. We charmed them to let us get inside for a photo session which was fantastic -perfect timing indeed.

The Mounting Yard at Royal Ascot

 The next challenge was to find Henry's daughter's grave, Mary Elizabeth McGuigan Hughes who died in 1947 and is buried at the Richmond Cemetery. Luckily I rang the office and the groundsman came down to show us exactly where Mary is buried but super slueth Lone had already found her. I was pretty sad when I saw that she was buried alone so far away from Australia and her family. Surprisingly she wasn't buried with her husband so I will have to investigate that further to find out why. We placed some stones from her father and mothers grave, took some stones from her grave to take back to Melbourne and said some prayers.

Mary Elizabeth McGuigan Hughes grave at Richmond Cemetery

Placing the stones from Australia

It was a very busy day so by the time we checked into our stunning hotel, The Bingham we were ready for a nice cold shower, a bite to eat and an early night to be mentally ready to tackle the frantic London traffic this morning.

View from our hotel, The Bingham in Richmond - stunning!