Longleat claims to have the world’s longest maze. when we went in I asked for some hints so we could get through it quickly (before the kids got bored). she said “allow an hour and … STICK TOGETHER”.

we started by letting esther lead the way down the narrow hedges. then we let kezia lead which was really funny. she kept whizzing off round hedges and we had to keep up so as not to loose her. then jane took control of the situation and finally I made a lucky choice of exit in a funny circle area and we found the centre.

it’s a fantastically difficult maze, but really good fun. best of all is that the hedges and thick enough and tall enough to make it impossible to cheat !
we got to the middle in 25 minutes which i think was good going.

kezia and esther loved the little train ride thing. we got to see the hippos swimming along the river which was good.

the safari is the main bit about going to Longleat, though after we were attacked by the monkeys it was the least enjoyable (at the time). once we were back in the carpark and realised there was no lasting damage to our car (other than a few claw holes in the plastic trimming) we decided we had enjoyed it afterall.
here are the sweet monkeys:

here are some tigers:


here is a wolf

we also went on a boat cruise in a tiny lake and saw a couple of hippos:

and a gorilla:

and everyone loves meercats:

the visitors can wait a few minutes – this is important stuff
here is the monkey who pulled the trimming off our car:

here is his hand on our window screen:

you can’t hear the scratching and ripping noises which accompanied it

we are back. a monkey ate our car at the safari park. this and other stories to follow. probably tomorrow now though as we’ve only been back an hour, just put the girls to bed and have some visitors staying overnight arriving any minute …

my ear is still REALLY hurting. hopefully the antibiotics should be starting to take effect now (48 hours after i took my first one). should be fine by the time i’m back at work. kezia keeps pointing at the cotton wool in my ear and laughing. which is nice. no sleep last night. oh well.

here we are walking to the shop for our crois-ers.

the girls have been locked out of the toy shop:

but they were allowed in the supermarket:

jane and i went to the poshest restaurant last night. was very good. here is jane by candlelight

in the toilet was some bodylotion. i never understand what us blokes are meant to do with that ? strip down to our underpants and lard it on ? i think not …

read the update here

here is a nice night view of the swimming place. jane and i had our first night out (of two) last night. italian followed by a walk around a lake. very nice (but a bit chilly – the weather not the food).

today, the girls are very tired (all of them). My ear is massively painful like someone pushing a red hot needle down it all the time. a coprox cocktail will get me through our meal out tonight.

much misery this afternoon as esther lost her cycling mojo 🙁 hopefully we’ll get it back tomorrow. she’s ok on the flat, but after her dramatic exit whilst in motion yesterday she’s not keen to go downt he hill to the lake. ho hum