Old stones that weren't Stonehenge

Another fun adventure in our tiny car was to a place called Avebury in Wiltshire, which borders Oxfordshire to the South-west. We wanted to check out something cool and old but we were a little apprehensive about going to see Stonehenge - we heard that it's full of tourist buses and that the monument is apparently roped off so you can only look at it from afar. So we instead took a drive down to Avebury - which, we were told, also has massive old rocks - to have a bit of a squiz. It was a pleasant but squishy drive down there with a few detours here and there (including a pub stop of course!). We discovered a little dirt road that went up a hill which had a large Geoglyph of a horse. After parking the car on the side of the road, we decided to brave the rain and have a bit of an explore. After a short walk, the terrain got a little too rugged and the rain too heavy to go any further so we headed back to the car. Of course, Roy's Dad was extra adventurous and couldn't resist heading off further into the forest, by himself. After waiting back at the car for a while, we eventually saw Roy's Dad appear over the hill, slowly walking back with a broken umbrella - he was a little worse for wear after stumbling on the slippy grass and mud!

Chocolates played an integral part in keeping our minds off being squished in a tiny car and we sometimes went a little crazy - making up silly songs, or testing each others pain thresholds with thigh-slapping competitions. Or even making crazy headgear out of our chocolate wrappers. For the record... chocolate is heaps nicer in Europe than in Australia!

After our little frolic (stumble) in the fields, we headed back en route to the giant standing rocks in Avebury. It was a very small village surrounded by a rock henge which is about 5000 years old. It's really hard to comprehend just how old it is. I guess it might be easier to imagine how old it is if I knew anything about history. Aside from not being able to grasp just how old this henge was, it was still impressive and great to be standing amongst the monument. I loved the fact that there was no huge touristy feel about the place. It just felt like a nice little village with giant standing stones that you could walk around and even touch. Although we didn't go to Stonehenge, I'm guessing we had a better experience at Avebury because we weren't stopped by ropes and didn't have to fight tourists to get a glimpse of the stones.

Roy also found himself a giant connect four set and couldn't resist a go.

Roy and Marty decided to run up the nearby hill to get a better view of the stone circle.

We ended the outing with a pub visit and ordered our usual beverages. It was great having a place to sit and chill after sightseeing. Walking around giant stone circles can be thirsty work :P