A hare, a field mouse, the great British summer and some very cool machines!

I know, I know, what on earth am I talking about... The Royal International Air Tattoo of course.


We have wanted to go to this pretty much ever since we came to the UK, so this year we got organised and got us a pair of tickets for the Sunday and off we went. The air field is about an hour away from us and we got about half an hour from home (nicely timed to see the start of the show) and I realised I had forgotten the sunscreen, no wait, I mean my rain coat (the great British summer). This was a big big bummer as heavy rain (proper rain) was on the forecast and there was no way I wanted to stand around in a field without it, so it was back home to get it.

Eventually we made it to the air field and parked our car in the sea of other cars and joined the crowds to the entrance. Once inside the massive air base we were faced with too many choices, thankfully we are not shoppers so that cut out looking in all the stands (but I must remember if I want to buy a car or some garden furniture, I must go back there! I'm sure there is logic in there somewhere, but I struggled to find it!) We took a look at all the grounded machines (helicopters, jets, planes etc), which was all very cool. The rest of the time we spent watching the airshow, which was spectacular despite the heavy rain, and boy did it pour!

So I hear you say, what about the hare and the mouse? Well firstly the hare. We were sat on the edge of the rails waiting for a rain shower to pass when a hare did a full sprint the length of the runway, speedy! The mouse was almost trod on by us on the way out. I thought it was quite amusing that Peter and I walk about in the country a fair bit and never see a hare, or a field mouse and then with all those people and all that noise (I was even wearing ear plugs all day), that's when we see them!

I was touched with a bit of national pride as we left (although ashamed to say we were leaving). It was pouring with rain and had been for the last hour, we were freezing and wanted to get home. As we left the RAFNZ had a Boeing 737 (I think) there and it took of just as we were leaving and I have never seen a plane that big do such sharp turns and maneuvers, it was very cool and someone around us said "Wow look at that!" and I thought, Yep that's our Air Force!

A great day out and we would love to go again sometime, when it's not raining!