A Grand Adventure

The task of editing down four months' footage took much longer than expected. But A Grand Adventure: the Movie is finally finished and ready to watch online. Follow our journey around the world, from the first stop in Paris to the final layover in Reykjavik. Revisit the highs, the lows and the bumps in the road along the way.

www.bitmapfilms.co.uk

And so it comes to a close. Our grand adventure ends where it began, in Epsom - very familiar territory yet strangely distant. We hope you've enjoyed reading our blog, and thank everyone who left comments - we always looked forward to reading them. In addition to our thousands of photos there are many hours of video footage that will be edited down soon into A Grand Adventure: the Movie. Look out for one more blog entry once it's ready to watch!

Our flight out of Iceland was on time and uneventful. At Heathrow were greeted with some typically English weather and a welcoming committee - each of our families, who drove us home.

With so much to talk about and catch up on, our journeys flew by. Back in Epsom we all enjoyed a slice of cake and a proper cup of tea.

And what could be grander than that?

Well, Wally has finally made it all around the world. Here he is at Keflavik Airport in Iceland, waving a fond farewell to all his fans.

We escaped the United States just in time. Shortly after take-off our plane was buffeted by storms - almost certainly related to Hurricane Irene, which is on its way towards the East Coast of the US. From our window we got front-row seats to a lightning storm that brilliantly illuminated the dark grey clouds beneath us. An impressive, if rather scary, sight.

Our flight out of JFK was the very first part of the trip we booked, way back in February. Back then we tried to anticipate how we'd feel about a ten-hour layover at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland once we were there. Not too keen we thought, but the significant savings over a shorter connection clinched it. Plus, we thought we might be able to see a bit of Iceland, though we weren't sure if we'd be able to leave the airport. On arriving we checked with our airline - the answer was yes. So, while our trip is almost over, today felt a bit like a bonus day - one last place to explore.

As we left the airport to catch the bus we were struck both by the temperature (around 7 degrees centigrade when we landed) and by the landscape. Uneven and pockmarked its volcanic origins are clear.

Our destination was Reykjavik, around 45 minutes away. With around 200,000 inhabitants it's one of Europe's smaller capital cities. Even knowing this we were surprised at just how unlike a capital it feels. The attractive streets were largely empty of moving traffic and people. After the mayhem of New York it was a welcome contrast.

A tranquil harbour looks out to sea.

A couple of modern buildings caught our attention. The skyline is dominated by Hallgrimskirkja, a Lutherian church, completed in 1986.

Meanwhile the City Hall, a 1992 building, occupies an idyllic position in a corner of Lake Tjornin, suspended on stilts.

...We're leaving today.

Looking back over the last four months we're feeling very mixed emotions. Are we sorry that our adventure is nearly over? Yes. Are we glad to be returning home? Definitely. We can't wait to see everyone again and return to some kind of normality - where we're not living out of a couple of backpacks and moving on every other day.

As we wait at JFK for our flight home (via Iceland) we've picked out ten highlights and lowlights...

Country with the best food
China - tasty, cheap food that was nothing like what you get in Britain.

Favourite journey
Also our longest, but definitely worth it - the Trans-Siberian Express. Each morning we woke to an entirely different landscape.

Biggest surprise
Culture shock in Los Angeles.

Biggest disappointment
Paris. Our first desination was not the city we'd expected at all - streets that were dirty and, well, a bit smelly, plus one of the worst hostels we've stayed in.

Worst hostel
The very worst, however, was SameSun in Vancouver. Too much to list here...

Something we're glad we packed
Laptop computer. For booking hostels, working out transportation and keeping the blog updated, it's been invaluable.

Something we wish we'd packed
More socks. We didn't pack enough and those we had have slowly disappeared.

Favourite destination
Japan. Friendly people, beautiful scenery, crazy cities.

Most photogenic moment
Sunset in Tofino.

Things we've missed
A proper cup of tea, curry, families and friends (natch!)