We started this trip in April and then suddenly we’ve looked up and it’s September. The days are getting shorter and we can actually say we will be back in Sydney next month. But before then we have 57 days to visit Wales, Cornwall, prepare Eileen for another winter in East Grinstead and then spend 16 days in Abu Dhabi. All of a sudden that seems a lot to squeeze in, but we’re going to try not to rush life, for the next few weeks.
The first morning of the month was spent helping to clear up after the big wedding. Everything that had been placed in the marquee had to be removed again. Bows were removed from fences, flower arrangements gathered, chairs stacked, tables cleared and tablecloths folded. At 11:30am around 25 of us sat down in the garden to eat bacon with scrambled eggs and toast, followed by fruit salad. Everyone looked tired, including the bride and groom, and there was still more work to do. Luckily for us, we were excused as we had a campsite at Devizes booked, so we had to say our farewells at 1pm, pop in to a supermarket for some basic supplies and then get ourselves across country to Wiltshire. By the time we arrived at the Devizes campsite, we were both really sleepy. I busied myself with sorting out all the cupboards, as we had been stuffing anything and everything in all the wrong places, due to lack of time to be organised and the fact that we hadn’t put the bed away for three nights, so we couldn’t even reach half the storage areas until we did. Rodney heated up some leftovers from the wedding, thank you Bradfords, for another delicious meal, which we enjoyed as we watched a spectacular sunset. We both slept long and well and enjoyed our first night back in a campsite, dreaming about what the next few weeks would bring.
After a very late breakfast and a morning spent online banking, washing clothes and a bit of overdue wardrobe sorting, we finally pulled on our shoes and set out for a walk along the Kennet & Avon Canal. We managed to do a bit of yummy blackberry picking along the way and after about an hour we came to the bottom of the Caen Hill Flight. This is an amazing stretch of the canal with 29 locks for boats to pass through and in one short section there are 16 locks right next to each other. It’s an engineering marvel but looks like a lot of hard work.
It must take them hours opening and closing each one, to only move a short distance. The instructions beside the canal state that once you enter the first lock there is no stopping, you have to pass through all 16 locks; I can see Rodney would be desperate for a cup of tea halfway through! After walking to the top, we stopped at a café and Rodney had a cup of tea; actually he had a cream tea and the clotted cream was perfect.
Having tuned ourselves back in to a camping frame of mind, we got up early on a very damp, misty, Tuesday morning. We left our little spot by the hedge, next to the Kennet & Avon Canal, checked that no rabbits had hopped inside and drove to Melksham for diesel and supplies. At 11am we finally got on the road aiming for Whales; oops no, not the wet ocean swimming ones. I mean Welsh Wales, land of leeks, corgis and pointy black hats. We crossed the huge Severn Bridge…..only £6.50! and continued almost to the end of the M4. At 4pm we pulled in to Bank Farm Campsite near Horton on the beautiful Gower Peninsula. It’s a huge 28 hectare site spread out over a hill with views over the coastline at Port Eynon Bay. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was ….almost… too hot to sit outside, but we did. Drinking and eating nibbles while sitting in our deckchairs, made us feel like we were back on holiday. Please, please let this weather continue; it’s perfect.
