It was a dreary start to Tuesday July 29th, so we didn’t rush to pack up and when we did, the sea mist and drizzle turned to rain. We seem to have developed a pattern of wet weather whenever we leave or enter a new country. Strangely, Rodney was hearing radio reports that it was a sunny 30°C on the other side of the Channel at Southampton! Happily the weather forecast was good for our first week of ‘bed hopping’ in England and thankfully it did turn out that way.
In Dieppe we stocked up on French wine, French cakes, French chocolate and French perfume. Rodney ate his last pot of moules mariniere with frites while I tucked into a plate of fresh prawns and salad in a bistro on the Quai Henri IV. And then we rolled around to the ferry port to board the MV Côte d’ Albâtre for our four-hour cruise across to Newhaven. We were very lucky to find that, by being one of the first to board the ship, it did enable us to be one of the first to shuffle off in England at 9pm. While checking our passports, the customs man cheerily informed us that there were people behind us who would still be on the boat for another hour waiting to disembark. Ouch!
And so began our month in England. The highlights, apart from spending time with so many of our fabulous friends and our families, were many and varied. We saw Eastbourne Pier just before it caught fire and a third of it was sadly destroyed. We visited Birling Gap after more of the cliffs had fallen away and reduced a terrace of cottages by one down to only four.
There’s been quite a bit of walking, though nothing too strenuous lately. From Dedham we walked to Flatford Mill and Willy Lott’s House made famous by Constable and we’ve picked our way across fields in Wivenhoe, Essex. We strolled the paths and beside the Broads at Ludham in Norfolk and also spent an afternoon wandering around the grounds and a craft fair at Boughton House near Kettering in Northamptonshire.
We had another wonderful four nights up in Westminster and enjoyed the sights of London yet again. Boris’ bikes are a brilliant way to cover the city; this year we actually pedalled over Tower Bridge to the Tower of London which currently has thousands of red ceramic poppies pouring out of a window and flowing around the moat. It looks amazing.
We dragged the Taylors to the Prince of Wales Theatre at Piccadilly Circus to see the rather irreverent but award winning ‘Book of Mormon; what a good laugh-out-loud show. We pounded the pavements and streets of London and for the first time we visited Lizzie and Philip at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately they had gone orf on holiday without telling us, so we never got to say hello. Never mind; we had a good snoop around their home, though we definitely didn’t get to see all 78 bathrooms…!
We’ve eaten in quaint old pubs, Indian restaurants and a classy Italian or two. I’ve shared a huge fairy floss with little Carmen and relished eating copious punnets of raspberries. Plus we have had some delicious home cooked meals; thank you to everyone for keeping us very well fed. The Hansen family gathering was wonderful, it’s not often enough that my brother and sister and all the children get together in one place; but we managed to do it this time at Neil’s new bungalow in Kettering. We all talked and talked and talked and the noise and laughter were brilliant, we certainly made it a darn good ‘house warming’ afternoon and evening.
And now I can’t believe how quickly the three weeks have gone by and in one week’s time we will be on the big bird flying directly back to Sydney. So it’s now time to start thinking about sorting out all the stuff we have here; what stays, what goes back with us and what really does need chucking out. Oooo this could take some time……. so I better get on to it. There’ll be no more blogging until next year; yes we have decided to keep Eileen and fly over again to enjoy another three, or four months, of nomadic wandering around Europe. We’re both saying Year Four will be definitely be the last one, but I guess it will be a case of watch this space…………
