Final Few Days in Blighty

Sat 22 Aug

Visited Thursley Common Wetland, with Judy and her neighbour Trisha.

It was an overcast day with a bit of drizzle, which must have sent the birds into hiding. All we saw were a few ducks. However, it was a nice stroll across the boardwalks and there were some pretty wildflowers growing in the bog. We also some horses being ridden along the trails.

Sun 23 Aug
Judy lent me her car for a few days, so I drove up to visit a friend, Anne, who lives the small village of Arborfield, near Reading. Anne is a bird enthusiast and has birdfeeders of every description in her garden. We watched tits, robins, woodpeckers, jays and even a bullfinch, feeding in the garden. Anne has built a water feature which has water bubbling up through a round, ceramic ball and cascading down into a small pond. The birds were taking turns to sit over the jet of water, letting it squirt up through their feathers. Sooo cute!

Mon 24 Aug
We visited the ancient village of Selborne, once home to the famous naturalist, Gilbert White. After lunch in a small pub there, we drove on to Hinton Ampner house and garden which was the home of the last Lord Sherborne.

Anne at Hinton Ampner House

Tues 25 Aug
Anne took me to some lovely old villages and a large garden centre. It was fortunate that I am unable to take plants back to New Zealand, or the bank balance would have been severely depleted.
There was an aquarium department at the garden centre, with a most amazing collection of exotic fish, both fresh and salt water varieties. The range of colours, patterns and shapes of the fish, was mesmerising. There were some weird little shrimps, crabs, anemones and other strange creatures as well.
Drove back to Judy’s along the M3 where there was a major traffic jam, due to an accident. As usual, Jane’s (SatNav) guidance was much appreciated.

Wed 26 Aug
Some friends of Judy’s came to morning tea, then we went into Woking in the afternoon to do some shopping.

Thurs 27 Aug
Sally and Clive picked me up from Judy’s and took me to their lovely home in Farley Green to spend a few days.


In the evening, we went to a BBQ in the grounds of a big house, owned by some friends from their church group. The wind was a trifle chilly, but I didn’t want anyone to think me a wimp, so tried not to shiver as we enjoyed a very tasty meal.

Fri 28 Aug
I wanted to revisit Guildford, as I have many happy memories of living in the YMCA there in 1997. Sally and I had a great time reminiscing about her first visit here in 1998, when I showed her around Guildford, including the castle ruins, the Alice in Wonderland statues, Millmead lock and some of the intriguing wee lanes. We checked them all out again, then went shopping and lunching.

Sat 29 Aug
We all went to the public swimming pool in Shere where Clive is a volunteer, helping to maintain the pool and the machinery which runs it. Sally and Clive swam, while I explored the quaint little village of Shere.


On the way back to Farley Green, we stopped off at a fete, and then walked the rest of the way through the fields, picking fat, juicy blackberries as we went.
After a late morning tea, Sally made a picnic lunch, and then we drove to somewhere in West Sussex to watch a polo game.
None of us had a clue as to the rules of polo, but it was wonderful to watch the horses thundering up and down the field in pursuit of the ball. We set ourselves up with folding chairs and a picnic rug, in true English style. Unfortunately, Clive spoilt the effect somewhat, by wearing a baseball cap instead of a knotted hanky.
On the way back, we took a long walk through the grounds of Petworth House, which was great fun for Monty, the dog, who threw himself into the lake, despite a sign forbidding dogs from swimming. He obviously needs to attend a reading recovery programme.
That evening, Clive cooked a delicious curry and we had blackberries and ice cream for desert.

Sun 30 Aug
While Sally and Clive were at church, I visited Fenella, an old friend from YMCA days, and then we went to a pub in Albury, on the banks of the River Tillingbourne, for a roast beef and Yorkshire pudding lunch. Next, we stopped off at Clandon House to see the whare nui (Maori meeting house).
By pure chance we arrived just as a volunteer was giving a talk. His name is Alan Gallop and he has written a book on the meeting house. Apart from mispronouncing some of the Maori names, he gave a very good description of its history.
Finally, it was back to Judy’s for a last few days before leaving England.

Mon 31 Aug
Today, Judy and I took a long walk along the towpath, following the River Wey navigation. It is a bank holiday, so there were many people out in narrowboats, negotiating the Newark and Papercourt locks. Pairs of white swans, some with half-grown cygnets, swam in the gently flowing water. It was a pretty and tranquil scene.
In the afternoon, Judy’s daughters came to enjoy a late afternoon tea of hot scones, made to a recipe given to Judy, by Heather, in New Zealand. They are made with lemonade and are quite delectable.

Ireland and Beyond

We were booked to catch the ferry from Stranraer to Belfast, early on the morning of 10 August, so left Edinburgh shortly after lunch on the 9th and drove across Scotland, then down the coast, admiring the lovely scenery on the way. The day was misty, but we could see the islands of Arran and Kintyre in the distance. We passed through some quaint little villages with tempting cafes and gift shops.
Our guest house was very comfortable and after settling in, we drove into the town to familiarise ourselves with the route to the ferry and to have a meal in a small pub.

Monday 10 Aug.
We boarded the ferry with no problems and then sat back to enjoy the 2hr voyage to Belfast. We didn't stop in Belfast, but drove straight through to the highway leading to Dublin. Our trusty Sat-Nav, Jane, was worth her weight in gold, guiding us through the maze of streets, both in Belfast and Dublin.
Our B&B was a little more basic than anticipated and we asked for a change of room, as the reading light wasn't working (among other things) and we ended up on the top floor, 66 steps above the street - good for fitness.
Dublin was a disappointment. It must have the highest number of smokers per head of population, of anywhere in the world and it seems every one of them throws their butts in the street, making Dublin look and smell like a giant, dirty ashtray. It was sad to think that all those butts would be washed down through the nearest grating, into the river and then into the sea, choking and poisoning all the fish and other wildlife. How can people do that?

Tues 11 Aug

We took a bus tour of Dublin, which covered all the main places of interest, getting off for a closer look at Trinity College, particularly its library which was absolutely awe inspiring with its vast shelves of books reaching right up to the vaulted ceiling. The Book of Kells is also housed there in a glass case in a dimly lit room. It was hard to get a really good look at it because of the crowds of people, also wanting a glimpse, but it was fascinating to contemplate the painstaking work which went into its creation

Statue of Molly Malone, Dublin.

Wed 12 Aug
Today, we drove down to Kilkenny, where we were to stay one night, to break the long journey down to Mallow. Kilkenny is built alongside the River Nore, with a ruined castle overlooking the town. We had lunch at cafe on the banks of the river, then went to some art exhibitions as there was an arts festival on at the time.

Thu 13 Aug
On the way to Mallow, we stopped at the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary which is a historic site in Ireland's province of Munster, located at Cashel, County Tipperary. The Rock of Cashel served as the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. Few remnants if any of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St Patrick in the 5th century AD. The views from there were quite speclacular.
After checking into the B&B, we drove to Blarney Castle. Neither of us would deign to kiss the blarney stone, but the castle was worth seeing as were the views from the top.

Rock of Cashel - Ruins of Cathedral

Fri 14 Aug
At the advice of our host at the B&B, we set off towards the Connor Pass near the Ring of Kerry, stopping on the way, to see a beautiful waterfall on the slopes of Mangerton Mountain and was just a short walk through the forest. Then, it was on to Killorglin for a coffee break, before continuing on to brave the pass.

Negotiating the pass, which links Dingle Town on the south to Kilcummin on the north coast at Brandon Bay , is a challenging experience. Leaving town from Spa Road , the paved way becomes increasingly narrow and (depending on your sense of adventure) thrilling/terrifying until it crests at 1,300 feet above sea level. There were plenty of dicey moments as vehicles passed each other on the slender, twisting track. The weather was rain and fog, which added to the sense of adventure, though meant we could see little of the scenery. As Judy was driving, she had the most frightening bit of the experience, while I only had to sit there, shrieking 'Oh my God' or 'Please don't let me die' and other such reassuring comments. Despite it all, it was well worth seeing and I even managed to leap out of the car at one point, to grab a small rock to take home for Frances, who's ancestors came from Ireland.

When we finally emerged, unscathed, onto flat ground, Judy decided to press on and drive around the Ring of Kerry. It was 4pm by this time and we were both tired, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, too good to miss. In some ways, the rain and mist made the views even more beautiful, as it intensified the colours of the braken and heather and the huge outcrops of granite rock.

It was almost 9pm when we arrived back at the B&B and we were very tired, especially Judy, who had done all the driving, but we were so glad to have done it.

Sat 15 Aug
Once again, we took our host's advice and set off for the tiny village of Dunwaldy which is set in a beautiful cove. There were no real roads to follow, but we finally found a beautiful cove where the deep blue sea was crashing against the high, rocky cliffs. Apart from a few houses, there was nobody around and it was very peaceful. However, we decided to try to find Dunwaldy in the hope of being able to take a long walk along the cliffs. Sadly, we became lost and found ourselves far inland, in completely the wrong direction. We were too tired to turn back, so reluctantly continued on to Clonakilty where we ate lunch at a picnic table by the sea. Next stop was Kinsale and from there we made another attempt to find a quiet cove. Once again, we got a bit lost on the country lanes, but eventually found quite a nice beach where a few families were swimming or playing in the sand.
We took a small car ferry across to Cobh (pronounced Cove), a very pretty town where we had cherry scones for afternoon tea.
One of the things which most struck me in Ireland, was the number of new houses being built. There must be thoudands, and they were all substantial, high quality homes, most on large plots of land. We read so much about Ireland's prosperity and seeing all that construction really emphasises that.

Sun 16 Aug
We spent the day making our way slowly towards Rosslare where the ferry leaves for Wales, stopping on the way, at Waterford and then New Ross, where there is a replica of the sailing ship, Dunbrody, which took people across to America, to escape the potato famine.
As we had visited the former immigration centre at Ellis Island, while in New York, it was especially interesting to see the place where the immigrants had left their home country. We took a guided tour of the ship and saw something of the atrocious conditions which the unfortunate passengers had had to endure.
While driving along the coast, we stopped to admire the rugged cliffs and got talking to a local man who is a keen birdwatcher. He pointed out some fairly large, black birds, wheeling overhead, and told us they are choughs. They are quite rare in this part of the world, so we were very fortunate to see them.


Our Rosslare B&B was in a gorgeous position right at the edge of the clifftop overlooking the sea. We were able to watch our ferry come in from Fishguard, ready for the morning sailing. I was especially impressed to see that the garden of the B&B was landscaped using mostly New Zealand native plants, including cabbage trees, hebes, flaxes and pittisporums.

The beach below, was a very long stretch of pale golden sand and looked quite remote and unspoilt until rounding a corner to discover the large, bustling ferry terminal. I could happily have spent a week here. Judy was very excited to see a naked man on the beach and I had great difficulty stopping her from rushing off for the binoculars.


Mon 17 Aug
We drove straight off the ferry at Fishguard, Wales and didn't stop until Haverfordwest where we had lunch and explored the shops, then continued on to Cheltenham, crossing the Severn via the new(ish) bridge.
Judy's cousin, Eric and his wife Liz, were our hosts in Cheltenham and cooked us a wonderful meal on our arrival.

Tue 18 Aug
Eric took us to see the village of Newent where Judy lived as a child. She had the good fortune to live above a toyshop which her parents owned. We walked around the village while Judy identified places which had particular memories. The toyshop is now an estate agents and the staff were very interested to hear some of its history.

Newent Market Hall

We then took a walk to the cemetary where Judy's father is buried. We had to enquire whereabouts of the grave and were eventually given the plot number from the Register of Deaths. As her father died in 1948, when Judy was very small, the grave was in rather a poor condition but Judy was nonetheless pleased to have found it.
In the afternoon, we explored the Cotswolds and some of the pretty little villages with their creamy coloured stone cottages. I managed to find the holiday cottage in Winchcombe, where I stayed in 1986.

Wed 19 Aug
It was back to Woking today to do some much needed laundry, etc.

Thurs 20 Aug
I borrowed Judy's car for the afternoon and visited Tessie at the Grange Centre in Bookham where I worked in 1997/98. Tessie has lived at The Grange since 1946 and has seen many changes over the years. She showed me around the whole complex, looking at the extensive up-grading that has taken place since my last visit in 2001. I also met many of the residents and staff who I had worked with, so it was a great time of catching up with each others' news. Tessie had shared my many letters with them, so they had a fair idea of what I have been doing over the past 11 years.

Fri 21 Aug
There was no escaping it any longer; Judy made me sit down and write the blog. I did manage to negotiate some time off when Desmond came to lunch. Then we walked around to his house in the afternoon, for Judy to sort out a problem with his DVD recorder.

Travelling around the UK

Sunday 2 Aug
I spent the day with my second cousin Margaret and husband Tom. It was the first time I had seen them since 2001, so we had a lot to talk about.

Monday 3 Aug
Left Buxton for Harrogate making a slight detour to visit Holmfirth (Last of the Summer Wine) and saw ‘Nora Batty’s house’ and had coffee at ‘Sid’s Café’. Very pretty little town. From there we went to Marsden and visited Standedge Tunnel

- ‘the highest, longest and deepest’ canal tunnel in the country. ‘Leggers’ used to move the boats through by lying on their backs on barges and ‘walking‘ sideways along the walls - there were no paths for horses which were walked overland to the exit. The tunnel is 3.25 miles long and 7 feet deep. It took 15 years to build with 3,000+ workforce between 1796 - 1811. We took half-hour boat ride into the tunnel. Arrived Spring Lodge, Harrogate 4.30. I met with a friend, Maureen, who is English, but we met in New Zealand, and we had a meal at Betty’s Tea Rooms, followed by a drink at a small pub. Maureen caught the 9.45 train home and I took a taxi back to our B&B.

Tuesday 4 Aug
Left Harrogate at 9.15 for Haydon Bridge. Took the long route - first heading NW to Settle then on to view the Ribbleshead Viaduct. Huge! Lunch in lovely old pub there - the Station Arms. From there we drove to Haydon Bridge via mainly minor roads. For most of the way we drove through ‘Postman Pat country’ then over the northern Pennines where the scenery was stark but stunning. Cloudy day but very atmospheric, Arrived at Hadrian’s Lodge at 4.30pm. Way out in the country with beautiful views all around, Very nice home cooked Shepherd’s Pie for dinner.

Wednesday 5 August
We spent the day at Hadrian’s Wall today, first visiting Housesteads Fort which gave a very good impression of what the original Roman fort was like.It was a lovely day and we could see for miles in any direction. Our next stop was at Vindolanda - another fort and settlement which is still being excavated. Our final port of call was the Roman Army Museum which threw a lot of light on what we had seen during the day. We then had a 50-60 mile drive to Warkworth, again though lovely scenery. We are staying 2 nights at Beck’n’Call Guest house and it was nice to make the acquaintance of Mo and Brian who run the B&B We went to Amble in the evening and had a nice sea-side walk followed by fish and chips.

Thursday 6 August
Not much driving today as we spent most of the day at Alnwick Gardens and Castle, only around 6 miles away. The gardens are beautiful and include the Grand Cascade water falls with four different displays on the hour and half hour. We were too late to see the roses at their best. We went into the ‘world’s largest tree house’. Our combined ticket included entry into the Castle where we wandered around for quite a while. The state rooms are very grand with wonderful furniture, beautiful silk wall coverings and millions of pounds worth of paintings on the walls including some by Van Dyke and Canaletto. The day ended with a return visit to Amble to take an hour’s Puffin Cruise out to Coquet Island.We were just a week or so too late to see the puffins as they leave end July/early August but we did see one lone one flying around - disappointingly just a black speck in the distance. We saw many tern and lots of seals popping their heads out of the sea. The day ended with a meal in the Hermitage pub in Warkworth.

Friday 7 Aug
Left the B&B this morning and headed for Edinburgh. On the way we stopped at Bamburgh Castle - a very large and imposing castle on the Northumbrian coast. Time did not allow us to go into the castle so we walked through the sand dunes and along the beach to get the best and most famous view of it. From there we drove up to Holy Island. We crossed the causeway and had a short drive to see Lindisfarne Castle but did not stop as time and tide did not allow. Our next stop was Berwick upon Tweed where we had lunch then had an easy 50 or so mile drive to Edinburgh where we arrived at Judy’s cousin Penny and Peter’s around 3.30pm. Pete did a BBQ for supper and we all enjoyed the ostrich burgers Judy bought in Berwick.

Saturday 8 Aug
This morning, we drove into the city to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia. This beautiful vessel has special significance for me, as my father attended a cocktail party on board her, when the Queen and Duke were visiting Kiribati in the late 1950s. I still have the guilt-edged invitation, which was amongst Dad’s possessions when he died. The yacht is very well maintained and it was fascinating to see the royal bedrooms, plus the crews’ quarters and the sparkling clean engine room.
Tomorrow we drive to Stranraer, where we will spend the night, before boarding the ferry to Belfast, early Monday morning. As none of the B&Bs we will be staying in, in Ireland, appear to have wi-fi, this might be the last blog entry for a while.

P.S. Judy insists that I acknowledge her contribution to the writing of this blog (some people will stop at nothing, to achieve fame).
　

Off Again

The last couple of days in Woking were spent practicing using the Tomtom car navigation system. The tomtom is wonderful but takes a bit of getting used to. Judy has frequent arguments with, "Jane" the disembodied voice which tells her where to go.
We set off on Thursday for Cambridge, stopping off at Hatfield House,childhood home of Elizabeth 1, where we had a guided tour of the house.

We arrived at the home of Judy's friends, Ann and Tony in Shudy Camps (no, that isn't mis-spelt). They have a 700 yr old wattle and daub, thatched cottage. We were fascinated by the construction and spent much time examining the old timbers and the walls and ceilings which had no smooth, flat areas at all. Then we climbed into the roof space and were astounded to see that the original thatch still survived, complete with a coating of soot from the time when there was no chimney. When the roof needs re-thatching, only the rotted outer layer is replaced, leaving the layer nearest the framing intact. Tony and Ann have researched the history of the cottage as far as possible, though records prior to the 1500s are not available.

On Friday, we all went into Cambridge where Tony gave us a guided tour of the university and the associated colleges. The buildings were magnificent, especially Corpus Christi and King's College Chapel (picture below).

Saturday, we drove to Buxton, a very pretty Derbyshire spa town, through rather miserable weather, with rain and fog most of the way. My elderly cousin, Margaret (nee Whalley) lives in Buxton with her husband, Tom and step-daughter, Rachel and I am looking forward to spending some time with them.

First Week in UK

I can't escape this any longer - blog I must (or so Judy tells me).

Our flight from Boston was rather tedious, as the plane was full of small children who cried a lot and were quite distressed, as were their parents. It was impossible to sleep, so we arrived at Dublin airport at 5am, feeling somewhat jaded. Dublin airport was huge and absolutely teeming with people, literally thousands. We had a breakfast of sorts before finding the right gate to board the flight to Heathrow, where we arrived just after 8am and took a bus to Woking.

The weather was wet and rather cold, making us nostalgic for the warm sun of America.

After a couple of days getting organised and catching up with Judy's friends and family, we had a most interesting evening, visiting the London Wetlands Centre. Judy's daughter, Jacky had booked us onto a Bat Watching Tour. We had dinner at the restaurant, before taking a stroll along the paths and boardwalks loooking at an interesting number of waterfowl species as we waited for nightfall.



The Bat Tour began with a talk and video presentation on the seven species of bat which live in the area and then several of us were issued with electronic bat detectors. By tuning into the particular frequency of each bat species, we could pick up their calls and hope for a brief sighting as they swooped by. It was a lovely evening and we picked up several different bat calls while walking around in the dark. It was almost 11pm by the time we left for the half-hour drive back to Judy's. The website is http://www.wwt.org.uk/centre/119/london_wetland_centre.html?gclid=CLrgsLPa-JsCFUQA4wod7Arw-A

On Friday 24th, Judy and I took the train up to London to meet a group of people at the Royal Albert Hall for lunch and a free jazz and blues concert. We walked off lunch with a stroll around Hyde Park and visited the Princess Dianna Memorial Fountain. Even though neither of us had much time for the princess, it was interesting to see the fountain. Then it was back to the Albert Hall for a very informative guided tour with a rather theatrical docent.


















On Saturday my friend Sally (from NZ but now living here) and her husband Clive, took me to their lovely home in Farley Green, for lunch and a walk around the area. It is so pretty there, just the sort of place that we, New Zealanders dream about, with quaint cottages, leafy lanes and green fields with horses and cattle.

In the late afternoon, Jacky hosted a "Welcome Home" BBQ for us and also Mike and his daughter, Emma, who had followed us over from Boston.

Sunday was another BBQ occasion at Mandy's (another of Judy's daughters) to celebrate Desmond's 89th birthday. Desmond is the person who first introduced me to Judy and is an old friend of Heather, my former nextdoor neighbour in Titirangi, Auckland.

So we are now just getting ourselves organised, ready to take off on the UK leg of our big adventure on Thursday.