Thursday 30 August 2018

Dubai

Arrived in Dubai at around 4.30 am after a reasonable flight (7.5 hours) - if there is such a thing. 

Spoke with  James who was awake in London and following our flight. 

Had about an hour stopover before boarding for the flight to Brunei. 
Dubai Airport walkway - I know, poor excuse for a photo!
Another uneventful flight to Brunei, arriving at around 5.30 pm after an eight hour flight. here we had a two and half-hour wait for the flight to Melbourne. We left at 8.00 pm for the last leg to Oz.
Brunei

Wednesday 29 August 2018

Leaving London Day

It rained heavily overnight and this morning, at the same time we were reading headlines in the Oz papers that Melbourne was experiencing their coldest morning in fifty years. It looks like we have dodged a bullet with the Hobart weather too, a high of 1 to a low of -1 - yeeps!
Piccadilly Circus - London

Regardless, we finished our packing this morning and then Jim came by and took us to Heathrow. 

It is always a sad day leaving Maddie and James - it seems so long for when we will see them again!

We passed through the system at terminal 4 without a hitch. Flight to Dubai was about three-quarters of an hour late in departing.  

Tuesday 28 August 2018

Chiswick, Penultimate Day - Theatre

Last full day in London! Spent most of the morning sorting out all the gear we had accumulated over the past seven years. Some hard decisions as to what we pack and what we toss!

We spent some time taking a walk along the high street at Chiswick before returning to the flat for some lunch and preparing to go to the theatre with James. 

James took us for a meal before attending the wonderful musical “Tina”. 
“Tina” was a superb musical. Tina, Adrienne Warren, had received fantastic reviews and she didn’t let us down tonight.
  

Friday 17 August 2018

Hanwell - Dining & Theatre

We spent a leisurely morning at Maddie and Kevan’s house. An early morning walk was part of the day, then did some shopping, before relaxing during the afternoon.  

We later left for Covent Garden where we met Kevan for a meal, before we going to the theatre. 

The restaurant was the Barafina in Dury Lane. This was a Spanish tapas-bar designed around servings family style Spanish meals. The concept was  a particularly open arrangement with the chefs cooking the food on the other side of the counter. The food was absolutely delicious. 




Then to fill in time we stopped at The Nell of Old Drury for a drink before moving onto the Duchess Theatre. 




The show at the Dutchess Theatre was called The Play that Goes Wrong, a very hilarious comedy. It was incredible to see the timing required by the actors to fit in with the catastrophic happens with the set destruction. A very funny and entertaining show. Thanks Kevan and Maddie. 



Thursday 16 August 2018

Bye, Bye Hilton

Just the day we didn’t want it to rain, it did! Poor Hilton, on his last trip with us, had to endure very trying conditions! 

We had planned for a final clean out this morning but the heavy rain put a stop to that. Nevertheless, we were able to stack our gear up on the seats and do a fair job of the cleaning. 

The trip to High Wycombe promised to be problematic given that there had been a very serious traffic jam around our area from the early hours of the morning. We got caught up in parts of this as we drove to Andrew and Toni’s Home for the change over. 

Andrew was out front, in the rain, as we drove up the driveway. We welcomed him into his new “home” and proceeded to go through the list of items we wanted to show him.  

During this process James arrived to collect our cases and bags - seemed to be much more than we anticipated! 

Having shown Andrew all the idiosyncrasies of Hilton, we sat down, completed the transfer  of ownership requirements and handed over the keys - Hilton was gone! Very sad 😢. 

So many fine memories over the past seven European summers. 









Best wishes to Toni and Andrew, the new custodians of Hilton. 


James called by and picked us up - with all our luggage - and drove us to Maddie and Kevan's place. It was still raining heavily when we arrived but it was a nice warm welcome from Maddie. Later the skies cleared and we went for a walk around Hanwell - the first we had done in a couple of days.




Wednesday 15 August 2018

Runnymede

Gomshall was a great place to stop overnight. We left there relatively early, sadly knowing this was the last full day in Hilton. 
 
Not far from Gomshall is the delightful medieval village of Shere, once described as the ‘wildest’ in Surrey with sheep stealers, smugglers and poachers finding refuge in the surrounding hills. Shere is also noted for a man being charged for playing cricket on the sabbath - this was 1671 and one of the first ever mentions of cricket. 



We stopped at Newland’s Corner for a few moments to take in the very picturesque view across the valley. 


After this, we drove on Guilford to do a little shopping before continuing on to the Thames at Runnymede - famous for the 1215 signing of Magna Carta. 

Magna Carta forms an important symbol of liberty today, often cited by politicians and campaigners.  It has been described as "the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot". Little did the self-interested barons know that it was the foundation of the protection of all citizens. 

We had lunch in the grassy surrounds of the Runnymede ancient meadow. We took a walk around the site, taking in an interesting art work of Hew Locke called “The Jurors”. This work or art was commemorating the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. 
 The Juror is 12 bronze chairs, each decorated with images and symbols of past and present struggles for freedom. 




After a conversation with an English chap about world politics and cricket,  we went back to Englefield Green to clean and pack up the van ready for the handing over tomorrow. (Sadly)

Tuesday 14 August 2018

Gomshall

On the road early this morning after our farewells with Fran. It had been a very pleasant two days with her - as it always is.

We made our way up the A3 motorway to the village of Gomshall, just east of Guildford. It was here that we had planned to meet former colleagues, Norma and Colin, for lunch.

On Colin’s recommendation, we met at the old Gomshall Mill.  The Gomshall Mill is a 17th-century riverside mill building with the river running right through the middle. It also serves the most delicious meals!

By coincidence, Norma and Colin arrived at exactly the same time that we did - and coming from opposite directions. It was great to enjoy their company for a drink outside the pub before taking in the ambiance of the dining area inside. 


The Gomshall Mill was once an important corn mill,  and now the best pub in Surrey in 2018. There was a corn mill here from the time of Domesday in 1086.  Its use as a corn mill continued throughout the medieval period. In the 17th century it served as two mills, one for corn and one for malt. After its closure in 1953, the mill lay derelict until 1964, when the building was converted into a restaurant and antique shop, whilst still retaining much of its machinery.





It was much later in the afternoon that we said goodbye to Norma and Colin. 

We stayed at Gomshall for our overnight stop. 

Monday 13 August 2018

Abbotts Ann

What a lovely quiet village. Not many places around the UK that you are free from the world of motorways and heavily trafficked roads. Abbotts Ann is one such village.  

A very relaxing day. Painted Fran’s shed a greyish colour to match the garden setting. Did some reading, talking, drinking and eating - a good way to spend a day!

Had a walk around Abbotts Ann, a very quaint ancient village. First settled in around 50BC, it has seen Romans, Norman, abbotts and a father of a Prime Minister making significant contributions to the village over 2000 years. The name Ann comes from the Celtic “Anne” meaning ash tree stream. 

Fran’s house is the old school house built originally in the 18th century by the developer of the very first iron plough.  












Sunday 12 August 2018

London-Abbots Ann

A very quiet night in Hanwell. During the morning we joined Maddie at a small coffee place in Hanwell before venturing off to see some houses she and Kevan were interested in.  

Kevan met us a little later and then we made our way to Ealing for some lunch at a rather special burger place. 

On the way there,  we came across the Thurkkai Temple of Ealing's chariot festival. This Hindu chariot festival originated in Jagannatha Puri on the east coast of India and dates back over 2,000 years. 

Today we saw three large, brightly coloured “chariots”, being led through the streets accompanied by musicians.
Worshippers in traditional costumes followers the chariots. Spectators carried plastic baskets filled with offerings, such as fruit and coconut halves, for the gods.




We had a very tasty burger for lunch. Then we walked back to Hanwell, met James to hand over a case of our clothes before leaving for Abbotts Ann to visit our friend Fran. 

Leaving London on a Sunday afternoon we thought would be an easy task!  The traffic was horrendous but with some rerouting from Google Maps we were able to miss the worst of it. 

After a slow trip we arrived safely at Abbotts Ann where we spent the very pleasant night with Fran. 




Saturday 11 August 2018

Hanwell

Up early this morning to beat the traffic into London, but, surprise! surprise! a traffic jam on the M25! Another early morning accident which caused a massive slowdown on the M25 even before the sun had fully risen above the horizon.  

We arrived at Hanwell in time to select a safe and accessible parking location - a short distance from Kevan and Maddie’s house. Not an easy task to find parking in the streets around Hanwell. 

We had planned to meet Maddie later in the morning but found our plans were completely upended by the last thing we thought might happen - the van wouldn’t start. After all the miles we had done, and all the different places etc that we had travelled, right at the end of our trip we have a flat battery. You wouldn’t believe it! 

Our only thoughts were to get the van started and to locate a auto business that would sell and fit a battery - on a Saturday afternoon! We contacted the road side assist in an endeavour to jump start the van, but this was going to take at least another hour!  The roadside assist was just booked when James turned up and we decided to jump start from his car to save time. This being successful we then canceled the roadside assist and drove to the battery replacement centre and had a new battery fitted. 

After all the drama we returned to Maddie’s place for the afternoon and the evening. It was lovely to be with her and Kevan, catching up on all the news. 






 

Friday 10 August 2018

Greys Court

The doona was used for the first time in months last night!  The weather has changed and we are much happier with the new conditions. Even the oaks and the chestnut trees are showing signs of an early autumn. 

After a late night at the Dashwood Arms, we were a little slow getting going this morning. We decided to spend the day at  Greys Court, a National Trust property not too far away.  We are glad that we hadn’t planned anything else because the rain came with a vengeance. 

We refused to get out in it like many of the hardier Brits were doing. By early afternoon the skies had cleared and we were able to stroll around Greys Court garden and house. 



Crocheted afternoon tea!
Greys Court goes back to 1066 when the King, William the Conqueror (formerly, William the Bastard!), wanted to reward loyal noblemen by granting huge parcels of land. Initially, a fortified castle was built, only later being partially pulled down and the materials used in the building of the existing property. 

The Great Tower is a relic of the early fortifications. In fact, the 900 year old wall has just recently been destroyed - it literally collapsed after 900 years - due to age and the weather. 


Greys Court’s Donkey Wheel is an interesting survivor from the 16th century, being the oldest of only 2 surviving in the country. From the 12th century, the well was used to provide  water from the 200 feet deep well (all dug by hand!). It kept the house in water, from the 16th century until 1914 the donkey wheel did the raising of the water. The water was raised by the donkey walking in the wheel which lifted the water buckets. 



The rain held off for the rest of the afternoon. Our drive back towards London took us through the scenic town of Henley-on-Thames. 


After a visit to the supermarket we returned to Englefield Green for the evening. 

Thursday 9 August 2018

High Wycombe

Our overnight stop at Englefield Green is always a good stopover. Although it is on the flight path of Heathrow we were not disturbed by the flights at all. The early morning flights all seemed to be landing from the other approach to the airport, so there was only a very faint rumble from that direction.

Today was the day that we had to commence the process of showing Hilton to prospective new owners! A bitter sweet day for he has been such a great home for us for the past seven European Summers. 

We spent most of the morning decluttering and just generally cleaning and tidying the van. Whilst doing this we had a call from James who suggested he dropped around with some coffees, which he duly did. We had planned to wash the van but with the rain still falling it became a pointless exercise. 

By mid afternoon we were back on the road to High Wycombe to meet Toni and Andrew, who had expressed a very positive response to our add.  We had a very warm reception from them and their daughter, Charmaine. After much discussion over a coffee and cake Hilton was on the cusp of having new owners. 

We left Toni and Andrew’s home just as the rain started to fall heavily. We spoke with Madeleine and James before we drove on to our overnight stop - still pouring with rain. 

We believe Hilton will be going to very caring new owners. 

Wednesday 8 August 2018

Back to Blighty

As the rain commenced in Esquelbecq, we packed up the van and drove on to Dunkirk to do a  final shop, before catching the ferry at Calais. By the time we reached Dunkirk, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining through again.  

Interestingly, a French guy warned us about itinerants wandering around the large parking lot, and advised us to be very careful with our things. As it turned out, there was no threat, or apparent threat, of any kind. 

We had our dinner here before we drove on to Calais - it was raining again. We turned off the motorway to the port about 6km from the actual port, and for the whole 6km there was double fences with razor wire on the top of each fence, and between the fences, attempting to ensure that truck or cars cannot be interfered with. All along the motorway electronic warnings were flashing notices to motorist to be aware that objects may be thrown onto the highway in order to stop the traffic. At no stage did we see any evidence of this. 

The UK Border Security gave our passports the most thorough check that we had ever had! It held us up for about ten minutes while they did their probe. Normally it is about one minute to pass through this part of the port. At the next stage we were given a good search by the French Police looking for any unauthorised person that may be concealed in, or on, the van. 


The passage to Dover was about an hour and a quarter, where we disembarked, drove to the harbour esplanade where we spent the night, along with other motorhomes. 

Anyone passing through the system of the Calais-Dover crossing could not but shake their heads at the Brexit cretans who believe that a hard Brexit is the answer! 16,000 lorries pass through this port on a daily basis - get real!

We woke this morning to a cooler Dover morning, took a long walk along the waterfront and just soaked in the view. (Last evening the lights of France were quite clear.) 

Later we tackled the M20 and the M25 motorways, we were doing okay until we got around near the M3 intersection and then the notorious traffic jams kicked in!  

James had followed our journey and decided to meet us for lunch, which was very pleasant to catch up with him after a few months away. 
We later stayed at Englefield Green for our overnight stop.