May 2016
A road trip full of discovery, reminiscing and laughter!
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| Mum and Dukie getting acquainted |
I knew from the Emirates website that Mum's flight was delayed but I decided to head in early anyway. With my welcome sign in tow, I arrived at Heathrow and when I saw Mum coming through the gates it was just the best thing ever!! Back at the flat Mum was formally introduced to Duke Fluffington, Mike got home from work and the four of us had dinner and a lovely catch up.
We started Thursday with a trip up the London Eye, followed by lunch at the Borough Markets. We spent the afternoon at St Paul's Cathedral and timed our arrival fortuitously so that it coincided with a guided tour which was fantastic, and an orchestra that was rehearsing for a performance that evening. We completed our visit by whispering across the Whispering Gallery upstairs in the dome. Magical. As an early birthday present I got Mum tickets to the Kinky Boots musical which was fantastic!
Friday morning we ventured across the city to Walthamstow where Karl & Maggie Buhler's daughters Meg and Rosie own a cafe, Buhler & Co. Karl and Maggie graze their dairy heifers at the farm so the family friendship goes way back. And it just so happened that they were in town too! We had a beautiful brunch with them and I can't wait to return!
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| The best baked eggs in town |
With perfect park weather there was no where to go but Hyde Park. With '99p Flakes' in hand we wandered about people-watching - from the incredibly talented rollerbladers practising tricks to bonny little dogs and the handsome swans. We were meandering along the Serpentine when all of a sudden a small child started wailing. His ball was in the drink and floating out to sea. I saw a mop at a nearby shop, Mum grabbed my handbag and I dashed along to grab it. I came back and reached out to get it but it had traveled too far out. There was only one thing for it. I threw one arm out to the mum, a lovely Indian lady, and yelled, "Grab hold of me"! She quickly cottened on and now anchored, I leant out at an alarming angle over the water. Her friend went to grab her for extra support but there was no need - success! I'd managed to capture the escapee! The mother and her friend were delighted and thanked me for my daring rescue. I fished the ball out, leaned down to the tearful little lad and gave him back his treasured possession. He took one look at the ball, looked up at me and shrieked, "Clean it!!!" The ungrateful little bugger!
Having risked me and my phone to the murky depths, it was time for a well deserved drink. Mum and I walked down the canal to the Grand Union where we met Mike and shared a jug of Pimms!
Day 1: London - Exeter
Mum and I set off on our journey around England on Saturday 7 May in our trusty Fiat loaded with a ready supply of almonds, soft figs and bananas and guided by our TomTom, 'Meg' (shut up Meg!).
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| On the road |
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| Fields and fields of rapeseed |
Our first stop was to visit Aunty Dee and Uncle Eric who live in a beautiful little village called Staurton Caundle. For those playing at home, Aunty Dee is Magsie's cousin. It was a lovely and emotional reunion - Mum hadn't seen them for more than twenty years. For me, it was the first time meeting them after hearing about them my whole life over mugs of tea at Magsie and Grampa's and I can only describe them as the lovliest people. Two hours flew by, full of laughter, reminiscing, countless cups of tea and a delicious spread of home baking.
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| Aunty Dee and Uncle Eric! |
We drove on and eventually reached our first nights' accommodation which turned out to be a fairly grim backpackers. Let's say it needed a woman's touch. That was incidentally our last back-packers and we opted for bed and breakfasts from there out. We gave it a crack! I digress. Having checked in, the first priority was food. We sent off into the town centre and duly found some bits and bobs for dinner and breakfast the next day. On our way back to the backpackers we wandered past the magnificent Exeter Cathedral to admire it and low and behold, a number of people were pouring in. Outside there was parked a tour bus. We followed the stragglers in, found a pew at the side and what a stroke of luck - a free concert! It was only after a few minutes that we realised we had gate crashed the ticketed Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concert during the interval! I doubt many other audience members returned after the first half with a bag of groceries from Tescos!
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| Exeter Cathedral replete with orchestra |
Day 2: Exeter - Mevagissey
We celebrated Mothers Day with breakfast and presents in bed, after which we set off through the Countryside to Lustleigh, Cawsand & Kingston and Polperro. Whilst in Cornwall, we shared a Cornish Pasty, as you do.
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| Freaky Polperro puppet |
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| Looks like a wet street. Look again. |
Our port for the night was to be Mevagissey, where Mum holidayed with Magsie, Grampa and Joey some 40 years ago. Even the sweet shop was still there! Mevagissey fast became one of my favourite destinations. After checking into Tregorran Guest House, we had some of the best fish and chips on the harbour complete with a feisty flock of gulls, a hissing swan and a very well fed pet cat.
Day 3: Mevagissey - Axbridge
We set off from Mevagissey after a hearty breakfast served by our lovely hosts Danny and Helen and travelled to Marazion to take in the beautiful sights of St Michael's Mount - an historic castle and Parish accessible by the causeway at low tide.
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| St Michael's Mount |
Off we trundled to Lands End and Port Isaac, home to one of the filming locations of Doc Martin.
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| Doc Martin's house |
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| Mmmm clotted cream |
During the time on the road Mum really enjoyed listening to BBC Radio who regularly played songs from her her childhood that would never be played on the radio in NZ.
What should have been a fairly straight-forward journey on to Axbridge was side-tracked by a massive detour thanks to some positively ridiculous detour signs and a Google alert of a road closure that wasn't closed when we attempted to pass through!
We finally arrived at our beautiful accommodation in Axbridge, Cheddar - The Oak Tree Inn - a gorgeous wee place on The Square situated right next door to the town Church who were practising ringing the bells!
We popped down for dinner in the bar and shared local Somerset cider, cheddar and leek bon bons and a stromboli - delish!
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| The Oak Tree Inn |
Day 4: Axbridge - Hay-on-Wye
Tuesday - Cheddar Gorge was today's first port of call. Pretty, but nothing on New Zealand's landscape. Next stop, Avebury stone circle, the world's largest! Parking has been the bane of this trip. Everywhere you go is Pay & Display, or there's none at all. In this case it cost £7.00 for 'all day parking' and we only wanted a quick look! Nonetheless, it was worth it. The circle was built about 5000 years ago and no one knows why for sure. In Avebury the locals tried to pull a stone down and it promptly squished a visiting surgeon-barber and that put paid to that idea.
To the Cotswolds! Bibury first to admire Arlington Row.
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| Arlington Row |
Then to Bourton-on-the-Water to traipse around the model village of the village (1/9th of the size). It was brilliant! After a quick Kelly's Cornish ice cream we decided we would head West to Wales. As Mum drove I scouted for accommodation on the iPad and found an inn near Hay-on-Wye, the Rhydspence.
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| The Model Village |
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| Model village of the Model Village of the village |
Day 5: Hay-on-Wye - Aberystwyth
Off we went on a mission to find the hometown of Stacey, Nessa, Gwyn and Uncle Bryn. No relations of ours of course, but the fictional characters from one of our favourite t.v. shows Gavin and Stacey! And it was right lush, yeah! (To be read in a Welsh accent!). We found lots of familiar sights; the amusement park, Marco's cafe, the local chippy and the beach where they were often found.
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| It's right lush, yeah? |
Next stop: Tenby. We headed to the historic fishing town with the small hope of finding Mike's Aunty Anne at her place of work, but unfortunately she wasn't in town. Mike and I will definitely be back to visit. Tenby was gorgeous!
Our last stop for the day was Aberystwyth. We found a quaint BnB, called Penybont, which we've become very adept at finding each day at about 5:00pm when we arrive somewhere. A quick Trip Advisor search renders a twin or double room for £60-£70 usually including breakfast. After a curry at the local Indian and a brisk walk around the waterfront and castle ruins we were ready for bed.
Day 6: Aberystwyth - Windermere
A day for driving (a lot of which we had a lot to do), we set Meg on a scenic tour of Snowdonia National Park before getting us to Rochdale to visit Anne's mum May.
A day for driving (a lot of which we had a lot to do), we set Meg on a scenic tour of Snowdonia National Park before getting us to Rochdale to visit Anne's mum May.
We had a lovely visit and met her twin sister Madge (who lives across the road) before setting off for our final destination for the day, some indeterminate location in the Lake District. We settled on Windermere, a beautiful township set on the lake and within minutes had found The Merewood Country House. After retiring to the drawing room to take our supper, we agreed it would do just nicely.
Day 7: Windermere - Eskdale
Off to the township of Windermere. We happened upon some bacon sarnies and tea for two which was just the right fuel for a boat cruise around Windermere lake. A boat change in Ambleside and quick pit stop at the Wray Castle cafe later, and we were ready for a one and a half hour walk along the lake to our third and final ferry. The scenery was beautiful.
On May and Madge's recommendation we tootled along to Ambleside and picked up some apple pie (amaze) from the aptly named Apple Pie Shop before our final stop for the day, Eskdale. As it turned out, what we should also have picked up was some diesel. We were slightly less than a quarter of a tank and although we only had just over an hour to go, the terrain was so steep over the mountains it was breathtaking. 'Hardknott Pass' was appropriately named. Neither of us had ever seen anything so steep, and only on the thinnest of sealed roads. Mum handled it like an absolute champ and did a spectacular job of navigating the oft-blind path, coupled with the impending lack of diesel and zero phone signal. Although not classically pretty, the 'fells' (high and barren landscapes) were quite remarkable.
Cyclists here aren't courteous in the slightest and we met a few of the mad buggers along the way. We finally made it to the other side and on the smell of an oily rag and directions from some friendly locals, we made it to a petrol station. Immense relief. Passing the peacocks, dogs and hens on the green along the driveway to the magnificent Irton Hall was a welcome sight! Although The Oak House in Axbridge was fantastic, Irton Hall was our favourite place we stayed. It was so grand but so peaceful. Mum didn't want to leave :-)
It transpired later on that we had inadvertently taken the steepest road in England which has a maximum gradient of 1 in 3 (about 33%). All in a day's work!
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| Image courtesy of Google image search / someone else's blog |
Our last day of our road trip! It had come to an end all too quickly. We set off North toward Cockermouth, then East to Darlington via Keswick. Arriving in High Coniscliffe and seeing Mum reunited with Uncle Tom and Aunty Carol after some 25 years was very emotional. We spent a wonderful evening with them with lots of catching up to do. Sunday dawned bright and clear and the four of us set out for a walk around the fields. I said my goodbye's and then we went and had a lovely lunch with cousin Katharine, Muthlu, Chris, Jamie, Suzi and Zak. After lunch, Mum dropped me off at the train station and I caught the three-hour train back to London to do a spot of work.
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| Where grampa used to live. |
We had such a fantastic holiday! Mum has been in Darlington for a week now catching up with other family and friends. She's set to drive back to London on Thursday 26 May where she'll drop the car off at Heathrow and I'll meet her there so we can meet Dad at the gates, who is set to arrive at 12:15pm for the next part of our holiday. I can't wait!!
In summary...
The best things:
- Spending time together
- Sharing the 'Escape to the Country' experience -all those episodes in real life
- All the laughs!
- The clotted cream teas.
- The road-trip music kindly provided by BBC Radio
- The countless cups of tea
- Visiting friends and family
The less than best things:
- Park, pay and walk!
- Too many friggen tourists - "what are they doing on my trip"!
- Flatulence and snoring!
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