Found a hotel adjacent to the motorway near Arundel Castle and a BP station and MacDonalds. Great to see the green countryside, narrow lanes and passing showers again. Real Beer too though I was not in a fit shape to partake just yet.
Public Holiday (long weekend) so the traffic was pretty heavy. Didnt help when 4 lanes of traffic belting along had to be squeezed into a single lane due to a truck break down ahead of us. When we finally got passed the #$@# thing, it turned out to be a Highway Maintenance truck! No bonus for you this week.
Cruised down past Abbotskerswell and met up finally with Bryan Juliet Sylvia and Jason at Fernway Garden Center. Wonderful to see them all, B and J the same, Sylvia a little taller but Jason has shot up into a wee lad now. Big hugs all around then we jumped into our cars to check BJs new house to be in Ipplepen, a few km down the road. Bigger house, detached and room for the kids to grow. Excellent purchase I reckon.
Great to get our washing washed and dried, excellent weather too. Had lunch in a Garden Center, the kids had tremendous joy fun splashing in the water trough there. Old church next door which had people dressed in their best turning up to, so we had to wait for the bride who was suitably late - the bells rang out (a little out of tune I thought) and everyone was happy. Sylvia was a little disappointed with the dress I think.
Off to ???? Estate. Beautifully maintained grounds, old as - Roman origins - and naturally haunted. Juliets sister who had studied here swears she had seen a ghost in the grounds after a night out. Then everyone came out with their ghost stories so it was an interesting afternoon sitting in the gardens supping on english ale (and Bourbon & coke). Another wedding inside the Grand Hall so Sylvia was excited too.
Next day we had a day out taking the Devon steam train from Totnes to ???? beside the River ??? up to a Butterfly farm and Otter refuge. Steam engines are a huge thing here with wonderful display of some of the originals and everything in keeping with the age of steam, including some of the weird characters who run the place. Butterfly farm was warm and wonderful, the flying things werent too bad either. Otter refuge was a high light, a commited had 8 pens with otters from all over the world, feeding them as he went pen to pen with a bit of background on each. One wasnt hungrey as he had just caught a seagull, maybe we should employ them in New Brighton for a bit of pest control there.
Monday was over to Dartmoor to the wee village of Widdicombe in the Moor where we had a great old fashioned Pub Meal and a pint at the Rugglestone Inn. The white ducks beside the creek running through the garden really made the scene into one from the Puddleducks. No sneaky foxes but lots of weird chickens cleaning up the grounds. Juliets sister, Helen, and her Mother had joined us so it was a real family get together, I suspect Bryan has a lot to do with Juliets family as they are pretty close knit, good for the kids to have a lot of family support.
Tuesday was settiing out for Wales via Exeter after sorting out our money.Said our goodbyes and left our temporary home. Bit of a worry navigating our way out of the maze that surrounds Little Hempston. All the tiny lanes look the same, especially if you are lost. Fortunately no large white vans this time and everyone is polite, backing back to the last passing bay for you most of the time. Eventually found our own way to town, meet up with Bryan one last time then off to Wales via the M4 past Exeter and Bristol. Missed a few turnoffs so saw some scenery three times but all was good.
Cruised up to Abergavenny in mid Wales and found ourselves in a Paraplegic unit with so much room.Had a meal in the hotel, probably the worst ever, but maybe we were spoilt by the excellent French cuisine aboard La Belle. I still wasnt that great next day so we found a medical center and managed to get some antibiotics. Then off to see the sea at the furtherest point, zooming along various roads finally reaching ???? where thousands of tourists obviously flock to every year. Nice sandy beach but windblown much like Waimairi beach at home. The return plan was over the Brecon Beacons and back down to Abergavenny to stay another night. Rolling countryside and cute villages every few km with unpronouncable Welsh names made it seems quite foreign. Up and over the high bleak hills of the Beacons with rain and mist swirling around it seemed appropriate to come across a castle, Craig-y-nos, with a pub and hotel. Naturally popped in for a pint and a chat with some Poms who were staying in the haunted room. They seemed pretty relaxed about it really.
Home to Abergavenny where we ate out. We had a relaxing morning next day and off to Bristol Airport to find a pub to stay the night. Getting the hang of this Motorway driving with only one mistake which cost us a lot of time as we went back into rush hour Bristol! Finally found our way and found an old Pub (The Crown) with no rooms no patrons but great atmosphere. Drowned our sorrows then went to another pub which was very rough then finally slept in a featureless airport hotel which did the trick.
Flew out to Zurich via Amsterdam early the next day. The flight from Amsterdam was stopped for an hour while we changed planes as our one was missing a part. KLM Airlines is not on my list of preferential airlines anymore. We were then delayed further as the plane taking off prior had a bird strike and had to land again. Crikey time to go by train I reckon.
Finally up and away and landed in Zurich shortly thereafter.
No comments:
Post a Comment