Lovedean - Saturday and Sunday (walking, travelling home)

Saturday 19 August 2018

The night before I had finally had the chance to book my flight home.  Ken had kindly offered to drop me off at Heathrow airport and he told me that the were so glad that I had picked them up the day before.  There's really not much to it for me.  I do it all the time for my visitors, because I know what a nuisance it can be to drag around heavy luggage.  Anyway, in my booking I had included a seat with extra leg room as it didn't cost the world and the flight was rather cheap in comparison with the one I flew in on all those weeks ago.  Imagine my surprise when Malaysia Airlines sent me an offer to upgrade to business class for a, relative, small amount.  Of course I didn't hesitate one moment, because I have never been given the option before and I know what a difference it can make on a long trip.  I wasn't fortunate enough to get the upgrade (or the option for extra leg room) on my longest stretch though, but beggars can't be choosers and I waited with baited breath on the outcome.  (One's counter offer has to be accepted first.)

As most of the work in the house had been done together with Jose, I didn't need to do much more than update my blog and pack my suitcase, so when Ken had to run an errand and Gill asked me to join her on a walk I gladly did so.  We walked a longer stretch this time, all the way through the fields.  The weather was fine and it wasn't muddy and wet like on the earlier walk.  Because we walked through the fields there were plenty of styles to climb and gates to pass through.  Here follows a collection of the types.

The weight: an ingeneous way to make sure the gate closes

And a few pictures to give you the idea of this walk through the fields.  Of course, big parts of the tracks near the bushes are still lined with blackberry bramble and I can't help myself but stop regularly for a snack.  The stinging nettles don't worry me overly much, but a wasp that stings me does. Ouch!

Close-up of the houses down by the road

We follow the track through the fresh manure ;-)

After this walk, and after lunch I go and pack my bags while Ken and Gill entertain visitors Nikki and Dave, whom have taken us on the walk during our first week in Lovedean.

Next we have dinner, lamb and roasted vegies and apple crumble for dessert.  After we finish the dishes I join Ken and Gill in front of the TV, but I don't really care much for the film.  Neither do they, it appears, so we all have an early night.

Sunday 20 August 2018

This time I complete my blog and include my trip home.  In January I forgot and it's too long ago now to update, because I don't remember much of the last days.

We get up early, of course, and are in no time at Heathrow airport.  I say goodbye to these two lovely people who have quickly become good friends.  After I have checked in sit down with a light breakfast and let friends and family on facebook know that I am on my way home.  I also finish a few Wordfeud games and then it's time to board.  

The flight to Kuala Lumpur is long and uneventful.  Twelve hours, and I don't sleep much, as usual.  I don't care much for the movies that are on offer so I finish a book that Jose has given me before she left.  We arrive in the dark.

Not much of a picture, but this is Kuala Lumpur by night

At Kuala Lumpur airport I look for the Golden Lounge (VIP lounge), as I have been told I at check-in that I should go there and have dinner.  Well, I have had enough to eat on the plane, so I am not real hungry, but there is enough light food on offer at the buffet to pick up a collection of fruit and a piece of pastry to have with my coffee.

I spend the three hours waiting time in the luxury of a soft chair and views of the coming and going of planes.

By 9:30 it's time for boarding again and this time I am lead to the business class section.  I am not disappointed! Wow!  Lots of space and I can even have a massage or lower the seat to stretch out and sleep comfortably, which I do in time...

The service is great, with friendly staff and the food is delicious. Not only is everything served on a real table cloth, but even the table gets taken out and prepared for you.  Just sit back and relax is the business class motto, it seems. :-)

Brunch (and this is only the first part of it)

Satay, a 'light snack' before landing

And all in front of a big screen

Well, I won't forget this trip quickly, and the other great thing is that I was off the plane very fast; going through emigration was no problem; luggage was 'priority' labelled, thus first off the plane; customs was fast, even though I had ticked that I had been on a farm and then there was good, old Kevin waiting for me to take me home.

Another memorable trip behind me....

Lovedean - Thursday and Friday (walking, on the Minstrel)

Thursday 16 August 2018

Thursday was a long day, but not in a bad way.  I just had to get up early to pick up Ken & Gill at Heathrow, which is roughly an hour's drive from here.  The bad part of it was that I had to get up at 4 am and drive in the dark, and part of the way in the rain.  However, it was mainly highway and I only had a slight problem finding the parking lot for terminal 5.

It was great to finally get to meet them personally after all the email messages and skyping with each other.  They are a lovely couple.

We were home pretty early, as you can imagine, and for part of the day we each did our own thing.  By mid afternoon the rain had cleared somewhat and we were all ready for a walk.  They took me to the road opposite the house where I started my earlier walks, but they know the ropes!  You don't walk on the roads apparently, but in the fields, like we did in Wales.  Plenty of styles to climb over, and also plenty of horses to meet on your walk.  I would not have been able to do this on my own, because there are no paths or signs to show you where to go.  It was a lovely walk though and there were again lots of blackberries to snack on.  There were plenty of stinging nettles as well and I will be feeling the stings for days.... ;-)  (I forgot about the plantain at the time)

Gill cooked a nice meal and we had loads of soft fruit for dessert, with a bit of my favourite ice cream: salted caramel.

Oh, and earlier in the day Ken found a nice surprise for me in the mail: a parking fee for having overstayed our parking limit in Waterlooville earlier on!  A hefty one a that: in my currency $110!!!  I could have done pleasanter things with that money. :-(

I finally booked my return trip home, as I had wanted to discuss something about it with Ken & Gill.  I will be leaving early Sunday morning and arrive in Brisbane on Monday night.

After that it didn't take long for the three of us to look up our beds.

Friday 17 August 2018

Ken had been a bit worried about the boat, as the man next to their boat has said that he had had to disconnect the bilge pump.  Without being to technical it was important to find out if one or two bilge pumps had been disconnected as one of them was needed to work regularly to keep the water out.  

So, they offered to go and take me for a ride upstream.  Having had the boat for 25 years, and thus driven the same road for that length of time, they showed me all the quaint little villages with thatched cottages and old churches on the way.  Of course, the navigator had sent us on quite a different route, so Wim and I didn't get to see all that the first time around. 

Although we were on part of the motorway to Winchester, Gill took the country roads on the way back, as the motorway had been quite congested in the morning near one of the big roundabouts.  On the way back it would have been worse as it was Friday afternoon and a lot of people head for the seaside.

We left a bit late for a day out with a long drive, but Ken had to drop off the car that I had driven as it had indeed a slow puncture.  It took us approx. 2 1/2 hours to get to Great Bedwyn and the boat.  When we finally got there it looked like we wouldn't be going anywhere as the people that had used the boat last (home exchangers like us) hadn't shut down the motor properly and the batteries had drained.  Luckily Ken got it going, because the house batteries had enough charge to jump start the other batteries, so off we went.  

Church at Great Bedwyn

Ken let me steer for a bit and I also helped Gill at the locks.  I knew a bit about them by now as I had been watching a tutorial on Youtube. It was no big deal, certainly with two people handling them, but unfortunately we didn't get as far as we had wanted to go.  There was a boat moored inside one of the locks upstream and the owner came out to tell us that the lock had to stay shut for a while.  Some oaf had left the locks open and the upstream part of the canal had been drained of too much water, so the level was very low.  It showed, because a moored boat close to the lock was leaning precariously to one side. 

As we had no need to go any further we turned (Ken's boat is short enough to do so in the wider bits of the canal) and we found a mooring where we had lunch in peace and quiet...

After lunch Ken worked a bit on the boat, as a lot of water still had to be drained, because of the bilge pump not having worked for a while.

When that was done we made our way back, shut up everything and made our way home.

Walking past the church that I had taken a picture of earlier in the day I remembered that there is a whole series of church caches in England, so I looked up quickly if there would be one here, and yes, there was, so I had a quick look and feel and I had a little magnetic cache container in my hand. ;-)

#1984 - Church Micro 1020 - Great Bedwyn (cache)

On the way back I took a picture of a group of houses and a church that I quite liked and hope to draw one day.

We picked up 'Chinese' on the way home, because it was fairly late and of course Gill didn't feel like cooking at that time of the night.

We enjoyed our meal in the orangery, as the weather was still fine and it was actually warm again.  

After dinner it didn't take long for me to feel weary enough to go upstairs and find my bed....

Lovedean - Tuesday and Wednesday (Brighton, Petersfield)

Tuesday 14 August 2018

We've been watching the weather forecast closely, and even if there are a few changes, they are minor.  We were therefore hoping the weather would be good on Tuesday, because it was our last chance for visiting Brighton.

And even though the sun disappeared now and then, the weather looked well enough to hold and we set off on our trip.  The tyre had also kept its air, so everything was looking good.  It was supposed to be a 1-1/2 hour trip, but on the Brighton foreshore there was so much congestion that it took a few changes of traffic lights to get us through.  As we had seen an ambulance racing past us with flashing lights we expected there to have been an accident.  When finally the first car park came into view we pulled in and found a spot.  Not cheap at £10 for 4 hours, but you can't expect anything less so close to the pier and centre of Brighton.  We were happy to pay and walk the short distance to the nearest pier.  This was to be the East Pier, as the West Pier had been destroyed by fire in 2003. I vaguely remembered this calamity, but had to look it up to find out if my memory hadn't been playing tricks.

Brighton foreshore, with its stately age-old hotels, the elegant East Pier, the pebble beaches with deck-chairs and the rows and rows of beach huts was everything I had expected.  For me it was a must see, because it appears in so many books I have read and I had become quite intrigued by it.

(Photograph pinched from the internet)

As we had arrived a lot later than planned we got ourselves a box of hot chips for lunch and sat down at the seaside, just watching people go by...

After that we walked onto the Pier where we avoided the crowded game hall, proudly called "The Brighton Palace".  The reason why eluded me.... The reason why so many people want to spend so much money on noisy, flickering machines that gobble up coins, eluded me too...

We kept walking, first on the windy side and ended up at the rides section.  Busy and noisy as well, but not as oppressive.  

We walked back on the lee side and followed the example of many other people who enjoyed a quiet moment on a deck-chair in the sun.

Waiting for the sun to come out again

And there she is... :-)

After all the walking we were due for a cup of coffee, for which we hadn't had time all day.  We sat down at the restaurant and watched the greedy seagulls polishing off a plate of French fries while sipping our coffee.

I also had the Royal Pavilion on my bucket list for the day, so after we had enough of the Pier we walked the 10 minutes to the Pavilion.  As we were a bit strapped for time by then we just walked around the grounds, taking it all in and taking pictures as well, without getting tickets to see it all inside.

By now our parking time was about to expire, so we walked back and made it just in time, with only three minutes to spare.  No time for poor Jose to find a toilet, but we would try and stop on the way home if possible.

As it was, we made two stops, because the car's tyre had to be filled up again and later we made another pit stop where we also bought a quick snack, because I started to feel peckish and it was still quite a trip home.  We even got diverted by our navigator because of severe congestion, but were home in time for dinner.

After dinner we had to get quite busy, because it was Jose's last day and I had to move to a different room.  We vacuumed, dusted, cleaned toilets, showers and floors and still had time to sit down for a last glass of wine together to reminisce about the past week.

Another great day, and great week, to remember.

Wednesday 15 August 2018

Today is Jose's last day, but since we have done most of the work yesterday we can take it easy.  Jose pops the bedlinen and towels in the washing machine and only needs to pack her last things.

While chatting I discover a small deer in the back yard.  Something I really hadn't expected here.

A cup of coffee together, after breakfast, is all we have time for, as she decides to leave an hour earlier so that she has some extra time to look around at Waterloo and St Pancras stations.  Not a bad idea.

At 9:30 am we drive off to Petersfield where we have to say goodbye.  We had a great time together and goodbye won't be for very long as the plan is that I'll be back in the Netherlands next year.  In the meantime we've got our Whatsapp messages and Wordfeud game to keep in touch. ;-)

When the train leaves I quickly drive around Petersfield for a bit of sightseeing, because I haven't been able to do so before.  Unfortunately it's pay-and-display everywhere and I am not that interested at the end of my stay here, so I make my way to the Lidl to get some groceries to tie me over for the next few days.  As they don't have everything I need I also pull into Morrisons' later for the rest and then I go home.

After lunch there still is a lot to do.  Washing and drying a double lot of bedlinen and towels, making the beds, swapping rooms with all my stuff, cleaning kitchen, bathroom and toilet (my side), getting rid of rubbish and then I can finally sit down and relax until dinner time...

After dinner I write my blog and am going to have an early night as Ken and Gill will be coming home tomorrow and I am going to pick them up at Heathrow airport at 5 am!!!  ;-)