Journey Home

Last Monday was packing day. It was a matter of collecting up all our 'stuff' and squeezing it into our suitcases. Fortunately we hadn't spent money on purchases or souvenirs so it wasn't too difficult a task. The most important thing is to make sure nothing is left behind. I also scrubbed the soles of our shoes with an old toothbrush as we had been on a farm and we know NZ border control would need to check them. It is aeasier to do it yourselves than waste time later having them do it.

 

Stephen also had one last minute job to help with - the painting of the living room door. He had already spent some time on it, stripping paint from it and cutting it to the correct frame space. As it is an older house none of the walls are straight or square.

 

 

Our flight was at 1:35pm from Heathrow airport and Jessica had said she was happy to drive us. The trip takes you down the M1 and the M25 and on a good run can take as little as an hour twenty or a good two hours with heavy traffic. So we left just after 9am to give ourselves plenty of time. We were very lucky and made it just over an the hour, as Jessica told us the next day there was an accident on the M1 and there were long delays. We checked in, had a coffee and said our farewells to Jess. A sad time but we had had a lovely holiday and time with her and Andrew and knowing that we can communicatethrough Skype and emails mdoes make it easier.

 

The flight was on time and we were spent 12 hours+ flying to Singapore. We arrive after 9am and our stopover was 11hours. We had considered doing one of the two hour tours that are offered to transit passengers but we were feeling quite jaded having not slept so we found a sleep zone with full recliner chairs and rested and slept till mid afternoon. By that stage we flagged the tour, collected our Changi free vouchers for transit passengers ($40 each) and set about spending them. By the time we had something to eat, chose some duty free gin and spent the remaining money on some chocolate we had very little time left before it was time to board our next flight. This flight is under 10 hours and this makes such a difference. We were very pleased though to land in Christchurch as once again we hadn't been able to sleep. Passport control is very easy these days, with it all being done electronically. The slowest part is waiting for your luggage. The border security were very happy with our shoes so we were quickly through that check and out to the arrival hall where Keith, my brother in law, was waiting for us.

 

We spent the day out at Lincoln, keeping ourselves awake, which included a walk around some of the new subdivisions, and an enjoyable meal that Doug joined us for. After showing Barbara and Keith some of our photos we headed off to bed about 9pm and managed to sleep until 7am. We headed to Geraldine to see my Mum and Dad and stayed two more nights before heading down here to Clyde yesterday(Sunday). What a beautiful day for a drive. The skies were clear giving us good views of the mountains and making the lakes a brilliant blue and the roads were quiet. We really do live in a great country.

 

 

 

 

It is 11 weeks since we left Clyde to start this journey and it is good to be home. Spring is definitely here (though frosts are still occurring) with lots of blossom and spring flowers about. A far cry from the miserable winter conditons we left at the end of June. It is time to settle now for a while. We have a trip or two to Invercargill and the cleaning job in the camping ground in Clyde again over the Christmas/summer holidays but otherwise we have a 'blank canvas' at this stage. The blog therefore is now going to take a break until a new project or trip is happening.

 

 

 

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Our last outing

On Sunday we went out on our last outing before starting our journey home. This time it was to a local food festival in nearby Holdenby. The setting was at Holdenby House, the remaining building of the famous Holdenby Palace built in 1583 and the biggest private house in England at the time. The property has had a rather checkered past since then and further information can be found at this link http://www.holdenby.com/house-history.php

 

 

 

 

The house today is only part of the original palace but it has been restored in recent times and it is open t the public at various times throughout the year as well as being available for hire for weddings and functions. The Northampshire Food Festival was held in the grounds on Sunday and we spent several hours enjoying the displays, the gardens, a look through parts of the house, a talk about the production on a local boutique gin and some lunch. Before leaving we watched a falconry display which was great. There were owls, kites, falcons and a buzzard.

 

To finish our day we went out for a meal at the local hotel, The Hopping Hare where we enjoyed a very enjoyable meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Lion King

I have always wanted to see this stage show. I am quite familiar with both the music and the story, having used the music at school music festivals in my past life, and enjoying the film when the children were young. We missed an opportunity to see it in Sydney last year, only realising it was being performed when we were there so we booked tickets back in July for our last week here in the UK. We decided on a matinee as it meant that we would get back here to Northampton at a half reasonable hour and not require Jessica or Andrew to collect us from the train station at midnight.

So off we set again on the 9:25am train to Euston and this time we had to get on the Northen Line (black) on Tube and go as far as Leicester Square Station. We had decided that we were going to have an quieter day and not rush around trying to see too many things. So after a coffee we walked to Trafalger Square and spent an good hour at the National Art Gallery. It really is a great place to while away an hour or two and they have some very famous artworks including this van Gogh and Monet that we particularly like. The sunflowers have the most amazing light on them and you could easily think that there was a spotlight shining on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stop was some lunch before heading to the Lyceum Theatre. Our seat were in the Grand Circle which is what we would call the Gods in NZ. We were still quite happy with them as we had good views down onto the stage and they were similarly priced ( £50 each) to those at the back of the circle or stalls. The theatre was packed, and it being the last day of the school holidays many of the audience were school children enjoying one last treat before returning back to school.

 

 

 

Based onthe Disney film and set in the Serengeti it has all the drama of a safari! It has been playing in London for 16 years and from the opening number has you spell bound especially with the costuming which is both stunning and amazing. The opening number, Circle of Life, has all the cast on stage and includes life sized giraffes, antelope, rhinos, lions and an elephant.

 

 

 

We were really pleased we made the effort to have seen this show and you can see more photos and information about the show at http://www.thelionking.co.uk/about-the-show/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Visiting friends

On Sunday last week, before we took back the rental car we made a trip south to the outskirts of London to visit family friends. Andrew's family are good friends from Invercargill days, and we have always keep in touch. We were also keen to see the new baby, Sebastian who is grandchild number 12 for Caroline and Barrie and arrived only nine weeks ago.

So we set off after lunch to drive and hour and a half down the M1 and M25. We allowed plenty of time as you can never be sure if there will be delays. Fortunately we had no issues.

 

We spent a lovely afternoon with Andrew and Cat while Sebastian slept for most of it. Eventually he woke and we got to meet him and get some lovely photos to send back his NZ grandparents.

 

 

 

 

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Kew Gardens

Visiting Kew Gardens has always been high on my list of must sees but we have never been able to coordinate it in previous trips. So this time we set aside a specific date and booked the train trip in advance. The train trip from Northampton to London is about an hour and if it is booked in advanced there are fares for £7.50 each way which makes it very economical. These fares are also outside of peak times so we left at 9:25am and our return trip was at 7:49pm. Once getting to Euston Station we then had to negotiate the Tube. Jessica had it all worked out for us and it really was quite simple. We took the Victoria Line (blue) to Victoria Station and then changed to the District Line (green) making sure we got the train going west to Richmond and had to get off at Kew Gardens station. It is quite a way out and it took us over an hour to get out to Kew from Euston but as it was late morning it wasn't crowded. Coming back was different. This was at 6pm and although the District Line trip was ok the Victoria Line one was horrendous. We literally felt like sardines jammed into a tin can. Just when you thought the carriage was packed to capacity the doors would open at the next stop and a couple more would squeeze in. All would 'suck in' as the doors closed. And to think thousands and thousands of people do this every day. One day was enough for us!!!

 

 

Once we got off the train we still had a short walk of half a kilometre to the gardens. We were lucky with the day as it was warm and sunny, quite a change from the many dull grey and some wet days we had been experiencing. We had purchased our entry tickets on line so there was no need to queue and we were able to head straight on into the gardens and make a decision on what to visit first. Kew Gardens cover over 300 acres so there is plenty to see and do. A 'Full of Spice' festival was running this summer and so we decided to take a Full of Spice tour. Barbara was our guide and she spent an hour with us taking us to many of the spice plants and displays and explaining about their origins and uses.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the rest of the day self guiding ourselves around the various gardens and exhibitions. We visited the BBCs On a Plate Kitchen Garden, the Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew Palace and their kitchens, the kitchen garden and herb garden. We went into the Lily pond glasshouse, walked the tree top walk and would have liked to visit the Temperate Glasshouse but it is undergoing a massive renovation and won't be open again until 2018. We saw the collection of plants from New Zealand, the Rose gardens, many signifant trees and much more. Half a day is not enough to see it all but we felt we certainly had a good introductory.

We did think we had another 45 minutes before closing time to see one more exhibition but unfortunately we got caught in a London downpour. We made for the Fernery conservatory and took shelter there along with many others. We had had time to don our jackets and open our umbrellas but we were still wet. We waited a good twenty minutes or more for it to ease before venturing outside again. This time it was our feet that got wet as there had been so much rain it hadn't been able to drain away and it was impossible not to stand in ankle deep water in places. It was at this point that we retraced our steps and train journeys all the way back to Northampton where Jessica was waiting to pick us up. It had been a long but enjoyable day.

 

The website link gives further detail about what is at Kew Gardens: http://www.kew.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Llangollen

Saturday morning was the day we said goodbye to our retreat in the country. We packed up and headed east back towards Shrewsbury and England.

We had one last place to visit, Llangollen, which was on the way. We had passed through this town on our way last Sunday and decided it was somewhere to explore. It was a smallish town nestled in the rolling hills of Northern Wales. The surrounding countryside is very picturesque but what is is notable for is the giant viaduct/aqueduct that straddles the valley and the River Dee below.

The town itself was bulging with tourists and holidaymakers (it was a Bank Holiday weekend) so once we parkedthe car we headed up onto the canal system. We decided on a walk up the canal to see the old Chain Suspension Bridge and the Horseshoe Falls. This was nearly two miles along the tow path and we could have taken a boat trip pulled by a horse, but decided on the walk. The The Chain Suspension Bridge has only just been restored and reopened to the public earlier in the year. In fact I had listened to a podcast from the BBC just a few weeks ago about it. It is a pedestrian bridge only and was built in the early 1800s. Further along the canal was the intake for this major canal system.

 

The viaduct/aqueduct was a further four miles down the road so we continued by car. After enjoying our lunch alongside the canal here in Trevor, we walked out on this amazing structure that takes the canal across the valley. It was designed byThomas Telford and opened in 1805 and at 37m above the river it is the highest aqueduct in the world at the time. Once again you could take a boat trip but we opted to walk. It certainly wasn't for the faint-hearted.

 

 

 

Next stop was Duston, Northampton and we were lucky with the roads and had an easy run all the way back to Jessica and Andrew's.

 

 

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Bodnant Gardens

Another National Trust treasure we found in Northern Wales was Bodnant Gardens. We traveled to these gardens via a circuitous route by heading out to the northern coast. There are some lovely beaches on this coast and we stopped here for some lunch. We also watched some hardy souls swimming in what we would consider would be like Oreti Beach! Further along the coast at Llandudno it was very much the resort town with its pier, donkeys and sandy beach.

 

 

 

The gardens are nestled in the Snowdonian foothills and would have to be up there with as one of the best garden we have visited. It covers 80acres and was created in 1874 by Henry Pochin. He planted some of the gigantic conifers that can still be seen in the Dell. He also built The Poem mausoleum where many if bathe family members are buried. It was Henry's daughter that developed the garden and opened it to the public but it was her son that built the five Italianate terraces and sponsors explorers to bring back rhododendrons, magnolias and other 'excotic' new plants.

 

We spent several hours wandering around the paths and taking in all the plantings and trees. Even the sycamores look magnificent!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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