Trip home

The rest of Wednesday was fairly mundane – pack up, walk to London Bridge tube ( I had a conversation with a group of men outside a pub about my backpack – rather more loaded than when I left Canberra), negotiate the fairly crowded trains ( bit tricky) , Heathrow Express ( a tube would have been cheaper but I am learning ( very slowly) sometimes to take the more expensive but more reliable and faster option) , Vat refund office. When I came to check in at one of those boarding pass dispensing machines like at Canberra airport, the screen refused – said I needed to have more documentation. There was a nearby man who said I needed a visa to enter Australia. I said but that’s OK I will enter Australia on my Autralian passport. He said but now their system automatically connects to an Australian immigration site that won’t let people with British passports checkin to a flight to Australia without a visa. I said but I entered England on my British passport – doesnot matter he said. No point in any more questions I wanted to get on the plane. I groveled under my clothes and produced my Australian passport which got me a boarding pass.

Someone should write a book or do a study on people’s behaviour on aeroplanes or on etiquette on planes. The lady next to me insisted on using the arm rest between us, but that had the controls to my screen. Several times I had to ask her to move. Her husband was on her right, so at least she never asked me to move so she could get out. She also several times leaned right across me and called out to her friend who was sitting across the aisle and a few seats forward of me and talked in a loud voice in a language which I could not understand. ( I might not have been quite so put out if I could have eavesdropped) . The BA flight offered cranberry juice as one of the juice options which I have not seen before. The flight was OK. The lady sitting next to me on the leg from Singapore was a smaller woman and kept well within her seat. I got straight through customs and onto an earlier flight to Canberra.

I was pleased with how the trip went. I think 5 weeks may have been better. I think it would have worked better if I had taken a few days off between Venice and London and stayed somewhere in the country that provided all meals, somewhere I did not have to think. I was a bit too tired in London and did not appreciate the museums enough. I used all my clothes except my sun hat and should have used that sitting in the sun for lunch in Ireland – I was just too lazy to walk upstairs and get it. One of the nice shirts I bought was very useful in London and for dinner in Ireland so I will consider taking something similar next time. I had 16kg coming home – quite a few extra books and odds and ends.

Once again, I have appreciated knowing that some people were reading of my activities. Thank you. It helps me not feel lonely.

Till next time..

Wednesday 8th April – last day in London

After a nice breakfast, J went to work. I read emails for a short while but decided that I’d rather be out and about in London. My first stop was for a coffee and then I walked along the river checking out the places to have lunch. ( I had been given suggestions) . I kept walking to a good bookshop I had been told about. I am not sure if my granddaughter knows about Madeleine and her school friends, but ‘Madeleine goes to London’ looked like a suitable present. I went onto Southwark Cathedral. I did not have much time ( my lunch reservation awaited - interesting priorities) but it had a good feel to it. It was not just a monument. They have close ties with an Anglican diocese in Zimbabwe and on a wall there was a lovely wall hanging in the form of a map made from material, string, beads, photos, press clippings etc. There was a prayer that said ‘ God bless Zimbabwe, protect her children, transform her leaders, heal her communities and grant her peace’ which I thought said it all.

Lunch was lovely. I sat at an outdoor table in a restaurant that served English food and, because it is coming up to St George Day, they had specialized food from different counties. I had a glass of Ortega from Biddenden Vineyards in Kent – a bit sweeter than I prefer – but it was English. First I had smoked mackerel pate with oatmeal biscuits, then trout and shaved fennel and potatoes, then the highlight – well, most different – Sussex Pond pudding. It was like a small individual steamed pudding upside down but inside was chopped up bits of cooked lemon, skin and all. It was hot, with a hot lemon sauce over the top. There was some cream, what I think is clotted cream, on the side. It was delicious. The espresso was good too. I watched the boats go past and the people. ( see photo - it does not look like there was room for people but there was )It was a lovely way to end my holiday. I walked in the opposite direction along the river for a while before going back to pack.

Tuesday 7th April

In the morning we went on another drive, this time to the north. We saw a nature reserve with lots of lovely old oak trees just coming into leaf - see photo. The wool and craft shop in Glengarriff was closed. Probably just as well going on what I saw through the window – I did not need any more temptation. We set off after lunch to drive to Cork – a different more direct route than we had taken on Sunday. The plane was more than an hour late which meant that we missed our connection in Dublin. The RyanAir staff made it clear that they are a point to point ( their words) airline and are in no way responsible if you miss your connecting flight. They had not checked our bags through from Cork to London – they told me at Cork that they don’t do that – in retrospect, obviously if they are a point-to-point airline. Anyway, there was another flight to London that night which we could get on for 100 euros each. We checked out all the other options and could find no cheaper way. RyanAir have many signs up that they have one of the best reliability records – 90% of their planes arrive on time. Pity if you are in the 10%. The positive side of this was that the plane went to Stanstead – so I got to go to another airport. Because we were later than expected we caught a cab back to J’s home – a nice spacious flat in a restored warehouse complex just SE of Tower Bridge. This was another plus – I had not had a ride in a London cab – an institution – but ₤10 divided by 2 was worth it.

Monday 6th April SW Cork

After breakfast P and C took us on a lovely drive over smaller roads than we had gone. The day started out a bit inclement – but cleared. We went to a lookout overlooking Bantry Bay and then drove a bit further and looked over Dunmanus Bay to the south. There was a small splodge in the sea we could just make out – Fastnet rock. I had never known where it was – just knew of it from the yacht race. We stopped at a farm at Durrus to buy some cheese, went to the fish shop in Skull ( second photo) and then another lookout. The sun was out long enough to have lunch on the terrace overlooking the bay.

In the afternoon they took us on a lovely walk over their property - first photo

Sun 5th April To Bantry Bay

Breakfast was included but I passed on the black and white pudding that went with the full breakfast of bacon , eggs, etc etc. We drove by the most direct route to Cork. We stopped in a town about 11.30 for a cup of tea and the only thing open, apart from a newsagent, was a pub. We did not see anything like a café , open or not.
After Cork we went south to the coast to Kinsale, supposed one of the oldest fishing villages in Ireland. It has expanded rapidly in the last few years with facilities for tourists and lost much of its character but we did find a nice café for a late lunch. We drove on through little picturesque villages ( see photo) , along lanes that were quite narrow, along roads with lovely views of the sea, past fields of cows, some sheep usually black faced- a lovely drive. It was green , very green.

We arrived at 6pm at our destination on the shores of Bantry Bay. The couple ( P and C) we visited are elderly relations of John’s mother. They had an Australian flag hanging over the front door. I had met them in Melbourne in 1983 but had no memory of the occasion, despite them showing me a photograph taken at the time of a large group including my family. Kevin and Carol had met them in 2003 when they visited Canberra. John and I were in Italy at the time. The ‘house’ they live in is large. It looks to me more like a small castle. It was built in about 1930 and little has changed since. P and C have led very interesting lives in many parts of the world and they have many artifacts collected over the years. They are very used to having people to stay and are excellent hosts. There were really interesting to talk to and interested in us.

Sat 4th April

This morning another lovely walk - through woods, over fields, etc but not as many gates as yesterday and more views. After lunch my hosts drove me to Gatewick along lanes, past hedges, through little villages – it was very scenic. I caught my first RyanAir flight – to Dublin. My niece, J, met me at the airport – she had arrived earlier and had collected a car. We drove, via the port area and a nice view out to sea over the sand, into the main town. After a few circuits we found a park and went looking for a reasonably priced restaurant serving Irish food – along with many other people. We found a lovely place. J had an Irish beef stew and I had a seafood pancake – their pancakes, called boxtys, have potato in them, but are still quite thin. It was quite late by the time we got to the b and b .

Friday 3rd April near Guildford

I left my nice little shoebox - probably more a bootbox - and caught the bus to Waterloo station and then the train to Guildford where John’s cousin met me and drove back to her home. I met her new ( since I was last here in 2002) husband. We chatted over lunch and then went for a walk through woods, down laneways, over fields, through many gates. It was a bit misty but perfectly still and there were lovely views. In the evening another cousin and his wife came for dinner – they live on an adjoining property on the weekends. It was a lovely evening, good food, good wine, and good company.

Thursday 2 April Dinosaurs

Today I went to a place for breakfast that I have passed in the bus quite a few times and have read about . Daylesford Organic – a nice place that sells organic food, a lot of which has been grown in Daylesfood – they grow the cows, make the cheese etc etc. It does meals too. It had a nice feel – there were many staff bringing in the day’s produce, serving customers, but with an air of quiet efficiency rather than haste. But then again it was only 1/3 full of people. There was an emphasis on thinking about what you eat, eating good stuff, etc. The long central table was set with paper place mats that said ‘For what we are about to receive’ which I thought was a nice way of reminding people to think about what they were eating and where it had come from. A lady came and sat near me and asked for a ‘flat white’ - I’ve never seen a ‘flat white’ on a menu here. The staff member asked her what she meant so she got up to go and talk to the barista. While she was gone the guy over the table from me said to me in his very proper English accent ‘I’ve never heard of a flat white’ I told him that I had! I had mushrooms, poached egg and hollandaise sauce on toast – to compare with the previous one. It was delicious – different and yummy. The coffee was good. Not a given in this city.

On the way to the bus stop a guy on his bike stopped and asked me directions – that I knew! Mind you, talking to him made me miss my bus. It did not make much difference. I got to the Museum of Natural History at 10.10 and waited in a queue for 25 minutes. At least there were interesting local people to talk to. (When I came out at 12.30 there was no queue.) I wandered around – mainly the dinosaurs and mammals. I never got a good photo of a yak when I was in China last year so was pleased to get one here, even if it was behing glass. In Burma we saw a takin in captivity – a maingy looking specimen, so it was good to see a ‘healthy’ (even if stuffed) one of those too. I had to go into the room that is called ‘creepy crawlies’ – alongside all the other ‘proper’ names like ‘ecology’ , ‘fish’ ‘mammals’ etc- in all the literature. I was impressed by the large number of staff at various places talking to the visitors and just wandering around. I was not impressed by the large numbers of people, or rather I think it is the noise that they generate that puts me off. There were many many school group – but it does cater for younger people very well. There was an old ( even older than me) gentleman looking at the millipede v centipede display and pushing buttons to see the answer to questions, just like me.

Then I caught a bus to the northern end of Marylebone High Street because I had been told that it was full of nice little shops – which it was. The best was this great bookshop – Daunt books with lovely old shelves. The travel section was large. I bought the first book in the series of an Italian police inspector to read in the plane coming home. I have not read any of this series.
I had lunch in a shop very similar to the shop I had breakfast in. I was hungry – I forgot to eat more than usual yesterday and worked out that I had walked 20 kilometres so no wonder I have been hungry today. I looked at all sorts of things and then caught a bus home.

Tomorrow I leave in the morning to catch a train to near Guilford in Surrey. I am staying with a first cousin of John’s . Then on Saturday evening I fly to Dublin. I do not know when I will next have internet access and be conveniently able to put a post on this blog.

Wednesday 1 April Thames Path.

I have a brochure that outlines the part of the Thames Path (trail that follows the Thames from its source in the Cotswolds for 294km through London to the Thames barrier) near here. I set off this morning walking westward. It was interesting – a whole range of housing from council flats to fancy new blocks of large apartments. It was quite peaceful for most of the way – assorted boats along the river. I stopped at Putney for morning tea. It was a peculiar mix of an old style English café (apple pie, jam tart, chips and eggs and sausages) and an Italian café ( football team photos on the wall). It had old lino tables with the tomato sauce and a few other bottles, a delightful Italian family Mum, dad, 3 adult daughters all serving plus someone in the kitchen. There were always people waiting to be served – mainly local workmen – most were having chips and eggs. I had a very nice cup of coffee ₤1.30 ( the cheapest I’ve seen it has been 1.95) and a large piece of apple pie ₤1.40. Usually cakes are around ₤3. Many of the customers were known to the family and some had a shot of alcohol in the coffee ( Italian style) .

I walked onto Barnes. I cut off a loop of the river by walking along another path that went through a Common. I could have been miles from anywhere. Barnes has a real village feel to it. There is a pond in the middle of the shops with kids and ducks and mothers with prams. It was a bit early to stop for lunch so I walked on a bit and came to a nice looking pub right on the river so had some cider while I waited for 12 noon then had lunch. I crossed the river and walked back along the other side of the river, but only as far as Chiswick. I caught a bus and then train to get home. I walked a fair way and am about to have a bath.