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Published: October 5th 2011
From Sittingbourne we went to see my aunty Helen and uncle Chris in Clacton-on-Sea (south of London). There is not a lot to do in Clacton except drink, figure how these fandangled "mobile phone" thingys work, and dance in the kitchen when you were looking for something to do. Oh, and laugh at the cat in the cupboard. Nick and I also ventured to Clacton Pier where there were some pretty cool wind turbines in the middle of the sea. We also spent some time watching the native Essex-ians and marvelling at their behaviour and/ or dress. Most of the nights were spent in the lounge room (also doubles as our bedroom) chatting with Helen and Chris but one (glorious and nostalgic) night we also went to Chris' local to taste their brew. We had a great night and continued the tradition of stealing a bar mat (background story being last time when I visited them Chris stole me one. I wanted another for my collection. However this time he was less devious when he asked the owner whether they could part with one for his strange Australian niece). Towards the end of our stay, we realised that to get from
Clacton to Knutsford (lol) was going to be quite a hike - so we hired a car. Enter our beloved Harry.
Once we eventually got to cousin David's (6 hours post departure and via Leeds - mmm fudge) we drank some Australian wine (really David? Really? Only kidding - it was lovely) and had dinner with the family. Knutsford (lol) is a really lovely town and had a huge park (Tatton Park) which inhabited ducks, swans, sheep, deer and police cars. The grounds were huge and we walked around for hours. Whilst staying with David, we also caught up with the other Stephenson cousins for lunch and also saw Mums cousin Peter, who is well known town cryer and toastmaster. Peter allowed Nick to try on his town cryer regalia - pretty cool. He also showed us some of the work he had been doing on the family tree. After much pressure from my second cousins we also succumbed to visiting Chester Zoo. The zoo is the largest in England and apparently the oldest. You see, I was attacked by a triceratops. For our final adventure in Knutsford we were very fortunate to get last minute tickets to go
and see the football. We had been looking at going to a game, but were horrified at the price. Amanda very kindly jumped on Facebook and sourced some tickets for us. The seasons tickets (OMG!) belonged to her friends, friend of a friend of a uncle twice removed step-daughters cousin and they could not attend the Manchester United vs. FC Basel match. The person was seeking people who would be keen to attend for 40pounds each (half the price of one ticket for a normal premier league match). Suffice to say the very next day we found ourselves in the Manchester United stand watching the match. For those who didn’t watch it - the beginning was a total whitewash to Man U but Basel fought back to even up the score and even pass them in the second half of the game. Within the last minute Man U evened the score and we went into overtime. This meant that players kept falling over and “hurting themselves”. The game ended as a draw. We were thankful that our virgin ears could not understand what the Man U cheer squad was singing. I think the Basel side were too. As an aside,
the Basel fans were segregated from the rest of the crowd in an area surrounded by police. Not sure who was being protected, but something tells me it was the Basel fans. Golly.
From there we made another long journey (via the Lake District) to Billingham to stay with my Grandparents and visit with the remainder of the family. We have done minimal sightseeing in England, but when you only see your family every 8 years the sightseeing falls by the wayside somewhat. In saying this though, we spent a lovely day in Whitby, which is in all honesty one of my favourite places in the whole world, just wandering the cobbled streets. We also went and spent a day in Durham checking out the town and cathedral. In visiting with Christine and Will, we also climbed Roseberry Topping in Great Ayton. Which, as ever, was beautiful. We also had some great nights out on the town with my uncle Chris and his mates. The weather in the UK has been amazing - we had to go and buy t-shirts. We packed for a Scandinavian winter, not a freaky Autumn!
On Saturday we are off for the large
European Adventure - first stop Edinburgh!
Peace out
NJ&NJ
Scotty’s Corner:
It seems that genetically speaking, Niki's love of mayo & tomato sauce on margarita pizza (and any other food group) is not entirely her fault. It also appears she is yet to fully reach her drinking potential. Otherwise: Mushy peas are a terrible idea, Man United supporters are a strange breed of rich bogan, choosing the local "non-pansy" beer is very difficult, and whatever anyone says, it doesn't rain in England.
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Debbie Robbins
non-member comment
Homesick....
Your antics are making me rather homesick for old Blighty and you have struck it lucky having landed in time for the recent UK \'heatwave\' of up to 28 degrees. I am sure you would have seen all the Nanna\'s in Whitby fainting in the extreme weather conditions. However, my main comment is the disappointment in your consistency. What happened to the Local Drink, Local Food and Local Soundtrack idea - its fallen by the wayside already! And i missed one off - I also had an 'interesting fact' from each location too. No pressure...... Looking forward to your next post. Stay safe and have fun!