Our sojourn in England

---

We arrived back to be greeted by Sarah & Louise with a “ Welcome home oldies “ banner - cheeky gits!!. It was great to see them again & catch up with what they had been up to in their lives. They had prepared the study room as our bedroom which was better than we expected. Fish and chips from Chris‘s in Chiswick was the treat for our first night home in the UK, and a rude awakening to how expensive life is here (relatively); £30 for supper for 4 of us! Good though!

We’ve planned a few days to unwind & get into a routine - the first thing being a big shop at Sainsbury’s to feed the family. The fridge was empty - no change there then girls! Mind you, the fridge is soon laid bare again through a huge Michael BBQ special! We’re very fortunate with the weather from what we hear of the British summer this year - where rain has been the norm rather than the exception - glad we missed all that.

We also catch up on the Olympics - just in time to watch the closing ceremony. Willing to court outrage - we thought the British handover display was pretty good- despite what the media reported. After our own experience of Chinese planning and organisation we’re not surprised to hear how well the Games went. What is evident is that the games in 2012 are likely to be a PR mess rather than a celebration for the nation. Unlike in China & even South Africa (for the 2010 World cup football) where there was a total commitment by the people to the event & a sense of national pride - here there has been nothing but criticism from the start & it continues a year after winning the bid!!! It‘s also seen as the LONDON games - not the UK or England games - says something about the leadership of the country I suppose. Mr Brown & the Labour party - wake up!

(Bit of gossip here - we were on the bus one day and heard this guy talking on the phone, apologising for contacting so soon after the Olympics, talking about Hello magazine covering his wedding and asking if whoever he was speaking to was going to attend. Having not seen the Olympics we didn’t recognise him but saw him on Question of Sport - Ben Ainslie!!)

Monday takes us all to Notting Hill Carnival - Sarah, Lou and her young man , Ben, Jo - an old friend of ours (we knew her first Sarah!) who’s house-sitting with the girls, and Satish who we haven’t seen since February in India. It’s great to have a party for our homecoming; plenty of cold beer, partying and some fabulous Caribbean food.

The main priority for our time at home is catching up with family and friends. We have a great few days in Brighton with Romi and John. Romi cooks a great Dum ka Raan (roast spiced lamb) and C enjoys using her kitchen to cook a chicken tagine with veg couscous - it‘s great to do some proper cooking after all this time. The sun shines brilliantly on Saturday which is great for a walk along the beach and a fresh crab sandwich with the girls. It’s also good for a couple of days exploring the East Sussex countryside - Alfriston and Lewes - and the different areas of Brighton, looking at prospective areas if we moved to Brighton after our return to England next year. Romi decides to take us out to a new Indian specialising in Keralan & Nepalese cuisine - Chlli Pickle which was a real treat for us.

The following week we head up to Repton in Derbyshire for a few days with Caroline’s folks; it’s good to see her Mum looking so well and C spends some time in the kitchen to give Pete a bit of a rest - not that he did of course! We kept him busy cutting fresh beans and tomatoes from the garden which tasted divine. Steve, Helen & the kids came over for Sunday lunch. Tom & Molly have grown disproportionately in the last 9 months! It’s nice to see them all though C managed to forget to get a pic for the blog in all the excitement. C goes back to visit her folks a couple of weeks later just before we leave and gets to meet, at last, their hairdresser Robert. He’s recommended a number of eating places we’ve enjoyed over the years. He’s been booked for a haircut and does a great highlights job too. Thanks Robert!

We have another weekend with R&J, this time in London, enjoying more Caribbean food from Ochi’s in Shepherds Bush and Indian food from Roxy’s in Southall, for which Satish also joins us. Having all crammed in the car to go out for dinner, M had the brainwave when we got there of getting a take out; so we did, all cramming back in the car again to go home 15 minutes later and enjoyed fab food with (too) copious quantities of wine!

We catch up with Satish and another friend Winston several times over the next few weeks for very enjoyable and often hilarious games of badminton; fortunately they mess around constantly despite being excellent players so we don’t feel quite so inept all the time! After our final game we go to an old favourite - The Lighthouse, a Georgian fish restaurant in Archway and have a great meal with a superb bottle of Georgian red wine - a real pleasant surprise.

A lovely evening is spent with Jackie and Gavin Bligh at an Italian place in Bookham. Jackie has just got the job as CX of the new stock transfer Association in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, so will be heading off to the valleys soon. We’ll definitely call in on them when we get back as that’s near some of our favourite walking territory around Abergavenny.

We also both meet up with ex-colleagues; M with Steve Beard & later Sue Douglas and C with Susan and Esther. It’s great to see them and hear how things are going for them. She also wanders around the office saying hello to some old friends and disrupting their work - no change there then, and finds a whole bunch of new faces (no change there either!). C also meets Ursula for a great night out in Piccadilly, and we both meet the lovely James Tickell for a drink. Unfortunately, there are many people we didn’t get a chance to meet up with (they were all busy getting pissed at the NHF conference in Birmingham) - so it looks like we’ll have a fine old time of catching up over a drink or bite to eat when we get back in March.

Another priority for this home time is renewing passports and getting visa’s for Vietnam and Myanmar (and don’t believe anyone who says you can’t get the Myanmar visa in England; just apply to the Embassy on Charles St, Mayfair and they turn them round - and were really helpful - in less than 3 days). As the Vietnam Embassy is in Kensington we drop in on Cara & Jak at Trailfinders who sorted out our itineraries for us - just to say thanks. Visiting your own country after some time away makes you see things differently, and we hadn’t realised how nice High St Ken was; we have a great mooch around and a lovely lunch at Al Dar Lebanese restaurant.

We also have some bits and pieces to sort out at home; the electrics have gone on one side of the kitchen which has caused the pond pump to stop working. We think there might be fish in there but it’s too murky to see. A great Polish electrician comes to our aid and C then spends many a happy hour cleaning out the pond. By the time we leave the water is clear and we can see 14 fish and a couple of frogs.

It really does surprise us how much the cost of things has increased in England while we’ve been away - except it would appear (and for which we are eternally grateful!) - wine. Sainsbury’s has some great offers on really good wines that means we can enjoy a good glass or 3 for less than £4 a bottle. The other thing that seems pretty reasonable are pre-booked train tickets; we get the train back from Brighton for only £3 each. Not bad!

We are also struck by the fact that nothing much seems to have changed since we left other than the economic climate getting worse also how gloomy the media coverage of local issues & events are with typically gritty headlines - house prices down by £30,000. They have it in for the PM Gordon Brown, who hasn’t done himself any favours. It’s political party conference time - yawn, yawn. However, the so called Credit crunch hits home & the stock markets go into free fall all over the globe - we are glad we’ll miss all this as we’ll be travelling the second leg!!

We make the most of what good weather there is for some walks; along the riverside from Kew to Richmond and also a great circular walk through Bushey Park to Hampton and down the riverside to Kingston. This is the season for deer and as we walk in the Park we see a beautiful stag that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Highlands - really majestic. Unfortunately we forgot the camera. Blast! We also enjoy a drink by the riverside at Strand on the Green one evening with S&L & Jo and get a great sunset. London can be pricey but has some great places.

C does a trial pack a week before we leave. By now we should be experts - and as this time we’re only going for 6 months and no camping we should have loads of space. Hmmm! However, a library’s worth of Lonely Planet guides and the snorkelling equipment we invested in in Mexico seems to wipe out all spare space, and we also need to pack some smarter clothes for the wedding of Evonne and Greg in NZ in January. (We became friends with Evonne and her 3 compadres, Penni, Linda and Lynley, on our Africa trip and as well as inviting us to her wedding she’s also letting us housesit for her over Christmas in Brisbane. What a star!). Inevitably, the final packing goes to the wire and the bags are as heavy as ever!

For our final dinner at home we visit the Chinese supermarket to pick up a Cantonese roast duck, river tiger prawns, pak choi & some fresh noodles etc. C cooks everyone a lovely Chinese meal which was enjoyed by all. The girls are saddened that this will be their last meal cooked for them for another 6 months. They’ve enjoyed having meals prepared for them for when they got home from work - mind you we’ve enjoyed having a kitchen and being able to cook just as much.

And so the final day in England arrives. Amazing how quickly 6 weeks can go. After various phone calls with friends and family, Sarah once again takes us to Heathrow for our Qantas flight to Bangkok. It’s been fabulous to see them and we’ll miss them like mad. For M it’s been another enlightening journey with how the two have developed in many ways over the last 9 months. Big hugs, a few tears and we’re back on the big adventure once more! Bangkok here we come ……………..

---

Comments

[Travel'n On Radio Show]

Travel Radio show interview
Alas. You are currently in my former "home" of England. I'm fascinated by your adventure and would love to consider having you on our show to discuss your travels. Please visit www.traveln-on.com to learn more about our show. You can also contact me or our producer (visit the About Us page) to discuss an interview date. Happy Travels!