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Published: January 15th 2007
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I dared to do what few Londoners would ever admit to, and a completely foreign concept to others.. A trip up North!
Nan and Pop have some very close friends, Robert and Joyce Thornley, on the outskirts of Birmingham that I had been meaning to get in touch with since I arrived and with Mum and Dad it seemed like a perfect time to jump in a car and pop up to see them!
Easily said, not quite as easily done!! Jumping into the car wasn’t such a concern, getting it, and getting there was certainly a trek!
We had a car booked with the company to be picked up at 12:00 on Saturday, so we thought we would take the morning to head over to Portobello Market in the morning and do some more gift shopping. Much to Mum’s delight she picked up herself a “Mind The Gap” umbrella (referring to “Voice” of the tubes that warns you to mind the gaps in the station platforms) as Dad and I browsed.
The London Tubes, as they are, were quite a mess and our trip to get there took quite some time adding onto the morning, so
when we were all done at 11:15, we called the company to let them know that we were running late, but we were leaving Chelsea now. They informed us that they closed at 12:30 (what the!?), so if we weren’t there, there would be no car!
Fabulous!! Weaving your way back through the Market is a task on its own, but to then beat the footy crowds to get back on the Tube, being as temperamental as they were, meant that our chances were slim at best.. So we dialed directory, after stopping and asking a police woman for the number (Opps! Clearly I haven’t needed that before! I only found out their emergency number was different over Christmas too!) for a closer branch, and with some hefty negotiations by Mum we arranged to pick up a car from there instead, on the same booking, and off we went.
Get to the hire company at 12:30, even with the other branch on the phone, they did seem to struggle with our concept.. An hour later we were able to arrange a different model, which didn’t faze us, we just wanted to jump in a car and go! What
On the roads
Driving between the barriers of the motorway - a very strange feeling! they couldn’t do was a map (again.. what the!?).. They didn’t have any London maps, and no portable Satellite Navigation left! Excellent! What is a tourist to do!!
Using a map on the wall, and a vague memory from the drives home by James, I was able to mark most of the way home. Once in the car I did recall most of the journey, knowing that we needed to head towards the Tower of London, which always amused me, as it’s a huge castle in the middle of the business district and then underneath a tunnel and follow the signs! I was, however, completely useless in knowing which were “one way only” and because the cars are able to park in any direction, unless it is very clearly marked, which it isn’t always, it can be very confusing turning into a street and not knowing which was the car’s go!
But being as brilliant as the Adams’ girls are and keeping Rod in his element at the wheel, we made it home for 2:30.. Over 2 hours later that we expected.. So it was grab stuff and run to make it into Birmingham for Joyce’s much anticipated
home made scones!
Although we had a map for the motorway’s, again no-one could offer us a map for Birmingham.. And this time I had nothing to offer!
Taking one for the team, Mum jumped out to get directions.. Although they were very detailed, pointing out how many crossing we would go over, and how many churches, police houses and fire stations we would pass, no-one seemed to talk about your normal left, right or street names (that’s what happens when you head up North.. Much like heading to Adelaide)! So after ending up at the same store 3 times it was time to call Robert, who was able to navigate us, and within no-time we were at the Thornton’s, but had well and truly missed scone time!
I was taken straight back to home, as Robert and Joyce we a picture of my own Nan and Pop! Fussing over us, just like Nanna’s do, we had a beautiful meal in front of us with mushy peas and all and to tickle Dad’s fancy, we each had our own little set of salt and pepper shakers!
Then, just as Nanna does, Joyce totted off to the
prepare dessert and then the cheese board and only after not another inch of room was left in our belly’s were we taken upstairs to our rooms. Their hospitality was astounding, and after sleeping on the couch for 2 weeks, I was very easy to please, but I wasn’t expecting to be this spoilt!
Waking up from one of the best nights sleeps that I have had since leaving my own bed in Melbourne, I came down the stairs to Mum and Dad digging into some of Robert’s friends, homemade Black Pudding.. Ekk!! For those unaware, this Black Pudding was clotted goats blood in a sausage skin.. I was more than satisfied with my muesli! I feel I’ve done my fair share of eating bizarre things in China, and I have a feeling that if Red Cross don’t want me eating red meat, they may not be thrilled that I was eating clotted blood!!
After sharing all our video’s and photo’s of home, I felt like I had found myself my new English Nan & Pop! With lots of kisses and cuddles, I promised to visit again and it was back on the roads to try and backtrack
our trip from yesterday and get ourselves safely home for 4pm and then onto Hillsong Church..
And with all said and done, I survived my first trip up North! I might even be game to stretch up a bit further next time!
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