Homeward Bound

Still no comments from anyone... I am homeward bound from today and this is likely to be my last post as I am not sre what the internet facility will be like in Hong Kong. I have been using Darrne's Apple here and I think I will need to get one when I get back - it is very nice.

Last night we went to the ex-girlfriends for dinner. It was a very nice roast beef with yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. The meal was excellent and the roast potatoes out of this world - all crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle and covered in gravy - yum. The weather had cooled down a bit and we had a nice walk there and back to Balham. Angie's mother was also there. Very nice woman indeed and works in adult e-learning so I said I must put here in touch with Jenny I am sure they could swap notes. Her sister also lives in New Zealand from time to time but is back here at the momebt,

Those girls have been wonderful to me - very hospitable and lots of fun. The stories have been absolutely hilarious but I fear they may lose a bit of their edge in the re-telling.

Darren has taken one of my bags to work with him and I will take the other and meet him at Earls Court around 5 to head off to Heathrow. As I said I don't feel ready to come back and will be very sad to leave but then I guess all good things must come to an end. I am coming back cattle class which will be a bit of a come down after the royal treatment on the way out but I will be able to stop in Hong Kong and hopefully do some present shopping - otherwise you will all miss out and I will have to think of some other way of compensating Gilly for the scooping.

It is raining here this morning and my shoes are still wet from the last downpour on Sunday so I am pondering what to do about getting down to the cafe to have my morning latte, cake and read of the paper. I am going to enjoy it while I can because I had a text from work to say that Cabinet had signed off the funding for my project so it will all be on when I get back!

Ok so will try and give a ring from Hong Kong if I can - the mobile may not work though because it didn't when I tried to text on the way over - if not see you at the weekend,

Sunday

Well you will be pleased to hear that I made it to church today - went to mass at Westminster Cathedral wgucg was good except it rather resembled a building site as there is a lot of restoration going on. Still a very impressive building and it was completely full. Obviously quite a thriving community.

Last night I went out with the ex-girlfrieds Kate, Angie and Charlie. We had a really lovely evening. We started at the pictures seeing Wall-E which was a lovely movie and strongly recommended. We then went to a bar and then on to a very nice italian restaurant in Puteny. The food, drink and company was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening what a lovely group of young women they are - the boy is mad!

Darren was in Worthing last night and we have both just got back to the flat - I went to Oxford Street after church and spent about three hours in John Lewis. There was some lovely things in there quite apart from the clothes which had all the big names well represented. The housewares were particularly good and I enjoyed a very nice lunch of fresh sardines on bruschetta with salad. I did decide on an alcohol free day however - probably the first one this trip!

Tomorrow Darren is back to work and Sue and I will meet him for lunch. In the evening we have been invited to the ex-girlfriends and other additions to have a roast dinner - that will be the last night. I certainly do not feel ready to come home yet - no offrence to anyone there! Horrid to think that a week from now I will be back at work - Oh dear...

Back in London

Got back to Darren's flat around 10pm last night after fantaqstic time in Paris. We had an amazing thunderstorm in the early hours of Thursday morning. We spent the day at Versailles and this left us in no doubt about why France no longer has a monarchy! It was beautiful though... We did get a bit wet because it rained intermittently but it was a nice trip out into the country. We had a very pleasant dinner at the hotel and then spent Friday morning at the Jewish memorial in Paris which was also a very worthwhile visit. We lunched outside the Hotel de Ville and then I wandered the shopping streets and Darren went sightseeing. I ended up in Gallerie La Fayette but there was so much choice I found it impossible to make up my mind what to buy you all... This is also the case here - I can't cope with the choice in the shops. Hong Kong is going to have to be deovted to shopping!

So tonight Darren is off to Worthing for dinner and lunch tomorrow and will return tomorrow evening. The ex girlfriends are taking me out to a show and piano bar afterwards so that will be fun. I was supposed to meet up with `Liam and sunita tomorrow but I seem to have mislaid his number so wont be able to do that. I am sure that I will find lots to do.

Darren is back to work on Monday but I will meet him for lunch along with Sue - one of my team from Wellington who is out here attending weddings. Hopefully we will go back to Wagamamas in the evening for dinner which is lovely down by the river.

I am sorry to hear that the cats are causing strife and pong - Oh dear! I have missed them not many cats around here and not nearly as many silky little dogs in Paris as I remember from previous visits - I wonder what has happened to them?

Having not seen or heard any news for several days I gather Russia is about to invade Georgia and the Olympics is in full swing - so hope the world keeps turning for a few more days yet!

Best wishes to all.

Giverny

You will need to excuse any wierd typing because french keyboards are different... I am doing this at the hotel at the end of day two in Paris. It has been fantastic so far - the weather is tremendous around 30 degrees and lovely and sunny. Darren is getting very brown and I am getting burnt and wrinkled but who cares?

Giverney certainly exceeded expectations. We opted to walk there from Vernon and it was a lovely walk but took a good hour. I have lots of pictures of the garden and now tons more ideas - Oh dear! We had a lovely meal at the Hotel Baudy one of the best I have ever had. Now back at the Hotel exhausted.

Tomorrow off to Versailles hopefully a bit less walking - we have done - hours each day so far.

Hope the fur family are behaving well. Took a picture of an impressionist cat at Giverny for you.

Typing on this keyboard is just oo hard so I am going to give up now - obviously QWERTY is not the same in French...

Where are all the comments?

Off to Paris

Today was washing day - It was crawling out of Darren's room and down the stairs... All in all we had three loads in the flat washing machine and three majo

r loads in the launderette down the road. Had dryers going most of the day because there is no washing line but Tony and Darren each have a rack thing to hang their wet washing on. Darren's is only half a one because he broke it - not sure how given that it didn't look much washing had been on it! Anyway people were very nice and pointed me at a launderette which ended up being literally around the corner from the flat. anyway everything is now lovely and clean and there are neatly folded piles of clean sheets and towels. So Rabbit can now go happily off to paris knowing that the towels, sheets and vests have been washed and put away!

We need to get up at 5am tomorrow to get to St Pancras to catch the Eurostar so I shall turn in shortly. I had a nice restful day and I am glad that we didn't attempt to fly up to Glasgow for the day because I think it would have been cutting it a bit fine. Heather sounded very well. She says she has a slow heart speed and is needing to see the Doctor shortly but it doesn't seem to have slowed her down - she still seems to be getting about well although she is 88. It wouldn't have been possible to see her before we went down to the south west because she was on the continent with the family. It is a shame but I guess that is just the way it goes...

We went out to the pictures this evening to see Angus, thongs and perfect snogging. It was very funny and there was a wonderful Nummy cat in it which was worth seeing just for that. Angie came along as well and also David Roots who is another of Darren's mates. They are really lovely people and I am really enjoying meeting them all.

I am not sure that I will be able to post in Paris - I don't think we are going to lug the computer with us so it will depend on the availability of the internet cafes - still will do so if I can. Thanks for the offer of putting up the photos Richard. I will need to write captions for them all otherwise people won't know what is what. It might be easier to do that when I get back.

Darren has been busy composing today - he is doing the music for a pantomime and has done some great stuff. I am going to be sorry to miss it - however I think the audience will be replete with Spellers and Nicols!

So bye for now and hope that all is well and storm free at your end.

Back in London

Right, so this is the second time I am typing this entry because the last one mysteriously disappeared just when I got to the end. Where is Richard when you need him!

Glad to hear that you all survived the storm - sounds horrible! Also very glad to hear that my darlings are all lovely and brushed. Poor Jesse is she very fed up with visitors? I can't believe I only have 10 days left the time has absolutely sped by.

We arrived back in London this afternoon from Pewsey. What a fabulous time we had there! Brian and ~Peeps were very hospitalble and had arranged a wonderful programme. This included visiting Peeps" brother James and his wife Annabelle and their three lovely children and various hangers o.n. They have a beautiful house and garden just outside Marlborough and we got our own guided tour by the designer of the garden - Peeps" sister in law. It was fantastic and I have lots of lovely photos and ideas for when I get home. They were really nice people and this was a real treat.

We went home to have dinner of thai fishcakes which were very good indeed. We also had a lovely starter which included watermelon and fetta - everyone was regailed with stories of Jenny's fetta and I think there is a ready market here when the packaging has been perfected.

We stayed last night with Penny Powell who is a neighbour of Brian and Peeps in the square. She has two bedrooms and a bathroom on her top floor where we stayed. Penny's house was really lovely - very much to my taste with a lovely walled garden at the back. Penny is a wdow with two sons of similar age to Richard and Darren and she and Darren got on famously - so well in fact that they were still both up drinking at 4am this morning! It transpired that Penny was John Lennon's sister in law (first wife Cynthia). So now Darren has a great story of sitting up until 4am drinking with John Lennon's sister in law! She was an absolute sweetie and I do hope she chooses to visit NZ one day.

Peeps brother also told us of a garden in Italy called Ninfa which is an absolute must so now we are all going to save for a visit for my 60th in 2011 - so everyone get saving!

Well now we are back and settled down waching a DVD of into the woods with Tony (Darren's long suffering flatmate) after washing down some excellent Pizza with some equally excellent red wine. This may have had something to do with the disappearance of the previous post!

Angie (the delightful little "Bee" ) is coming around shortly to eat what remains of the Pizza. Tomorrow Oxford Street calls and then it will be getting ready to go to Paris early on Tuesday.

I am so sorry to hear about the dreadful weather you have been having. It has varied between very good and passable here. However, even when it rains it is warm and coming straight down - so you soon dry out if soaked. We do now own a very large Eden Project umbrella which comes with us everywhere.

I am quite proud of the way I managed to drive and find my way around the south west. The motorways are lovely to drive but the country lanes can be a bit of an adventure. As my co-driver was passed out in the passenger seat after his 4am with the John Lennon in law I also had to find my way back to the Heathrow Hertz car park - but all accomplished without incident. I am now looking forward to the train trip to Paris!

So off for now - should be able to blog again tomorow - not sure about the photos - I have 111 on a CD and another 11 on my camera but no one knows how to put them on the blog - where is Richard when you need him?

Anyway - for now its goodbye from me and goodbye from him...

Pewsey

Sorry to hear about the storm! Nothing about it over here of course... ope it was not your new fence Gilly!
We are now in Pewsey with Brian and Peeps. They have a beautiful little flat in the town square. This is right in the heart of Wiltshire. It is lovely to see them again and everyone seems very well. We stayed last night in a lovely B and B - Darren commented that he has been staying in such wonderful places on this trip and I would have to agree.

We had the most wonderful time in Cornwall. The only drawback was the complete lack of internet so that I couldn't tell you all about it. The Eden project was fantastic. We got soaked getting there but soon dried off in the tropical biodome. I have taken over 110 photos so far but haven't been able to download any yet - Maybe Brian will be able to help but he is busy making Thai fishcakes for dinner this evening at the moment and I don't want to distract him.

On the way up here we called in on Tony and Mo agan as by now Sophie and her girls were in residence and also Chloe was in town. Darren was in his element with all the beautifull Speller women - and there was certainly no complaining from them! Darren and Chloe had such a lot in common and she is great fun - they even had exactly the same hair. Once again I have photos. Tony enjoyed a bit of male company I think because he had a beer in Darren's hand before he had even walked in the door.

We are going to see Peep's brothers garden this afternoon - Darren is being very good about trailing around all the gardens but he seems to be enjoying it. We will head back to London tomorrow (Sunday) and then off to Paris early on Tuesday morning, I can't believe that I have been away for half of the alloted time alread - the time is speeding by. I do hope that Gilly hasn't been overcome with scooping duties and that everyone is surviving the storm season - doesn't sound too good at all! I will now go and look at some NZ papers to see if I can get any gen.

Probably catch you again in London.!

Truro

Have found a wireless cafe here in Truro so can catch up a bit on the blog - but it is too exciting outside to spend too much time in here... The Old Stables is absolutely fantastic - we have plenty of room and it is situated in the most beautiful spot. The weather has been wonderful but today is a bit drizzly and feels as though we might be in for a storm.

Cornwall is very crowded even trying to walk along the street in Truro is quite a feat. Parking is very expensive but the traffic hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. The food shopping is very interesting lots and lots of pre-prepared things which are very easy to cook and so we have been enjoying some very good meals. The fruit and vegetables are very much better than I remember and much more flavour than in New Zealand. Some divine nectarines which didn't taste like cotton wool made a nice change. Also had some tiny green beans which were absolutely fantastic and I will have to get some more of those for this evening. The new potatoes are also very good - maybe its all the polution putting the flavour into things.

Talked with Heather last evening. She is heading back to Scotland on Wednesday having only just got back from Italy where she was with Sheena, Not sure whether we will be able to make it up to Scotland and back in time - will be talking with Brian this evening and see what the plan is there and then we can decide. We do need to be back in London by the 4th because we leave again for Paris on the 5th early in the morning. Seems like rush rush but actually we are very relaxed - having a very enjoyable time!

Great to get the texts about the cats. There are dogs on the estate which are always following someone but have seen very few cats on our expoditions.

Will probably be a few days before I get a chance to blog again but will text to keep in touch.

Hope all is well there - I am keeping blissfully ignorant of the news!

Let's try again

Well that was a mistake - it published without anything being written. Clearly I am spending too much time on holiday!

We are currently down in Exeter - well in Newton St Cyres to be exact. We are having a really wonderful break with Tony and Maureen. This is an absolutely idyllic spot, the weather is wonderful and we have been having a great time with Tony and Maureen. We have visited two pubs and had wonderful devonshire hospitality - great food and interesting people. The house is lovely, set in a beautiful estate with a lovely garden and very ancient trees. Yesterday a little vole came running across the drive to meet us and kept turning cartwheels in excitement it was very entertaining. I can't help wondering what B and S would have made of it. I have no doubt whatever about what Fossy would have done!

This evening we are off to Jill's for dinner and Dee and Edward are apparently going to be there so it will be a grand reunion.

The drive down from London was wondereful. The car is very comfortable and we made it down here in just over four hours including a stop for lunch. There was not much traffic and of course the motorways are very easy to drive - apart from keeping on being sucked in to exceeding the speed limit, which everyone was doing. I really enjoyed the drive which was a nice surprise.

Tomorrow we will be off to Cornwall and it will be good to relax. Darren is so busy it will be good for him to do nothing for a bit I think he is quite looking forward to it. I haven't managed to download any photos yet but will hopefully master that when we get to Cornwall. I am typing this on Mo's new laptop.

I will be in touch again when we get to Cornwall. I can't believe I have been here for 4 days already - time is just racing by!

So, here I am at the end of full day one in London. It is 11.30pm and we have been walking around since 9am this morning - I wish that I had remembered to bring the pedometer... Well, I had better back up a bit. The trip up to Auckland was forgettable. The weather was terrible and the flight was very rough ad late. We only just made it to the international terminal in time and got soaked dashing from the terminal to the bus. However, once on board all that was forgotten. The Air New Zealand premier economy was fantastic and well worth the investement.

I had a very nice woman who worked for Bendon next to me. She was only going as far as Hong Kong and then I had two seats to mysef for the second flight. The food was wonderful, the service was great. The only problem now is how am I going to survive cattle class on the way back!

We arrived at Heathrow to the classic british bureaucratic welcome. We had a ten minute walk from the terminal to the immigration and there were no toilets in between. At the immigration area we were herded like cattle into a huge pen to await Her Majesty''s officials. There were 18 desks but only 3 officials at the desks with a further five leaning against the back wall watching proceedings. People were getting crosser and crosser and I was remembering why I didn't live in England... An hour later I got out!

Darren was there to meet me and we set off for home, duly furnished with an Oyster card which is the latest way of getting around London cheaply. It is good - you just put it on a thing and it lets you through the gate and then you keen topping up the money.

We got home with two changes of tube. It was a fabulous day blue sky, warm and no wind! The flat is very nice and a good job had been done of tidying up before I got here. I slept like a log from 7pm through to 6.30 this morning. Today we went everywhere. Darren took me to the college where he had to work for a couple of hours. What a fabulous place to work, lovely people and a wonderful building and location right opposite the Albert Hall. He gave me a complete run down on the Englightenment ero and the history of Victoria and Albert and the marriage of art and science it was really fascinating. I went shopping at Harrods, Jaeger and Burberry - all had sales but the prices were absolutely sky high - so I didn't buy anything. After that we went to meet Angie for lunch at her work at the National Theatre on the South Bank. A lot of this area is quite new and very different to what I remember. Absolutely wonderful to walk through with all sorts of things going on and crowds of people around. Angie is very charming and entertaining and we all went and had a great lunch and made plans for the theatre this evening with some more friends. During the afternoon we visited the National Art Gallery and saw all sorts of paintings that we recognised - including the Hay Wain. We tried to get on the Londn Eye but the queue was horrendous and we thought that could wait for another time. This evening we went to see 39 steps which is a hit comedy show - very well done and absolutely hillarious - although by now I was starting to fade a little. The friends were all great fun - very nice group of people. Angie and Charlotte are taking me out on the night Darren goes down to London - I expect to have a great time!

Well I had better go now. Darren has fallen aslep beside me and he needs the sofa I am sitting on to turn into a bed. Off first thing in the morning to collect the car and head off the Exeter - will log in again to tell you all about that.

Just about off

Ok, so it is an hour before the taxi arrives to take us to the airport. Richard is washing the dishes having set up this blog for me. The holiday resolution is to make sure I keep writing in it so that family and friends who are interested can take a look.

The weekend was busy - it was a really good idea not to fly out until this evening. Gave time to organise cat boarding etc and get all the washing a drying done - will be good not to come home to a pile of damp washing.

Cats have settled in with Gilly - hopefully she will not get scoopers elbow having to scoop out the litter trays for 5 cats. I must admit, although I will miss them, it will be good not to scoop for a months and also to be able to breathe without inhaling cat fur - to say nothing of not having to constantly brush down my clothes. I think a fair bit of fur is coming with me in the suitcase though.

Richard bought me the tiniest ipod I have ever seen and has just loaded it up with Darren's music. I will have plenty of time to contemplate the combined talents of these wonderful young men as I hurtle across the world in a tin can - Ugh!

Might see you in Hong Kong where we touch down.