Back in Old Blighty

We are having a great time, catching up with friends, seeing some new areas of Old Blighty, and stirring some old memories.

True to form, England has been wet and cool, at least cooler than HK.  EasyRentals had a little Hyundai diesel waiting for us at Heathrow  and the TomTom GPS guided us up towards Cambridge without one argument. 

The traffic on the M1 reminded us of how easy it is to get around in NZ.  5 lanes moving at 2 km/h at times, but eventually, an hour or so late, we turned up at Ann and Kevin Ruhin’s house in Oakley. 

Ann is a dental school friend of Dara’s and we all worked together in Birmingham in 1984.  She has a 1 hour drive to work each day and Kevin has a 2 hour commute to London every day.  Never again will I complain about Oamaru traffic delays.   Oakley is a pleasant and sleepy little village with a pub, and most of the people living there would appear to commute to London for work.  We had a family dinner with Ann, Kevin, and their 2 grown-up kids Laura and Alex, and Laura’s boyfriend Mat.  Ann and Kevin were off to the heel of Italy the next day for a 2 week holiday, and Laura and Alex off to New York.

Next stop Saffron Waldron, just a short drive away on the other side of Cambridge, to see the Van den Borsts.  Gary (another BDS Otago 1981 grad) and Criddy came to UK 2 years ago for their OE.  They a have a cosy flat in the middle of this medieval town which has been a market town since 1127. It is just across the road from Oliver Cromwell’s headquarters in the middle of the 17^th century.  It is very scenic, with amazing crooked old buildings with low doorways and roofs.  Ancient Britons must have been very short.  Gary had to get away to work early the following day so we were on the road first thing to try and beat the weekend exodus to the Lake District.

Jon and Annie Graham live near Torver on the banks of Lake Conniston in an old converted stone stables.  They are surrounded by Oak and Silver Birch forest, with ferns and moss covering the forest floor.  It’s not unlike the West Coast of NZ.  In keeping with tradition, shortly after arriving we walked off through stone-walled lanes, over muddy swamps, and through colourful heather to the pub in Torver for a couple of pints of local ale before dinner. 

A similar trend developed over the weekend and there were many muddy miles ending at idyllic stone pubs with great beer and food.  The weather was wet, windy and atmospheric most of the time, as a storm moved in with hurricane warnings.

Right now we are on the car ferry at Holyhead, waiting for departure to Dublin across a very rough Irish Sea. Several sailings have been cancelled already but ours is a big ship and we’ve taken Dr Graham’s strongest sea-sick pills.  The people seated around us have opted for pints of beer and glasses of wine.  It could get messy.

Click here to see photos