Blighty Day 23: London and beyond!

Well, it has finally arrived!  Our last day and the temperature is down 12 degrees - close to what we will experience when we arrive home.

We took a long walk this morning knowing that exercise will be in short supply over the next 36 or so hours. 

We spent time with James before he took us to Heathrow in readiness for our flight to Oz. Left London with the rain steadily falling - seems that normality has returned!

The blighters changed our seat allocations on us again, even though we checked in online as earlier as it was available. 

We arrived at Terminal 4 early so we were able to pass through the security and Border Protection with plenty of time to spare. 

Thought I might do some duty-free shopping but had a change of heart!

The flight was on time and we are about to board. Bon voyage! 

Blighty Day 22: London

Another beautiful day in the capital - the penultimate day of our trip.

We had a relaxing morning with James before he took us on an open-top tour of the sites of London. Many of the iconic locations around the city seemed to be on our route. 

Always a standout is St Pancras Station. 

The Royal Courts of Justice is a landmark for all the wrong reasons! 

The ancient cross at Charring Cross more often than not goes unnoticed. 

Admiralty Arch - the stunning entrance to the Mall. 

The Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace. 

The less salubrious ancient Smithfield Meat Market after the hectic early morning activity. 

Later in the afternoon Kevan and Maddie came over for a final get-together before we all head our seperate ways tomorrow. Sad saying goodbye!

Blighty Day 21: London

Another day in tropical London - 28 today! What a great way to finish our trip.

Nothing much on the agenda today other than spending time with James and Maddie. After another slow morning we did venture out to the V and A Museum in South Kensington. Being a public holiday we thought it may have been crowded but because of the great weather many people were outside enjoying the splendid sunshine!

Colourful Meissen porcelain part of the expansive collection. 

The V and A is always a great place to while away time. We split up to take in our own preferences within the museum. No way can you take it all in the one go. The other member was most impressed by all the paintings, ceramics and jewellery, and in particular the  diamonds ranging from 6.5 carats and other precious stones that were on display. 

Small sample of the ancient Islamic tiles. 

The room with the "reproductions" is always a fascination. 

Part of the expansive costume and fashion display. 

The Mary Quant fashions of the 60s - if you can remember! 

Liked this Tibetan beer jug!

We caught a couple of buses to get back to Jim's who was preparing a delicious roast for us and Maddie. Maddie came over and we had a great meal with great company. 

Blighty Day 20: London

"A bed! a bed! my kingdom for a bed!" could have been the cry. Yes, a wonderful night's sleep in a very large comfortable bed. 

The slow morning was to our liking with no pressure on now that the van is safely stored. James and Maddie organised a time to meet up for lunch which we did a little later in the early afternoon. 

We all met at The Drayton Arms and enjoyed good company and a good meal. 

Returned back with James for the rest of the evening. We were treated to some fine cooking later in the evening!

Blighty Day 19: Good Night Hilton!

Getting back in home-mode early this morning with a call to Oz to get the NBN reconnected before we arrive home on Friday.  After this we went back to sleep!

When we finally surfaced, we had our last breakfast in Hilton and then retrieved our cases from the under-lockers of the van. We spent the next hour packing our cases and checking that we had everything out of all the cupboards etc.  

Hilton - thank you! Rest well over the winter. 

We had a chat with the NZ woman in the motorhome next to us.  She was travelling around in-between finishing her degree at Oxford. She was saying that her  opportunity to attend uni didn't happen until her children had left home, so she was doing it while she could. Great courage!

Later we moved onto Maidenhead where we had lunch before driving to Little Marlow where we stored our van. James arrived shortly after to collect us, and all our clobber, taking us into London where we're are staying for the next four days. 

Hilton in his idealic setting!

With the swans. 

Blighty Day 18: Packing Up at Englefield Green

What a beautiful late summers day in England! Traditionally we would have put on our long slacks and woollies, but  not this year - and, the next few days are promising the same.

Yes, packing-up day! It is surprising as to what has been gathered over the past three and a half months. The need to have all the food either eaten or out of the van is the priority. Along with this is the cleaning of all the cupboards and drawers where there may have been food during the trip.  The amount of rubbish was quite surprising. 

Having sorted as much as we could today, we had lunch and then drove on towards Windsor and then to Jealott's Hill where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

The New Leathern Bottle where we spent our last night in the motorhome. 

The look when cleaning and sorting the van for storage. 

A full clean-through the kitchen! 

Blighty Day 17: Nymans Garden

Another very quiet night at Telscombe Cliffs. Seems that the seagulls on the English side of the Channel/ La Manche are more respectful of sleeping motorhomers than those of their counterparts on the other side at Dieppe. 

We were a little later getting away this morning than we had planned. Our minds had been set now on getting the van in a condition to store and leave over the winter. This all takes time and we need to get west of London by Friday night ready to access the storage on Saturday  - and we do get sidetracked!

The sidetrack today was Nymans House and Gardens. It was on the way towards Englefield Green so we thought a visit for a look around and lunch would be desirable. 

We are glad we did. Sections of the garden had passed their prime but other areas were still in spectacular late summer bloom. A good stretch of the legs around the extensive walks overlooking the South Downs. 

Nymans House - partly destroyed by fire in 1947. 

A Tasmanian spinning gum featured in the garden. 

Many photos later, and lunch, we were on our way to tackle the infamous M25! I have referenced this many times but it never seems to intrigue us as to the volume of traffic on the section of the M25 from the Gatwick turnoff and the Heathrow exit. So with courage and determination we conquered the beast and arrived at Coopers Hill, overlooking Runnymede, in one piece!

At Coopers Hill we started the task of packing up the van. A little glueing, sanding and painting to keep the English winter out was undertaken. 

Earlier: a very calm morning with views right along the coast to Brighton 

Possibly the most desirable, scenic overnight stop we've experienced in U.K. 

Local artists' representation of the gardens:

Blighty Day 16: Brighton

We woke to the sun streaming in our back window and thought this will be the pattern for the day but, alas, it clouded over and the sea mist came in from the Channel. This did not deter the intrepid travelers - off to catch the bus into Brighton. 

The Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Built by the Prince of Wales in 1815,  to entertain his friends,  was later sold by Queen Victoria to the city of Brighton in 1850. 

We were fortunate when boarding the bus that the two front seats of the double-decker were vacant, so we had a great view along the southern coastline and of Brighton. 

Kids uptop and upfront on the bus!

It had been many years since we had been here with much has remained the same but, oh, the crowds! I can understand why Brighton is a popular destination, it has much to offer all ages. 

So we set off on foot through the old section known as The Lanes. This is a series of small alleyways and passages that have a whole array of shops - particularly  numerous jewellery shops, restaurants and other niche shops. 

Specialty shop exclusively of ducks!

"Choccywoccydoodah" shop exclusively selling chocolate!

And, a ball shop!

The Lanes - without people for an instant!

We came across some interesting galleries on our wanderings. Some paintings were very intricate and unusual, while others stood out for their colour and brush work. 

This picture of the Queen is built up from individual miniature paintings - very skilful and unusual. 

This Monetques painting reminded us of the Thames last Monday morning early as we drove across Blackfriars Bridge. . 

And, beautiful and colourful flowers. 

Later we strolled out to the iconic pier with every conceivable sideshow-ally fun activity for the young. There was hardly a ride/activity not being used to the full. We settled for the traditional fish and chips! 

Late afternoon we hopped on the bus and returned to Telscombe Cliffs for our second night- and a most beautiful sunset played out later in the evening.