November Update

The last couple of weeks have been very muddled to say the least.

After spending the weekend parked up outside Matty and Amy’s we decided to visit Winchester as we didn’t want to go too far away from Brighton where Nicky had just had a trial.  We visited a couple of properties Northington Grange and Hinton Ampner (pictured) in the countryside and City Mill, Great Hall and City Museum (very impressive roman mosaic floor) in the town.  Back in the countryside we took a woodland walk at Farley Mount Country Park and visited Flowerdown Barrows.  Late in the week we attended interviews at two hotels and visited Oxford.  In Oxford we bought a guide map and followed a recommended route around the town, deviating only to make a visit to the Natural History Museum.

Then back outside Matty and Amy’s for the weekend.

This time because we were going with Matty (+2 friends) and Greg to the Four Nations Rugby League double header at Wembley.  New Zealand beat Wales and Australia beat England.  The final is between England and Australia today.  Nicky had a trial at a café called the Roastery and subsequently accepted a job there.  However not until after a minor saga with the Coppid Beach Hotel.  We had interviewed together (for live in positions) and they had confirmed that I could have a bar position but there was a delay and a second interview required for Nicky to get a position as a leisure attendant in a Gym.  After being advised it was likely to take a minimum for 5 more days for a decision Nicky accepted the café role only for the hotel to ring and offer the job a couple of hours later.  Too slow too bad for them they miss out on us. However the week was not all about jobs we visited Hughendon Manor, Windsor Castle (pictured) and Cliveden.

A job was one thing somewhere to live another.  Nicky accepted the job on Wednesday and started work on Saturday, so once again we parked outside Matty and Amy’s for the weekend.  Greg has been entrenched on the floor of Matty and Amy’s living room since he arrived about a month ago and last weekend we went and checked out the Lord Mayors show (most pictures on my Flickr at the moment are this) a big parade.  I think I saw enough military personal and hardware to take out New Zealand J.  Then we visited St Brides Church and the London Natural History Museum.

The past week has been spent searching for somewhere to live and a job from our base at Crystal Palace Caravan Site.  Several dodgy or unsuitable flat/house visits later we found a couple of suitable candidates.  I tried to get one with a couple in Mitcham, the location and price was good but for some reason my good looks must have put the guy off, his wife was like sure I think so but he wanted to see more people.  So we went with a room in Camberwell/Stockwell/North Brixton area 30c Lilford Road.  So on Friday I unloaded the van and hauled all our stuff up three floors of stairs.  Please take this nest comment in the spirit it is intended – the last few days in South London have been the first culture shock I have had over here as I think I have seen more black people than the rest of my life put together.  It has been the first time that I really felt as well as knew that I wasn’t at home, everywhere else could pass for New Zealand.

I’ve been putting in for all sorts of jobs this week, customer service, retail, reception while still looking for relevant environmental work.  Hopefully something will work soon.

Our flight south for the winter

So in recent times Nicky and I have flown south for the winter and we are pleased we have as we have finally been able to shed the thermals and raincoats required in the North.  Conditions improved after we visited Liverpool where we saw Anfield (home of Liverpool FC), the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the Cavern Club and a couple of museums.  While in the area we went to watch Preston North End play Sheffield Utd at Deepdale unfortunately Preston lost 2-4.

We have begun wildcamping in the van a bit since obtaining our porta potti near Southport.  We stayed very close to Royal Birkdale for any golfing enthusiasts. While in Southport we had a quick try in the amusements another English institution.

So continuing into Cheshire we began to dry out and defrost from our Summer in Northumberland.  It actually has been quite pleasant for a bit recently.  But I’m told normal service is due next week.

So anyway enough tangents in Cheshire we visited Chester which has probably the most intact city walls of any town in England, you can pretty much walk around the whole town on them (we did) and it is a very attractive city.  It has a quirky feature of also having first floor shop fronts with their own walkway in front, accessed at various points by stairs.

Cheshire is where we watched the All Blacks in the Final.  A pub called the yew tree inn near Bunbury.  They let us stop in the field next to the pub for two nights and I had a couple of beverages with the locals and a lovely breakfast for the Rugby (rather stressful).  Relief more than anything at the end, no time to dither though as we got back on the road shorty after as the itenary was full, with Moreton Corbet Castle, Wroxeter Roman City & Stokesay Castle having missed Much Wenlock and its’ priory due to a wayward GPS.

After stopping for the night at the base of the Shropshire Hills we took a short walk in the morning to get a feel for the countryside before visiting Shrewsbury the main town and Attingham Park, where we bought a readers digest touring guide to Britain from 1993 which is assisting us in our planning.  A stop at Much Wenlock en route to Hereford completed the day.

In Herefordshire we visited Goodrich Castle, Wye Valley butterfly zoo and St Briavels Castle before heading off to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire to spend the night amongst the trees.  This had the unfortunate side effect of having conkers falling on the roof of the van during the night.  

After a slightly unsettled sleep I had to drive nearly 4 hours to Brighton because Nicky got a trial at a Café in Brighton.  We spent the night on the foreshore just along from the Pier.

Nicky’s trial was on a Friday so we decided to go into London for the weekend and catch up with Matty and Amy and Gunam and Sunita.  So Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights were spent parked up on the street in London.  Despite being well past peak hour the traffic in London was horrendous and we were 1.5 hours later than expected.  It was also the most difficult driving of my life.  Give me the M1 any day now.  I’m accustomed to the motorway driving now, it is the inner city or fiddly country lanes which cause much more stress these days.

We have just been in Winchester and are currently just outside Oxford but I’ll leave that for next time.

Once again don't forget my FLICKR and YOUTUBE

Thanks for listening, see ya later.