Backtrack to October 2015

 

It would seem I have been a little lazy of late and not posted since our holiday in Italy and in fact I have not got round to posting about our time in England visiting family and friends. So it’s time for catch up….

September 29th we left beautiful Sommocolonia behind and flew to Bristol. We spent one month in England visiting with family and friends and drinking quite a bit of cider. Although I did notice Jerry’s intake has slowed down somewhat since our last visit, it must be something to do with turning 60!

We arrived just as the Rugby World Cup started. Of course the Poms were all fired up and needless to say there was lots of banter between us. I think Jerry and I did a great job of representing the Aussies.

 

Another (mystery) bike ride with Cheryl and Mark to celebrate both Jerry’s 60th and my 59th saw us cycling from Nailsea to Froome, (not far we were told) it turned out to be about 65km. But a beautiful ride along the old railway lines through Bristol, Bath and Radstock countryside.

We overnighted at a lovely hotel that had a huge bath in our room.  After the long bike ride a soak in the rather grand tub was most welcome!

We were treated to dinner and then onto a concert where we listened to a beautiful Irish singer, (whose name escapes me at the moment),  it was 3 months ago! but the feet were tapping and the hands were clapping, (she) was very good. That night we slept like babies and after a hearty breakfast reality set in as we set out to cycle the 65 km home! It was a great weekend and I am happy to say after 2 weeks cycling the canals I was able to keep up with Cheryl unlike the last time home!

Some of you may know that Jerry’s Dad Ray was the charge hand blacksmith at Underfall Yard in Bristol docks in his working days. Underfall Yard has been closed down for quite a number of years now but they have just received money from the Lottery to renovate it and open it up to the public for tours. We rode the bikes into Bristol docks one Sunday and joined in a tour. It was very interesting listening to Ray tell the tales of yesteryear. They are very lucky to have Ray who can tell them so much about the history of the yard and the characters that worked there. He is one of the very few left of the original workforce.

Ray has been retired for some years now and has taken up model boat building as one of his many interests. I am not sure how many boats Ray has built and sailed over the years but he obviously enjoys it very much as his garage tells!

We went to Cheddar with him one day to see where he takes his boats to sail them with other enthusiasts. It is called the Cheddar Steam Club. Apparently I have a lot of “blog followers” at the club and they seem to remember more about our sailing adventures than I do!! I promised them I would post some pictures of my visit and they have been very patiently waiting and I have had several reminders from Ray!

Now there is nothing like a good Ploughman’s lunch and a cider and seeing as we were in Cheddar, home of cheese, we thought it a good place to have one.

A visit to see Jerry’s younger sister Alison took us to Lincoln. She lives in a converted barn which was just beautiful. As you can see from the photo it’s pretty flat country and we enjoyed some lovely walks with Mojo in the mornings.

Travelling further NE to Billingham, near Newcastle to see friends we first met in Australia, Alan, Helen and Oliver, who was at primary school with Ben, oh and not to forget  the new puppy schnauzer Manfred, who seemed reluctant to walk with me on his own! Perhaps he thought I was trying to take him back to Australia with me.

A night out at Saltburne on Sea for a dinner of the best fish & chips ever.

Back on the motorway we headed south to London to stay a few days with my oldest friend Carey. We never seem to get around to doing very much except chatting, a walk along the Thames and maybe a bit of shopping together. But for me I enjoy every minute of my few days at Carey’s and just catching up with a very dear friend and her family.

By now the weather was starting to cool down and our light backpack luggage we started off with had almost doubled with warmer clothes and shoes for the English weather. I hasten to add we did have lovely weather there, but we did need to buy some warmer gear and borrow a suitcase to pack it all in!

Of course we did spend a night or two at our favourite pub The Blue Flame. It has undergone some renovations but still has that old charm about it and the characters we love to share a cider with and hear the local gossip are still there. unfortunately no photos, I must have been distracted by the cider.

3 months in Europe was not only a celebration of Jerry’s big 60th but also a present to ourselves as we had decided it was easier to visit by plane than to sail!

Back onboard Tigress Too we had 6 weeks of catching up on jobs and maintenance before heading off to Fremantle for Christmas and more importantly to meet our first grandson Oliver.

Oliver will have his own post