Up and Away!

Today we leave for Oz after 5400 miles around fascinating areas of Europe. 

A glimpse of the journey.

What an incredible three and a half months. It will take another six months to digest it all. We are already looking back on the extended time we spent in Poland as a standout highlight. Our past three weeks in the UK have also been great with spending time with Maddie and James being the highlight. 

Very special!

We gave ourselves plenty of time to do the final jobs before heading off to the storage site. But as we have grown accustomed to things don't always go as planned. 

Leaving the lock this morning. 

Our sixteen mile trip to the storage site seemed a simple journey, but we didn't bank on the road closures for part of the route. The suggested deviation ran out of signage after a short time and we were left with an enormous circular detour of our own making. 

Arrived at the storage running a little late but with time to do the final tasks. All went well, James arrived on time to take us to Heathrow. It was into this journey that we realised that our cut lunch was still sitting in the van - this after bragging how we clean out every crumb of foodstuffs before locking up the van. So, back we went to collect the lunch, ensuring that "not a crumb" was left!

Our lift! Thanks James 😘

James got us to Heathrow in plenty of time and we were able to check our luggage through, eat our lunch and then still have time to check out the duty-free. 

The Royal Brunei flight to Dubai was on schedule and we started boarding at 4.45 pm for our 5.45 pm departure. All is looking good! 

The Royal Brunei Dreamliner. 

A bit sad to be leaving the UK but at the same time looking forward to going home - and the little more daily living space!

Penultimate UK!

Not a good night's sleep. Had the alarm set for 4.30 am for a quick and hassle free exit from London - this may have influenced the broken sleep. 

Awake and away by 4.40 am! Always interesting to see London at this hour of the morning. Plenty of people and vehicles about, many waiting for buses etc. The lights along the Thames gives it a fairytale appearance. 

We left early to miss the traffic of a working morning in London but the M4 was already carrying large number of vehicles in both directions. 

We arrived at Sulhamstead,  by the canal, ready to pack our cases and clean the van for storage tomorrow. 

Canal boats at the Sulhamstead lock. 

Hilton sneaking a look through the trees!

Spent the day around the canal and cleaning out the van. Everything nearly ready for our flight to Oz tomorrow. 

Monday London

Not sure what it is but sleeping late seems to be the pattern of our life the past few days! Is it the London air, or the quiet street here in central London, or possibly the unaccustomed late nights!

A cooler morning across London.  Took in some breakfast before a little bit more tidying of the van. After a coffee we took ourselves across to the Barbican Centre to view the exhibitions and to wander around the very pleasant environs of the estate. 

The old and the new - St Giles-without-Cripplegate Church and part of the newish Barbican complex. This area was completely destroyed during the war with parts of the church surviving  the destruction. Interest: Oliver Cromwell was married in St Giles Church in 1620. 

Part of the terraces within the Barbican complex. 

A very interesting pub near the Barbican!

James and Gerda called around to Hilton after lunch and we went up to Old Street for a coffee and a chat. 

Later in the afternoon we left Fann Street (sadly) and drove to Maddie's flat in Camberwell for the evening. Caught up with all the goss! 

Maddie cooking at home to the tune of "Texting (Whistle) while you work"!

Back to Hilton at a reasonable hour for a good night's sleep.  

London Rain

The Nottinghill Festival this weekend and with the first rain in weeks,  it is all a bit disappointing for the Brits. And with the pedestrian bridge over the M20 crashing down yesterday - the delays caused by the closure of the M20 has caused massive disruption for the long weekend. Great that we are safely locked away in London.  

Another slow day again today. Called in on James for a coffee. Back to the van for some more clearing out and organising all our accumulated junk readying the van for storage in a couple of days time. 

Maddie called round this afternoon. 

Maddie and BJ.  Note the name of the beer!

Caught up with more of the goss before wandering down to the Museum of London. Must be one of the great museums. It is moving its location soon to the Smithfield Market premises because it has outgrown its current location. 

The very majestic wild ox from 250,000 BC uncovered in Ilford in Essex. 

Roman floor mosaic - an original relocation. 

The Lord Mayor's 18th Century carriage - still in use. 

Looks familiar -  a Newgate Prison gate, perhaps some family members may have had first hand experience. 

Later we made our way to James' for Sunday roast. 

Helene and James. 

Tip of The Shard from James apartment. 

 

London Heights!

A very slow morning!  Just can't take these late nights any more.

Gerda called around this morning bringing  a well received coffee for us both. 

Later we gathered together our washing and took this to James' for processing! 

Helene at James' this morning. 

Later James took us on scenic drive to Alexandra Palace, a historic entertainment venue in Alexandra Park. This venue is on a hill in North London with great views over Canary Wharf and The City. We had a wander around, some lunch and a drink before returning to the Barbican late in the afternoon. 

A little hazy but can see London's skyline in the distance. 

Alexandra Palace - the first BBC TV broadcast from here in November 1936. The Palace also was a prisoner of war camp during WWI. 

Back to the van shortly afterwards for an early night. 

Old London Town!

London today!

Spent the morning doing some house keeping on the Common overlooking the very pleasant town of Dorking. Not too hot early but got a lot warmer the closer we got to London. The Brits are beside themselves with this sort of weather for their end-of-summer long weekend. 

Our trip into London, not something we look forward to on a Friday afternoon, took a different route to the one we would normally take. Our journey today took us to Camberwell and Maddie's house.

Maddie and Laura at their flat in Camberwell - an early start to the long weekend. 

Some interesting moments with the outstanding one being Google maps turning us into a street where the height limit was 2.6 metres! This was interesting as we were in very very heavy traffic! We stopped, horns started blasting, our hazard lights went, and the driver left the vehicle!!! Not much sympathy from the other drivers but what can you do! After a while some saw the necessity for common sense and allowed us room to back out!   All in a days driving!!!

From the very pretty Dorking to ...

... to the frantic London traffic ...

... also competing pizza delivery drivers taking space in front of us!

Arrived at Maddie's place in Camberwell where she had a working-from-home day. Lovely to see her and Laura and their flat.

The Shard on our way to London Bridge. 

The beautiful Thames embankment. 

Spent an hour with them before facing the last stretch of the journey to the City. Five miles in one hour! Arriving in Fann Street we were able to park in our usual weekend spot and settled down for a three day layover! 

Part of the new skyline of The City - the Cheese Grater. and the Walkie-Talkie. 

Later Maddie, Laura, James  and Gerda came around and we had a very entertaining session in Hilton before moving on to a great Italian restaurant around near Old Street. Very enjoyable company and excellent food. 

The girls at the restaurant -Helene, Maddie and Laura. 

Home to bed after midnight! How lovely it is to catch up with Maddie and James. A great night! 

On our way home we came across Mr Fox!

Unseasonal Brits!

It's officially a heatwave!  Well, so we heard today, two days of over 30 degrees  officially constitutes a heatwave. Must say, though, it has been a little hot and  humid - something not associated with the U.K.  

We seem to be getting later each morning, but we have deliberately slowed our pace. 

Today we visited Hatchland Park, just north-east of Guilford. An interesting Georgian house with an outstanding collection of piano-type instruments from very famous people in history eg, Napoleon. It also houses one of the few portraits of Shakespeare painted in his lifetime - presumably he sat for the artist. 

Titled, Playwright! 

Pianos and paintings - quite spectacular displays. 

Hatchland, an elegant Georgian home "built from the money of defeated enemy". 

Interesting to note that a TV production team had set up their base at Hatchland. We found out that the series "Call the Midwife" was shooting scenes. 

Seemed that each actor had their own trailer! Plus, a food canteen seemed to be operating most of the day. 

Later drove on to Ranmore Common for our overnight stop. 

Along the Surrey Hills were some special views. 

And some special villages, like Gomshall. 

And another Gomshall inn. 

And good things come in threes at Gomshall!

At Abinger Hammer this lovely timeless timepiece. 

"The clock which overhangs the main road portrays the figure of "Jack the Blacksmith", who strikes the hour with his hammer. The clock bears the motto "By me you know how fast to go". The clock was given in memory of the first Lord Farrer of Abinger Hall who died in 1899. The clock represents the iron industry and the role played by the county of Surrey in the industrial past." (Wikipedia)

Precious Petworth

Petworth House and Park - just magnificent! The visit was greatly assisted by the equally beautiful day. The hottest day this summer!

The grand staircase at Petworth. 

Just a small slice of the collection at Petworth House. 

A relatively slow morning in Midhurst. We were positioned in a lovely shaded spot so the unusual weather didn't over heat the van. 

Late morning we drove on to Petworth, gained a parking space under some great 300-year old oak trees before we visited the Petworth Mansion. 

A gnarled 300-year old oak in the grounds at Petworth. 

Petworth houses the National Trust's finest and most valuable collection of art, with the 4th Century BC's Leconsfield Aphrodite by Praxiteles being the National Trust most valuable sculpture. 

The unassuming Leconsfield Aphrodite modestly sitting on a sideboard at Petworth. 

By the time we arrived the car park of this very popular property was filling up fast. With the temperature quickly rising to obscene levels for the UK this time of the year, we parked under some of "Capability" Brown's oak trees and enjoyed a leisurely drink before facing the site-seeing shuffle. 

Some consider this a beautifully natural parkland. It is difficult to argue against this! 

The art collection is absolutely outstanding - with the 16th and 17th Century owners being great collectors of art from Europe during their Grand Tours, and also being great patrons of artists of the quality of Turner and van Dyke. There are numerous of these artists' paintings in the collection. 

 Funnily enough, the Red Room! Walls covered with paintings. 

Van Dykes' paintings of Charles I and his wife, the French Princess Henrietta Maria.  

A painting of Petworth at Petworth. 

 European Royals at Petworth. The Prince Regent, Tsar Alexander I, Thre Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, Freserick William III of Prussia,  Prince of Wuttenburg - after the Peace of Paris 1814. 

The sculpture gallery was also quite outstanding with many Roman copies of the original Greek statues. 

Being the 300th anniversary of the birth "Capability" Brown, a display highlighting his work was available for people to ponder. His reputation is certainly intact but the authors of the display didn't shy away from some of the negative impacts of his visions - namely, uprooting whole villages to create his natural park gardens. The landscape in front of Petworth House certainly doesn't enhance Capabilities reputation. 

Capability's wasteland at the front entrance to Petworth which had once been a delightful parterre garden.

We took a walk through the very pretty village of Petworth. The town grew up around Petworth House with a dependence on the house for labour and support. 

The Petworth church and laneway. 

Cobbled stone alleys.... 

...  and lovely doorways. 

As the temperature rose into the 30s we hastily retreated to the shade of the earlier discovered oak trees, had lunch and a rest before heading up the road to Godalming for our overnight stop.