Month: May 2025

Well, the sunshine that we were happy to take responsibility for bringing to England finally lapsed as we drove through pouring rain and high winds towards Truro in Cornwall. This is an ancient city with narrow winding roads and interesting architecture. We called in on another old Kenyan school friend of Georgie’s near the centre of the city and had a delightful lunch and long conversations, before realising how late it was getting and making tracks to our sleeping place. It can be tricky to estimate the time in these high latitudes because the Sun doesn’t set until about 9:00 pm.

This time our accommodation was an air B&B (without the final B) just a few minutes out of the city in a quiet street that, reportedly, had a couple of hedgehogs living in the backyard. This excited us with the prospect of laying eyes on these cute little native animals. So far the list of native creatures had grown to include several species of bird, a fox, a deer, squirrels, badgers, snails, numerous bee types and other assorted small insects. Plus, also of course, evidence of moles with their distinctive molehills littering the landscape. We are keen to add more lifeforms to the growing list.

Our second day in Cornwall saw us having enormous fun exploring narrow country lanes, steep spectacular cliff faces with wild Atlantic waves crashing at their bases, and admiring long sandy beaches. We were able to add to our list of wildlife encounters viewings of seals rollicking in an almost inaccessible bay at the foot of high rocky cliffs. Then there were pheasants leaping out of the way of our tiny car in narrow leafy roads, and multiple large hairy caterpillars that we saw lying prone on walking paths – which we tried very hard to avoid squishing – along with other tiny invertebrates that we greeted with pleasure. The cutest little bunnies of a diminutive size that we had not encountered before were seen scrambling about the fields behind one remote coastal cove.

The sunshine had blessed us again with its appearance, although the chill Arctic breeze was also our constant companion. We set forth in the morning with a vague aim of finding the northern coastline of the Cornish peninsula. Multiple unbelievably narrow and stunningly beautiful country lanes had us winding back and forth through very pretty and delightfully hilly woodland, dotted with plenty of old buildings that sometimes were perched right up against the road. Beautiful wildflowers bedecked the roadsides and were widespread in the pretty meadows, wherever we could glimpse them in the gaps through the hedgerows.

Eventually, we managed to espy the sea, and drove down into a steep valley that led to a small but busy seaside village. There we followed a narrow road up past a lighthouse to the clifftops, parked, and wandered off to admire the gorgeous views. It was from a clifftop that we oohed and aahed as we watched the seals swimming in the waves below us.

Walking tracks line the cliffs of that spectacular coast, and we enjoyed many a viewpoint stop along the way as we drove westward toward St Ives. Georgie did well, despite her sore ribs, and managed quite a few strolls through the fields and shrubbery to achieve gorgeous views of the white capped waves crashing onto the rugged rocks below.

The broad sands of St Ives Bay is an understandably very popular place, so after a brief stop to admire the beautiful wide beach we moved on to find somewhere to lunch. With full tummies and only a small amount of difficulty we managed to locate a place of absolute beauty that had been recommended to us. Botallack is an old tin mining area that is now littered with ruins, and is extremely spectacular. Once again, nursing her poor sore ribs, Her Ladyship managed to clamber down the slopes to enjoy this very pretty site.

Next on the list was Lands End, the most westerly point of this verdant island. It was very popular, and when we parked the car in a very busy car park, Rod became very suspicious of one rather dodgy looking character who was watching people as they moved away from their parked vehicles. Sure enough, as soon as he thought we were out of sight we observed this shifty-looking individual sidle over and try our car door to see if we’d left it unlocked. That kinda spoiled it for us, so understandably we didn’t stay there long.

But the next little place that we accidentally stumbled upon was absolutely wonderful. Rod took the wrong turn and drove down the skinniest and windingest road we had encountered so far (and that’s really saying something!!!) to a delightful and remote cove that was not on any of our maps. Porthgwarra is a tiny little spot with cute little buildings and small tunnels carved through the rocks to allow access to the water. It was there that we saw those cute tiny bunnies. We really loved that obscure and hidden place!

We dined in a ‘Pirate Inn’ near Penzance, then made our way back to bed. It had been a big and wonderful day indeed.

Narrow roads

Flowers and the rocky coast

The broad sands of St Ives Bay

Stunning coast

Botallack

Seething oceans

Tunnels at Porthgwarra

We stayed a few days with Georgie’s lovely Auntie in Dorset. Rod was cheerfully and enthusiastically able to help out a bit around the garden and Georgie and her Aunt spent many happy hours chatting and catching up on each other’s lives. Our hostess also had wonderful motion-detecting cameras in her garden that caught videos of badgers and their babies feeding on peanuts that she put out nightly for their consumption. How gorgeous indeed!

But eventually we moved on to yet another county – this time Somerset – and visited a cousin of Georgie’s, who, with her husband, kindly put us up for a few days and introduced us to some interesting and obscure board games called Carcassone and Alhambra. Through the day Georgie chatted away (as is her wont) and Rod took himself off to wander about the countryside (as is his wont).

He staggered about some fields of barley and potatoes admiring the pretty flowers that bedecked the sides of the paths. So it wasn’t JUST nettles and brambles. On another jaunt he investigated the manicured gardens of the National Trust’s Montacute House, before eyeing off a distant ridge that promised to provide more of what he longed for. Sure enough, after driving up some narrow, winding and heavily treed roads he found an area of nice country with big trees and a meandering creek that had non-manicured shady scrub adorning its banks. Ah, that was better!

There was also a plethora of playful puppy dogs taking their owners for walks at that place, so, many a waggy-tailed hound was pleasurably patted.

Whilst wandering randomly through patches of long grass Rod caught himself warily, and quite unnecessarily, scanning for snakes – an instinctive reaction for an Australian. There may not have been any of those reptilian creatures present but there sure was evidence of moles all about. Their distinctive mounds were everywhere.

England, we have found, does have a much more civilised attitude toward dogs than Australia. In the Antipodes, large numbers of people tend to adopt a somewhat prejudiced outlook toward those gorgeous furry creatures. Many a British shop will sport ‘Dog Friendly’ signs in the windows, and drink bowls and free doggy snacks are a common sight along pedestrian paths. So very civilised indeed!

There was some lamenting by Rod of the discomfort associated with having almost his entire body perpetually encased in heavy clothing to ward off the Arctic chill. Although conversely, he was grateful that this exoskeleton did protect him from what would have otherwise been the additional discomfort of multiple bramble scratches and nettle stings during his rambles.

Pretty wildflowers

Montacute House

A gorgeous chair with doggy drink bowl

Montacute gardens

More pretty wildflowers

A colourful blowfly (Rod couldn’t resist)

A clever swing

At last! Wild scrub!

A drive South took us to Southsea, Portsmouth where an old school friend of Georgie’s graciously put us up for a couple of nights and gave us the grand tour of that historically important naval town. On the first morning there Rod did his usual trick of rising before sunrise to wander off in a random direction for a couple of hours whilst everyone else sensibly slept on.

Rugged up in multiple layers he shuffled up the long shingle beach until arriving at derelict fortifications, then turned inland to explore a bit of parkland. The wild flowers at this time of year are just coming out and this pleased Rod immensely. He had the pleasure of spotting
a fox in its natural environment and marvelled at the multiple colours of tiny blossoms all around.

The return walk held a bit of a surprise though, as he shuffled through the labyrinth of almost indistinguishable streets searching for the house they were staying in he became completely LOST! For almost an hour he stumbled in circles, metaphorically kicking his still-jet-lagged brain for not paying closer attention to which of those near identical houses was the one he needed. Most of his frustration was down to the fact that he didn’t actually remember the name of the street. Unfortunately Rod’s (usually) infallible sense of direction was totally out of whack in the Northern Hemisphere, where the planet’s magnetic fields all go the wrong way!

Later in Guildford, Georgie had a great time enjoying a reunion with old classmates from Kenya who she hadn’t seen for 50 years, and was off yakking with this grand group of girls, sharing memories and much laughter. This included a bus trip to a pretty and quintessentially English village called Shere, for the benefit of one of the group who had never been to UK before.

Meanwhile, Rod amused himself with wandering aimlessly through a patch of bush named Puttenham Common. Locating the aforementioned Common was uncommonly difficult due to a complete lack of signage, but he did eventually manage to work it out, and shuffled off into the shrubbery.

Many of the walking tracks veered off over boring golfing greens, which Rod studiously ignored, preferring instead to investigate the meandering trails amongst twisted mossy tree trunks and multiple pretty flowers nestled amongst the ubiquitous stinging nettles and bramble. A glimpse of a wild deer was an unexpected treat, plus seeing about four different species of bird, and one example of the gorgeously fluffy bumblebee which kept him smiling. Lovely bird song accompanied him on that ‘ramble’, which did help to take the edge off the constant rumble of traffic that emanated from just beyond the foliage.

Her Ladyship located a lovely spot named the Winkworth Arboretum that we had a lovely time wandering about in. It is a beautiful property with a broad variety of habitats that was enhanced by a variety of birds singing their hearts out. Simply gorgeous! Unfortunately Georgie took a tumble while clambering up some loose gravelly stairs and hurt her ribs badly.

Flowering beach kale growing on the shingle beach

The endless streets of identical houses

Mossy tree trunks on the Common

Meandering trail on the Common

Cottages within the quaint village of Shere

Shere again

Winkworth Arboretum

Georgie at the Arboretum

More Arboretum

Still more Arboretum

Yet more Arboretum

Gorgeous!

The interminably long 24 hour plane trip was made easier to endure due to Georgie organising plenty of leg room for me to stretch out my long and gangly pins, in all but the first and shortest bit of Cairns to Brizvegas. The two flights to and from ‘Honkers’ did have us perched near the dunnies, which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, the latter mainly due to the queues that regularly assembled in front of us.

But as we approached the cloud-blanketed British Isles we looked forward eagerly to stretching our legs on that lo-o-ong walk through Heathrow. We were then pleasantly surprised by rapidly passing through customs due to the fancy new electronic visa system loaded onto our passports. In and out in a flash!

A short drive in our squishy rental car Meggie and we were happily ensconced in an ancient 16th century Old Manor House B&B. First on the list was, of course, a real cuppa tea for Her Ladyship, then we headed off for dinner in an even more ancient establishment to enjoy what our host described as ‘pub grub’ (a nice ethnic touch).

The pub was even older than the B&B, graced with low hanging ceilings, exposed beams and tiny door frames that you could bloody your nose on if not careful. Very quaint.

Upon return to our digs the long anticipated hot bath was put on hold as the Old Manor House’s hot water system was on the blink. Eventually our host did manage to ‘almost’ fix the boiler, and Rod was able to dip in a shallow tepid bath in the morning, thank golliwogs!! After a most enjoyable Full English Breakfast the full hot water was reinstated and a deep soaking hot bath was indulged in.

That grade 2 listed Manor house was extremely quirky, built with ancient 14th century timbers from old ships and the like. Enormous timber floorboards, wobbly, creaky floors and no clean sharp lines in sight. The trappings scattered everywhere were fascinating, so much history cluttered all about. Paintings, sculptures, etchings, photos, fittings, furniture, etc, etc. which really tickled the fancy of clutter-bugs like us.

The Old Manor House.

The ancient rubbidy-dub we dined in.

Yes, in a week or so we are boarding another big jet aeroplane and whizzing off to the opposite side of the planet.

How exciting!

Despite it being ‘summer’ over there in Ol’ Blighty we will be rugged up to billy-o in preparation for getting our soft tropical bodies so close to the North Pole.

Woo Hoo! Here we come! Look out all you Northern Hemispherites, a couple of Antipodeans are coming your way!