Kent

We spent a week in Kent tracing my family ancestry, visiting cemeteries and seeking gravestones. My mother had a late aunt who died shockingly at Minster railway station when she fell between the platform and the train when she disembarked. She was just 20 at the time. I went to Margate Library and was able to find two different newspaper articles of the day (1916) about the event. This was quite a buzz to an amateur genealogist like me especially as I only knew it had happened during WW1 but found the article on the first page of the first roll of microfilm I scanned. I also managed to trace various residences where my ancestors had lived 100-200 years ago. An article I have read here states that over 50% of NZ and Australian visitors to the UK now list ancestry tracing as the reason for their visit. Genealogy is listed as the second most popular ‘hobby’ in the world after gardening.


Camping

On a negative note we began our camping and the weather was just appalling. The worst event was when we returned to our tent pitch to find one of the poles had broken from gale force winds and the bedding was all saturated. We had to pack up as quickly as possible in the pouring rain and then try and find a hotel for the night. The closest we could find was on the edge of London so we had to head back the way we had come! Camping when not raining torrentially and blowing a gale has been fine. The kids enjoy it and the social aspects it brings. We have met an array of campers and carravaners including single mums, lesbian couples, families with 6 kids and 1 on the way, and just your regular family with 2 kids. Families can bring their dogs camping also at a cost of 1GBP ($3 NZ) per night. The cost to camp is about 15-20GBP a night ($45-$60NZ) . There are no communal kitchens at the campsites which we thought there would be so we have to just eat prepared/cold food, fruit etc. I had a moment straight out of a slapstick movie one night when busting for a pee I ventured into the night at about 2.00 a.m. I thought it safer to follow the asphalt path rather than walk across the grass where one would be at risk of slipping or tripping over a stray tent peg. I was half way between the tent and toilet block when I slipped on a great puddle of mud which I of course couldn’t see. I ended up on my backside in my nightie covered with mud. I struggled on to the toilet block and removed my sticky muddy clothing and had a shower but then of course I had to put it back on and head back to our tent. The rest of the family was none the wiser until the morning when they saw my cut and scraped knees! Oh well hopefully you can get a laugh out of it anyway.

Costs of things

Pleasantly enough the supermarket prices here aren’t as dear as we expected and are in fact less than the USA. The downside however though is that everything else is majorly expensive. Some examples:

Washing and drying a load of washing which we have to do about every 3 days – 5GBP ($15 NZ).
Petrol – 1GBP a litre ($3NZ)
Glass of beer in a pub – 3GBP ($9NZ) so Tim has only done this once and no it wasn’t in London.
Cornish Pasty from a bakery - 1-2 GBP ($3-$6 NZ)
Ice Cream at the beach – 1.50 GBP ($4.50 NZ)
Souvenir tea towel – 5GBP ($15 NZ)
One scoop of hot chips – 1.50GBP ($4.50)


Cornwall

We had 4 days camping in Truro where Tim’s ancestors come from. We visited some more old churches and cemeteries and at one church we were invited into tea with some of the elderly congregation and the vicar who had a daughter living in Whangarei, NZ but had never visited as his wife wouldn’t fly ‘all that way’.
We also managed to visit the world famous one of a kind Eden Project. It’s hard to describe what exactly it is but I shall try. The world’s largest greenhouses which house a huge array of plantings from the Mediterranean and South America. There is also an education centre, outside gardens to stroll through and information on the planet and how plants are used etc for various things. It was great and we all enjoyed our visit. We went after 4.30 p.m as entry was then 18 GBP ($54 NZ) versus the usual 30GBP ($90 NZ). We were there until 9.30 p.m.

Port Isaac, Cornwall

Where the British TV programme “Doc Martin” is filmed. A quaint seaside Cornish village with tiny cobblestone streets and alleyways. We saw the Doctor’s house and the school used in the show.

Tintagel, Cornwall

Legendary home of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Just ruins now strewn across steep cliffs that rise up sharply from the ocean. A lot of walking and a ton of steps but well worth the visit and a monumentous day also as our first day since London where we had no rain and it was actually warm! (Have I mentioned the English weather yet? Don’t worry I shall soon!).

Clovelly, Devon

A charming picture postcard village with steep cobblestone streets leading down to a small harbour. No cars at all are allowed (or would fit) inside the village so you must park at the entrance to the village for 4GBP ($12 NZ) and walk down and back up or get on board a mule for 6.50GBP ($19.50 NZ) per person one way so guess which option we took!?

English weather

I guess we were badly spoiled in the USA with the weather and now we’re paying the price. It has rained every day since we arrived here on 4 August except for 3 days. Not just sun showers but rain that can last all day and comes straight down. We have had gale force winds and the temperature has yet to rise above maybe 15 degrees. When camping we have spent a few nights fully dressed in our sleeping bags. All our tans are long since gone. The weather is also so erratic and unpredictable it’s not funny. We tried checking the forecasts on TV and in the newspapers and even calling the weather office but none of it made a jot of difference. You just can’t predict what it will do. We go to bed in our tent in pleasant weather thinking we’ll be alright tonight only to wake around midnight to torrential rain. I then spend the rest of the night worrying the water will start dripping through (as it does) and spend the rest of the night doing spot torch checks as Tim snores soundly on! A kind campsite owner in Dorset gave us a huge sheet of polythene which we now drape over the tent in ANY weather as a double cover. Makes me sleep easier too though it does have the downside that it flaps with the slightest breeze so earplugs are a good option. If you should mention the weather the standard answer is “Oh but we had a heat wave in July” (yes, we know but we weren’t here then) or “But this is England” as they shrug their shoulders.

English Hotels

When the weather is really bad we have no option but to book a hotel which is harder than you might think. Unlike the USA and New Zealand there are no motels. There are only two hotel chains we can afford (Travelodge and Premier Travel Inns) which cost us around 50GBP a night ($150NZ) for 4 people and we have to sneak the 3rd child in to sleep on the floor or ‘top and tail’. We are limited by where they are located. We usually end up staying in some industrial estate near a motorway and are always guaranteed a room with a view over a car park or an outlook of a wall. The hotels offer no facilities at all so we stay in our room and the kids catch up on homework or we enjoy the luxury of a TV with a staggering 4-5 channels. There is rarely a telephone in the room and if there is it can only be used with a credit card which you swipe directly into the unit. If anyone calls you they can’t be put through, instead reception will (or may) take a message. The rooms are always overheated and stuffy as there is no air conditioning and windows rarely open. There are no bathroom amenities either as in shampoo or a cake of soap. Instead there is a dispenser on the bathroom wall which gives you liquid soap ‘foam’ as one would find in a public toilet.
B&B’s are popular here and plentiful but not an option for a family of five. We would require two rooms which would cost us more than staying in a hotel. Youth Hostels charge per person and so would also cost us more than a hotel. Quite ironic really. So we are happy to camp and the freedom it offers BUT we are dependent on the weather. Everyone tells us the weather should be more stable and warmer in Europe so we are hopeful we can camp more there.



English driving

Scary! Far worse than the USA. We have a left hand drive French lease car which doesn’t help when we are driving on the left and I cringe as the passenger every time a car comes a tad too close. The roads (not the motorways) are small and simply were not designed hundreds of years ago for cars at all - they were in fact for pedestrians. Many of the byways are single lane only and have an abundance of blind corners so it is very nerve wracking. Drivers here are fast and furious and you can’t travel anywhere without a string of traffic behind you. Roundabouts are proliferous and a pain in the butt. A lot of road signage is hidden totally with overgrown trees and shrubs. Few drivers appear to keep to the speed limit and if we choose to then they will drive right up your backside until you give in and let them pass by pulling over.