Monthly Archives: August 2008

After a substantial and delicious breakfast at the hotel, the historic Angel Hotel, (dating from 1452) opposite the Abbey Gardens, we went to a service in the ANglican cathedral and then walked round the ruined abbey site.

Later we went to Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, restricting ourselves to a light lunch and a walk round the farm. Splendid Suffolk Punch carthorses and old farm implements.

As arranged, we went from there to Derham to visit an elderly woman who was a great friend of Karola’s mother, Margaret. Charles and Briony Carey farm nearby – they came and visited us at Karamu recently, Charles is I think a cousin of Margarets.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—13°C; no rain [?]

Karola drove us up to Bury St Edmonds where we’d booked into a rather nice hotel in the middle of the town. We’d come up to this part of Suffolk to attend the 70th birthday party of Barbara O’Sullivan, our cleaning lady at Karamu for several years when we came back to live in New Zealand. Barbara had come on a trip to the UK and was staying at her daughter Leanne’s house in Gislingham and they were celebrating jointly a 70th and 40th birthday.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—13°C; no rain [?]

We drove back to Ealing in the morning and in the afternoon Karola and I took Felix to the Kew Records Office on the bus – using our Oyster cards of course. We walked for half a mile along the Thames and then visited the museum – all about British government recordkeeping through the ages.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—15°C; no rain [?]

Karola and Edwina went to Hillier Gardens for lunch and an afternoon walk around the gardens. Meanwhile Geoff and I joined Tom Heywood and Rodger Hake for lunch at the Bridge Hotel. Victor Meldrew met his end being hit by a car under that very bridge.

In the evening Karola and I visited Ray and Sue Massey and Ray cooked us a delightful fish meal. They too have visited us in Karamu.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—15°C; no rain [?]

We all went for a delightful stroll along the banks of the Itchen Navigation – the tow path from Bambridge to Twyford. Upon return we had afternoon tea at the garden centre in Bambridge and my eye was caught by a 2009 calendar full of Beagle pictures – so we got one for Tracey and Graham, our Bicka minders back in New Zealand.

Dinner at Keats restaurant with Geoff, Edwina, and Colin and (Mrs) George Hicks – old friends from my IBM days. Both couples have visited New Zealand not so long ago; Geoff and Edwina stayed with us; Colin and George came for dinner at Karamu.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 10°C—17°C; 0.2 mm rain [?]

Roger and Anne drove us to the airport from where we were whisked across to Stansted and hired a small, manual transmission, convertible Puegeot 703. Karola drove me down to Winchester where we met up with Jim and Bunty Mconnell and took them out for a light dinner. Late evening, as arranged, we went to Geoff Robinson’s place in Ampfield and were most hospitably welcomed by Edwina and Geoff.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 11°C—17°C; 1.0 mm rain [?]

Much walking round Bangor trying to get some of Karola’s digital photos printed so she could send them as postcards. Also spent time in MacDonalds catching up on e-mail etc – they have free Internet access via wi-fi. Grace Neill’s pub for dinner.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—17°C; 0.3 mm rain [?]

Today we did the day trip round Strangford Loch, south of Donaghadee. We went down the open sea side to Portaferry, took the ferry to Strangford, lunched and went back along the inland side of the loch. Among the sights was a unique electricity generator sitting in the middle of the narrow head of the loch. It has two blades rotating under the water which use the strong rips filling and emptying the loch to generate electricity, the only one of its kind in the world, so far. We also visited the ruins of an ancient abbey – mainly mounds and low stone walls – and a small village whose occupants majored in wrecking havoc with passing shipping.

Pier 36 pub in Donaghadee for dinner.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 9°C—14°C; 8.2 mm rain [?]

This was the day for our major outing along the Causeway Coastal Route. The Giant’s Causeway is an interesting natural phenomenon outstripped sadly by the tourism hype. Various other ruins entertained us (places, not people) along the way and I especially liked coming across a flock of Blue Leicester 2-tooth sheep being driven along the road. The drover chatted for a while; he has a daughter living in Wellington.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 9°C—18°C; 2.2 mm rain [?]

I think today we visited Scabro Tower and climbed its 187 steps to a striking lookout to the coast, north to Belfast and south to the Mountains of Morne. A couple of rooms in the tower displayed information about the tower and about the technology of tide mills. I particularly enjoyed the explanation of tide mills.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—19°C; no rain [?]

Visited Mt Stewart a large house and gardens; Karola did the house tour while Roger, Anne, and I wandered round the grounds. We had lunch in GreyAbbey.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—16°C; 0.1 mm rain [?]

Karola and I set off at 7:00 am and caught the 7:20 underground, Central Line, from Ealing Broadway to Liverpool Street Station. Once there we purchased our pre-booked 1st-class tickets on the Stansted Express. All very convenient; we had a short walk into the airport terminal and, once Karola had divided her 100 ml bottles of liquid into two clear plastic bags, one each, we got through security without fuss. Security did seem to be tighter than on other flights. EasyJet was quick, cheap, and adequately comfortable. We arrived at Belfast International Airport around 1:00 pm and were met by Roger Hughes who drove us to his Northern Ireland retreat in Donaghadee. Anne Hughes made us lunch and then we went for a walk round Donaghadee including its waterfront.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -2°C—13°C; no rain [?]

Preparing for trip to Northern Ireland. In addition, we and nanny Andrea took the boys to Lammas Park for a bit of informal football. Barnaby has good footwork.

The London Oyster cards for travelling on public transport are good – I topped up Karola’s card and got one for myself for the start of the trip by undergrond tomorrow.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -2°C—11°C; no rain [?]

Recouperating from the holiday

Hawkes Bay Weather: 3°C—12°C; 0.4 mm rain [?]

Good breakfast at the hotel then on towards Calais and the Chunnel. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurotunnel_Shuttle ) The tunnel begins in Coquelles, near Calais and surfaces in Folkstone.

We got back before 7:00 pm and Karola and I took Felix to Opporto’s restaurant in the evening; unfortunately we didn’t realise that a more adult and leisurely menu began at 7:00 pm so Felix wasn’t able to have hsi usual favorite and the meal took a while to arrive.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—15°C; 3.5 mm rain [?]

Set off mid mornign for Orleans; we were booked into Auberge Maille d’Or hotel in Beaugency slightly south west of Orleans. Although Anna and I had booked the room online and even got a confirmation e-mail, there was no record of our reservation at the hotel. Luckily there was plenty of room anyway. In the car we listened to more radio serials including another Paul Temple Affair.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 4°C—15°C; no rain [?]

Using the camp Internet wireless connecion I booked tickets on EasyJet from Stansted to Belfast for when Karola and I get back to England.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 4°C—16°C; no rain [?]

Today we visited a cave town built on six or so levels into the cliffs. Also of note was Anna’s calmness when, upon rounding a curve in the road, on the outside of the curve, her left wing mirror was smashed by the rear end of a caravan that swung out as it was towed past in the opposite direction.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 4°C—14°C; 3.4 mm rain [?]

A good day, mostly fine and very warm in parts. We all went for a long walk up hills opposite the camp. We had dinner at the camp restaurant and in the evening the camp staff put on a show for the children

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—16°C; no rain [?]

Breakfast at a pattisiere in Salat with sweet bakery items enjoyed especially by Felix and Anna. Karola bought Barnaby a mosquito-repelling wristband. We visited supermarket Le Clerk. We went to a restaurant in Les Ezyies for dinner

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—15°C; 0.5 mm rain [?]

Karola drove the Mercedes and I drove the Lancia and we got it back to the Renault garage just in time after filling with petrol at the local InterMarche supermarket.

Then we all set off together in Anna’s Mercedes SUV to the Dordogne; we lunched at Carcassone but didn’t look inside the walled city because it was just too crowded and hot. We were entertained at the restaurant by an altercation between guests and waiters concerning the bill, and possibly the inconvenience that this restaurant only too cash, not credit cards. Gendarmerie were called etc and there was much gesticulation and some shouting.

We got safely to our campsite, Le Moulin du Roch, near Sarlat. Very well equipped and organised campsite and Anna had booked us a cabin so we were quite comfortable.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—13°C; 0.9 mm rain [?]

The wedding party, including us, had a picnic at the Pont Du Gard.

In the evening we went to a pizza restaurant which the boys thought was the best pizza place in all of France. I had spaghetti bolognese and there was a slight misunderstanding concerning tea. Tea, the hot drink, was on the menu but they didn’t actually have anything made from tea leaves, only infusions and tissanes. Anna was exceedingly scathing that I should be disconcerted by the absence of “real tea” when “tea” was on the menu.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -3°C—12°C; no rain [?]

Left Uzes accommodation and joined Anna and the boys at the same Mas Jasmin in St Victor des Oules, near Uzes. A mas is “…The mas is the traditional farmstead of the plains and houses living quarters and sheds under one roof; windows are narrow to admit little summer heat. …” (online Britannica). However Anna and the boys had to leave their apartment at the mas and join us in the bed-and-breakfast section of the mas.

In the morning we all went into Uzes again and strolled round the market – it was market day. In the afternoon we went with Anna to her friends wedding; Anna attended the ceremony while we and the boys strolled around outside – the boys were organised along with boys from other UK families over for the wedding into an impromptu soccer match.

In the evening we all went to the wedding party – excellent food, excellent surroundings.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—10°C; no rain [?]

Last day in the apartment in Uzes; rentals are rather rigidly enforced as weekly lets beginning and ending on Saturdays. We went up to the “Poppies” agency office and settled up with Christine. For lunch we joined the other wedding invitees in a special lunch put on by the local “Lions” club as part of a small wine festival held in the Uzes main market place.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 4°C—17°C; 2.6 mm rain [?]

Day trip to Nimes: amphitheatre, monuments with hillside gardens. We had lunch on the pavement outside a cafe offering free WiFi Internet access an I used my Phone to check e-mail – terribly modern.

Late afternoon tea in St Quentin la Poterie, too late to visit the potteries but not too late for an icecream.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—16°C; 0.2 mm rain [?]

We hired the car, a Lancia, from a local Renault garage. Karola was nominated driver (my bad wrist made driving difficult) and it had a manual gearbox – that with driving on the right in a foreign country made driving quite a stressful experience.

We visited an InterMarche supermarket before setting off for the Pont Du Gard – spectacular old roman aquaduct as it passes over the Gardon river, 48 metres high. We took the tour across the very top of the structure and visited the fascinating underground museum, and of course the excellent snack restaurant. On the way back to Uzes we visited Carrefour.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—17°C; no rain [?]

Another hot day. I visited an Internet Cafe for an hour (Euro $5) while Karola went to the information centre and they booked us a small car for the next day.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—13°C; no rain [?]

A rubbish truck emptied large public underground bins on the street corner below us at 6:30 am. These underground bins are about 8 ft x 8 ft x 8 ft cubes (2.5m cubes) , one for each of the four types of rubbish, with a small round bin on top – which is all you normally see of the bin. The sound of many wine bottles being emptied into a truck by just opening the bottom of a large metal bin suspended over the tray by an on-truck hoist is quite something.

Karola commented that in Uzes it is almost always the man who takes out the carefully segregated rubbish and puts it into these public bins.

We had lunch with Anna and the boys and Karola joined them for a swim. Still very hot. We all went back into Uzes in the evening and watched the running of the bulls – all a bit tame really but the Kamargh white horses were special.

Meanwhile we were saddened to hear from back in New Zealand of Steve Thompson’s sudden death and also of Anne Fletcher’s sudden serious operation for a brain tumor.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—17°C; 0.3 mm rain [?]

As well as walking around the small hilltop town of Uzes we explored by walking a couple of kilometres from Uzes down into the narrow valley below and back. The roman aquaduct runs 50 km from Uzes to Nimes and in that valley we came upon a plaque identifying the aquaduct starting point.

Just a few minutes walk from our apartment in Uzes was the Place aux Herbes with a fountain and many restaurants. We chose one that turned out to provide each table with its own little hot plate and we cooked our own duck (Ian) and salmon (Karola) – delicious though in retrospect it’s probably not a good idea to have that sort of restaurant meal in very hot weather.

Very hot night and music till 3:30 am again – the same Paris band began their set at midnight and went on, and on, till the concert stopped.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—18°C; no rain [?]

Mid afternoon we encountered a lengthy stretch of traffic congestion so we were about an hour later than planned getting to Uzes. After a bit of searching around we located Anna’s digs – in the countryside, a courtyard with small apartments and a swimming pool and big lawn, only 20 minutes from Uzes. Then there was a fair bit of muddling about until we met up with the key-holder for our apartment, Le Portalet, in Uzes and they piloted us into town. It was festival time and a pageant of the “running of the bulls” so inner city streets were barricaded and road maps weren’t a lot of use. Anyway we unloaded our stuff and Anna sped away back to her countryside courtyard and a refreshing swim. Our apartment was on the upper floor of a block of old apartments on the inner city 1-way system and it was very much to Karola’s liking.

It was very hot: 35°C—40°C even at night and because of the festival there was a rock concert running every evening for the first three nights we were in Uzes. In the quiet of the night the electronic organ and drums seemed very loud and it went on until 3:30 am.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 9°C—17°C; 2.0 mm rain [?]

Up at 4:00 am and out of the house by 5:00 am in Anna’s Mercedes truck; she drove us quickly and smoothly down to catch the Channel Tunnel train. We were there in time but a queue ahead used up all the berths so we got on the next one, it wasn’t really much of a delay. The train consists of enclosed car-carrying waggons with an upper and lower deck. The crossing was uneventful.

Once through customs and in France we set off down motorways, mostly expensive toll roads, towards the south of France. We saw vast expanses of grain crops and many wind turbines.

We stopped at some motorway service areas for quick food and bio breaks, arriving at our hotel, the Auberge du Camp Romain near Dijon in Burgundy late afternoon. The hotel was quite nice, well equipped, and a bit genteel but slightly in need of refurbishment. The restaurant food in the evening was some of the best we had in France but that was quite ruined by the hours we spent waiting for it. The grandsons played up atrociously – all because they were hungry and tired and they had to wait for so long. Anna was extremely upset as well as being tired from her hours of driving and getting up so early – not an auspicious start to the 2-week holiday in France.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—_18°C; no rain [?]