Land of hope and glory

I had planned my two weeks in the U.K. in order to see people rather than places, but adventures are unavoidable when venturing out into the world!

My first treat was meeting my new baby cousin in London, and I spent 3 days going gaga over her - I'm sure I was talking like an 11 week-old by the time they were (sadly) packed up onto the plane home to meet the rest of the whanau.

I was then met at Kings Cross Station by the lovely Cat, and escorted to Leeds to hang with Caz and Rory from Queenstown days... I must admit it was quite surreal sitting amongst brick walls (still upright) in courtyard/laneway bars not too dissimilar from those in Christchurch.

In true patriotic style we watched the Trooping of the Colour over breakfast the next day before a charming day out in the english countryside. We headed to Knaresborough, where the 46th Great Knaresborough Bed Race was being held, and what an event it was! Advertised as "an annual community event run entirely by volunteers made world famous by its riot of colour and pageantry, the courage and endurance of its teams, and the glorious eccentricity of its entrants", it did not dissapoint! Teams of 6 push a 'bed' - really a purpose built trolley big enough for a seventh person to lie on - around a 2 mile or so course through the town, with river crossings adding to the excitement. I must say I was surprised by how seriously the locals took this race - I was expecting more fancy dress or beds that actually looked like beds, but no, clearly the teams had been in training and most had streamlined their vehicles to the point where they no longer resembled beds at all. But we had a jolly good time cheering them on after our fish and chips and curry sauce on the green by the castle ruins. England surely put on a gorgeous day for us, and we spent the rest of it by the riverside watching ducks and rowboats float past in a variety of styles, enjoying cream scones and Pimms. Delightful!

I then spent a week in Morpeth (not to be confused with Mordor) - in fact quite a cute wee town in the north where cousin Dave and new cousin Kate reside. This should probably be titled 'the week of eating' as I can recall what I ate all week but not much more...I spent this week winding down to the point of going backwards, which was, I think, just what I needed to get into true holiday mode.

Aside from food, my main achievements were: finding the cake shop (oops...eating again), finding the path to the abandoned Newminster Abbey - a challenge set by Dave, and a hefty one at that....I walked the entire perimeter of a private paddock, baring my limbs to nettle and thistle, only to discover the path was not at all near where the map said, and instead was on a perfectly respectable public footpath...the Abbey however, was closed for maintenance! The last achievement was surviving a trip on the bus north to Alnwick Castle with local neds and bimbos. Thankfully most disembarked at the prison so they could play their loud and offensive music, and talk loudly about offensive topics to someone else! Alnwick Castle itself was worth the visit though - gooorgeous state rooms, my favourite being the long green silk-lined dining hall with fruit carved into the wooden ceilings. It was being readied for a visit by the Queen the following week. I also loved the cute wee chapel built within the main buildings, with ancient floor to ceiling tapestries covering all 4 walls. In more recent history, the castle is famous for having parts of the Harry Potter movies filmed there...it is rather Hogwartsy after all!

Back to the food: Dave's french toast would have to take the cake (!) for the best meal of the week, with the clotted cream ice cream another fav and his blackberry brandy taking the prize for top tipple. Delish!

Unfortunately the week of eating had to come to an end (really rather fortunately, or my clothes would no longer fit), and after a fleeting visit from Penny from Edinburgh (and yet more eating) I left Morpeth for the grey skies of London-town once more.

The rest of my time in the land of hope and glory was spent surveying the larger-than-life frequenters of B&J's local pub with cousin Becks, exploring the east side with cousin Oli, exploring the south side with John and Emma, a wee traipse around Camden market, and a night out at the theatre to see 'Wicked' - which was wickedly awesome! All in all, fun times in the last of the english-speaking world for the next while...