10th July 2010 - Bath

Roman Baths

We set off for bath at around 10:00 arriving there at about midday. It was an uneventful drive. Bath is a very nice Regency town but not built for cars! Thank god for the GPS. As it was we went round and round helplessly for a while. Using the GPS “find me a park” function we managed to get parked in a store car park some way up the hill but close enough that walking was easy. 

Between us and the Baths was the assembly rooms. Gemma of course knew all about their function and history having read Jane Austin's novels. I did not have a clue so I was a bit lost for a while. They were actually part of the Regency dating system, how young people of good family's could arrange a mate. There were about 3 main rooms but the largest was closed off. But the tea rooms were open and after the stress of paking both of us could do with a cupa. They seemed to be closing up which surprised us but then we realised that the reason for the closure was that there was about to be a wedding. However they still had time to serve us. Apparently it's very popular for wedding. 

The building has a set of rooms under it which form the Bath fashion museum. So off we went for a look, me in such a place!  Well it was a combined baths and museum ticket. I think Gemma got a lot more out of it than I did. 

Then it was further down through the main part of the town to the Roman baths. The town is packed, really packed. Fortunately for me most of them seem to be pretty young woman. Most of the seem to be foreign and in organized trips, perhaps university trips, they are too old to be high school. Anyway the baths are over run, there is a massive queue to get in , however to our surprise because we purchased a combined ticket we have priority access.  They did not tell us that at purchase and we only found out when a guy checking the queue told us off for waiting. Basically we went straight in without a wait. 

The modern supporting buildings have been improved since I was last there as has the flow of people but it still took an hour to walk round. I would have liked to spend more time there, why can't we build places like this any more.  I watched a young woman taste the water just after she had been told not to because the is Amoebic_dysentry in the water. Also moments after reading a wall plaque saying to be careful as the stones are slippery I slid on one and almost came to grief.  Gemma tried the waters (they do a filtered version ) and said they were not up to much. 

Lacock

Back into the main town for lunch then it's time to be on the road again. We are off to Lacock village. It's a village frozen in time, that time feeling like its the 30s. The buildings are all owned by the same landlord and he has not allowed any changes. First off we went for a a traditional tea but they had run out of scones. Bah!  The main building is a converted abbey from when Henry the 8th closed the ministries. It's been a private home ever since. Because of this large parts are still closed off but there is plenty to see. The cloisters are great some of the scenes in Harry potter were filmed here and used this area. 

The open area still has a fairly complete kitchen which is good to see, but then we are thrown out as its closing time!  Bah! Again. We still had time for a look at the formal gardens and then it's on the road again.  

We are bound for a Premier inn near by but for once all our technology fails us. The GPS coordinates are well off, over a mile. Another map also has the location wrong so we are in a real mess. Driving round and round trying to find the location, things got a bit stressful between the navigator and the driver at times. I found another location map that I had printed out so we give it a try. There it is!  Completely different from the GPS reference. 

It's a pub and a inn on the roundabout. Nice enough, Gemma and I have a meal in the pub and then as we are both whacked it's bed time.  

July 9th 2010 Padstow and Barbara.

We started the day with a buffet breakfast at the Novatel, which was nice enough but as usual all was over cooked. The whole place was surprisingly empty which I assume explains the room rate that we got. It seems to be set up for tour groups with signs carrying instructions for them all over the place but of the tour groups themselves there was no sign?  

We set off for Padstow through the secondary roads. Using the GPS I ended up going ways that I would never do if I planned it the old way and used a map. It's an easy enough drive there but if I had known what it was going to be like we would have gone somewhere else. What is it with the mentality of tourist spots that they think they exist to rip people off!  

Due to Rick Stein’s reputation the place gets a lot of visits that it would never have had otherwise.  However rather that giving the tourists who flock there something in return for their hard earned cash it is instead “do fuck all time”. No I understand how things work and I am not expecting cheap but I am expecting service for my money. 

It starts as you approach, the town is busy, so they should have opened the park and ride but that seems to be like work. Also some clear signs would have been useful but that would have been work and money!  It's chaos on the sea front and the traffic marshals are out. Clearly part of the Padstow old boys club. They are not actually doing anything just leaning against the wall have a smoke and a chat. I only realize what they are because of their uniforms and the fact that from time to time they step away from the wall and wave their arms about. Nobody takes any notice of them and it's mayhem. 

Eventually I get into the most expensive and smallest parking space I have seen in a while. The place is surprisingly pleasant given the number of people and if they got the cars sorted out it would be very nice. 

Every other place seems to be owned by Rick Stein now lol. Had some nice fish and chips along side the harbour. Not much sign of activity in the port, the fish was good as it was fried in meat fat for a change. Still without Stein this place would be dead. They only exist for the tourists so why don't they put some money into that side of things. One day Stein will be gone and this place will die and they will all be there with their hands out for tax payer grants because when the times were good they pissed it all away rather than investing it

Bach to Honton after our lunch, the trip started badly with lots of blockages of the  roads but it cleared after Exeter. We decided to visit Barbara, however Dad would not come. Some sort of feud that makes no sense and Dad is reluctant to explain. I suspect he won’t because it would make him look like a fool

Barbara is a small old woman now. Her short term memory has failed she acts like she is stoned all the time. It's sad to see her like this, she used to be very sharp now she can't remember your name after 5 mins. 

Mary came across and we had a good chat. She seems fine but I did not realize Simon was so sick. Communications fucked up in this family again. Why are we so hopeless at this? 

Then across the yard to see Mike and Tom. They have their hands full with this one. Physically fine but something wrong inside his head. I find it impossible to explain but they are trying their best. Perhaps it really is a bad deal for people after 40 to bred. 

Then it's back to Honiton for dinner with Dad and Hilda. Dad just keeps on bringing out food!  

Tomorrow Bath and culture, Bath the city silly not this one!. 

8th July 2010 Plymouth

I awoke this morning to the sound of my neighbors having a domestic! I packed up and again wondered why UK motels don't have laundries? Are we all mean’t to smell. It's not like they don't have facilities on site as I can see that they wash the sheets etc in a room at the end of the block. Fortunately I got my stuff washed at Dad’s though again I could not find a servant and had to do it myself.

By 10:00 I had made my way across to Dads and had breakfast and said goodbye to Gill and Peter. They will be back to Jersey soon, Gemma has been staying at Hilda's while Gill and Peter have been in the spare room. I find her up and ready so we are soon on the road.

We have a nice uneventful drive to Plymouth, but as we start into the town I realize that my memory for directions is not as complete as I thought. Either that or some of the landmarks have been moved around. Which might be the case though rather than being moved they have been hidden and disguised. The car park at Drakes circus has been encased in something so as you come up to it it looks like a very large work of art. One of the roundabouts has been turned into a T junction.

Drakes circus itself has been rebuilt into a large covered shopping arcade. Most if not all the shops that I knew there have gone. The top end is now all pedestrian precinct. I saw a Virgin Broadband stand in the entrance and had a look at their packages they would not talk to me unless I gave them my post code so I gave Dad’s. Almost signed him up for a years Internet which would have come as a surprise for him!

The UK is really getting into charity shops in a big way. They seem to be a growth industry, they are everywhere. The poor end of town is still the poor end of town. Bonus books has gone! Wow is I, the shop that I spent so long in as a student ferreting out the bargains etc has shut. According to the sign in the window I only just missed it as it had closed the previous month. How the memories of my youth are falling. The note said that he had to retire due to I'll health and could not sell the shop as a going concern.

We go looking for the pasty that I used to collect my lunch from and which made pastys different from any other place and whose taste and texture I associate only with student life. I am not sure if it has moved or is in the same place but they have upgraded the product. Oh noooos! Better contents different pastry damn another icon bites the dust. The food is nice but it's just not the same they have even repainted the shop! With the pedestriation of the shops many stores are putting tables outside in the continental fashion which is a change I definitely approve of. We go to Past Times but very little jumps off the shelves at us despite they having a sale on. In the end I buy a book of Eagle comic cutaways. Very interesting.

Then it's time to look at the Polly. Lots of new buildings here, the original buildings that I knew only form a core to the site now. There is an immense brown ugly building where the student car park used to be. However somebody has out some real money into this site it's quite impressive. We wander around, some of the things are the same. The SU is being rebuilt and though in the same place has been changed ( no glass pyramid ) and is no longer the same layout. However it's chaos inside so it's good to see something's never change. I wanted to but a t-shirt but only hoodies were available.

Then off to Saltram house. It's a NT place, quite interesting and this place still has its kitchen. It's 4 pm by now and our springs are running down. Onto the Novotel at the roundabout at the end of the A38. It's much better than the NZ Novatels less poor people and more tourist/business. 68 a night for a very decent room, though service in the restaurant was a bit odd thought as I write this I can't remember why?..

7th July 2010 Dads 92 Birthday in Honiton

I started the day with a real cafe cooked English Breakfast. Just like I remembered it, including the Black Pudding. But first I had to face the receptionist! How had I got in without paying? Who gave me a key! how did this happen bah! I explained to the dragon that I had tried to follow process but it did little good. She looked rather put out that I had been told that she had been fired as she had only had the day off? I suspect somebody got a right shouting at later behind the scenes. It turns out that the young couple next door had also got a key without paying and had gone before she could charge them. However it seems that it was a fairly common event and she knew who they were and would catch them later. Having paid I was allowed to eat!

I went across to Dad’s next and was surprised to find everybody up at 08:30. We had some tea and then showered him with gifts. I had to reuse Gemma's wrapping as I had been unable to get any for mine but Dad did not seem to mind. Gemma gave him a painting of cats and I gave him a book about a country vet and 8 DVD’s and military history that might be interesting to him. He seemed pleased with them all including the truffles.

At about 12:30 we all set out for a short drive to a hotel. (http://www.lakeviewmanor.co.uk/ ) Its in a lovely location along side a small lake set in its own grounds. It was time to feed Dad again. I had a really nice cod and chips (impossible to get in NZ) and Dad had liver and bacon. They come here quite often and hence are known to the staff and know the menu. We of course made sure that it was accompanied with plenty of the local real English beer. The oldies all seemed to enjoy themselves with the normal amount of fussing about which they seem to have to do.

The desert included a cake with a sparkler in the middle of it rigged up by Gemma and Gill. Not 92 candles only 12. Then we went and took pictures on the lawn.

Back home for a rest to try and digest all the food and then it was time to eat again. Just a like meal of cold meats salads etc.

Gemma made the salads. I tried some of Dads wine but found it to be undrinkable. Then we did some more family stuff talking about various family members that were not present. Lauren's photo caused some comment as they all think she is very grown up and very much like Gill.

Then the oldies were tired so it was back to the motel for me.

Gemma and Dad!

6th July 201 0- Back to Honiton

Booked out without breakfast as there are no food facilities with this lodge. Then set out for Stone Henge. On the way we stopped at a Little Chef for our late refuel. It was the first new one that we had seen so far, much better then the tired old ones. I think that I much prefer traveling by A road rather than M road. There is much more to see and the pace is much better, fortunately the TomTom can be set to do this automatically.

It did not take long to get to Stone Henge. What a tourist ripoff Stone Henge is, parking is 3 UKP and its 6 UKP to get in to see a pile of very unimpressive old rocks from a distance. They really rip the tourist off with this one, fortunately our NT membership gave us free entrance but somehow I still feel ripped off. I considered not going in just on principle but Gemma was still keen.

They don’t know when it was built, why it was built or who built it, just that its very old. Well blow me down I could have know that all by myself. What a pile of crap, the profit margin must be 95% on this site. Why is it famous? its like the Mona Lisa, don’t get me started on the Mona Lisa yet!

OK we have soon had enough of that and its off to Salisbury Cathedral which we hope will be worthy of our time because that pile of stones certainly was not.

Hi its another rip off, 6 UKP for parking and 5 UKP to get in as a “donation” . Well I could not do anything about the parking charge but I chose to ignore the donation. The money changers are truly back in the temple. This place must have been incredible in the middle ages, coming from a simple village to this place must have been like going to the moon. It would have blown their minds away. The cloisters are very peaceful and cool. Its possible to stop the rat race and slow down with a cup of tea. Gemma and I do that and its the best part of the day. Right so in my dream home I want cloisters and a walled garden!

So then its a quiet ride back to Honiton, as we are getting towards evening already I allow the navigator to use the motorway. At 9pm we arrive at the Turks Lodge motel.

Reception was open but empty so I had problems getting anybody to take my details and give me my key. In the end somebody appeared gave me my key and told be the reception had been fired and that I should sort it out with who ever was on the front desk in the morning.

Went across to dads where they were out. After a while they turned up as they had been to Sidmouth. Gill and Peter were here now. We went to Tesco for dinner, well supplies really. I bought a bottle of wine to celebrate dads age but he won’t drink it as he thinks I spent to much on it. Perhaps its not enough like vinegar for him.

Back to the Motel at about 10pm. As I walk across the motel car park I realised I am getting a free show as the young couple in the room alongside have not closed the curtains and they are very very keen on one another!

5th July 2010 Anglesey Abbey and Duxford

Up and checkout again, 295 UKP for three days with food and beer seemed good value. I am sure that Dad would not agree though. Had a nice drive over to Anglesea Abbey, which is a NT property. It has a working water mill but due to lack of staff it was closed. This was a big disappointment for me as I would have liked to see it working. The house was originally an Abby but was converted, like so many of them, into a private house after the disillusion. It was an interesting mix of old and new. The family was into clocks and horses. I saw some of the clocks that it is quite famous for but Gemma says I missed the best ones in a side room. This was another example of how Gemma and I go around at different rates and sometimes feel we have visited different properties.

Then across to Duxford. There have been two more halls completed since I was last there. The land systems hall and the American hall. All the halls were very interesting but the land systems hall was by far the best. Strange that it should be so in a place known for it's planes.

The site is over 2km long now is is starting to need an internal transport system, a tram would be nice, it would also be part of the museum. Food was expensive and impressive but what would you expect in a place like this. It wad surprisingly had to fine some first for dads birthday in the shop. Lots of interesting things but nothing that really caught me. In the end I bought him some DVD and a bottle of WW2 style Sarsaparilla.

Then on to our Travel Lodge. Easy to find again but a bit tired but better than Portsmouth. Then into Cambridge, where the signposts scored a megafail! Even with the GPS it was hard to sort things out. Almost went up a bus only lane. We ended up having dinner in a GBK (Gourmet burger kitchen) which is a chain started by three kiwi! Nice enough a bit Burger Fuel like.

We then went for a walk about town, but we can't find a working lloyds ATM, we can see some but they are locked in lobbies not available, very frustrating!

On the way back as I climbed over a low rail fence the rail unexpectedly rotated and I almost converted myself into a eunuch. Ouch! Gemma thought it was very funny bless her!

Perhaps it was pay back for making her walk about Duxford for hours as you can see in this photo.

But Tanks and stuff!

And more stuff

4th July Paul & Pauline with Pat & Laurie

Gemma was a bit slow starting today so we just took our time over breakfast and getting ready for our day. We were even further delayed by losing our keys which took almost 30 minuets to find. I made use of the delay to book our accommodation for the rest of the UK leg of the holiday.

Then across to the P's first. An easy drive as not much seems to have changed from my time here. Snarled at the BT research labs as I went past. Lol. Paul and Pauline are still in the same house and he is also driving the same car as I have for this trip! I suspect his really has a turbo though. I later discovered that this golf diesel normally comes with a turbo so I wonder where mine has gone? Perhaps somebody has nicked it!

We spent some time catching up with things the picture is of a quilt that Cathy sent to them when Clair was born. She is now 13 and was just going out to some function when we got there.

After a couple of hours it was time to head to the Maybush pub at Waldringfield for lunch with Pat and Laurie. I had not met Pat before and Laurie seemed even thinner than I remembered him. Had a nice lunch by the river, Laurie paid which I had not expected which was a nice surprise. We hung around for another 2 hours drinking good beer and eating the good food. Another semi retired pair. Can't help but feel that I am doing something wrong. Why am I still working?

Then it was back to Bury St Edmonds(BSE) to the cloths museum. We spent a long time driving round and round BSE looking for it. I got to know the road system for the centre of BSE very well. In the end we found out it had shut several years earlier.

Topped up with diesel for the first time this trip. We seem to have been able to travel a long way on one tank. Only 60UKP to top up. Actually doing it was a laugh. I could not find the car release lever? We searched and searched but there was just no release, Gemma suggested asking another golf owner where it was but there were none around. We had been looking over 10 mins by now and I was just going to ask in the shop when I had an idea and just flicked the cover. It opened ! It did not have a lock! In NZ every car comes with a locking petrol cap, if it did not you would not have any petrol left after a visit to the supermarket!

After all that stress it was back to the Inn for a walk some beer and dinner. Tomorrow it's goodbye to Suffolk.

3rd July - Delicacies day in Felixstowe



After a decent breakfast it was off to Felixstowe. The GPS took us on a direct route so we spent quite a bit of time in the winding country roads which was actually very pleasant if a bit of hard work, given that the car has a manual box.

We got to Joe's village without any issues but where was he? In the end I had to phone for directions, it turned out that we were very close but my memory had him on the left side while he was on the right! I was amazed I was 100% certain about the side, memory is a funny thing!

Joe looks like semi retirement suits him. Emma and Judy were there, Emma is a bright young woman who looks like Joe though fortunately without the mustache. We did not see that much of her as she had to go to her job but we had plenty of time to catch up with Joe and Judy. Judy is still working so I guess this makes Joe a kept man, they both seem ok with this. Emma is working in a local pub saving for a year in Thailand. Joe seems to spend most of his time either diving or planning the next dive trip. He is just about to do another week in Cornwall. After several hours putting the world to rights it was time to head to Felixstowe.

Driving in I felt like everything was the same as I had left it but also that some things had changed, bit of a contradiction eh! There seems to be more building around the edges and much of the centre is now pedestrian prescient but other than that much the same. WH Smiths has replaced the news agents and Woolworth’s is gone (not that I ever shopped there which is why it's gone because nobody ever did). I approve of the pedestrian work as it has improved things, bonnets and treasure box is still there though the wharf is gone. While waiting outside a fabric shop for Gemma I was asked to push a car into a side street which I thought was a bit odd but these things happen to me and the guy really had just broken down in the middle of the street.

I noticed in Smiths that the UK has gone massively to chip and pin debit/credit cards. It seems to be a much slower system compared to swipes like NZ. Additionally I keep on being given vouchers of the 10 off your next 50 purchase type. I just keep on dropping them on the floor, there are so many that they are a real pest. I bought one magazine and got 3 vouchers.

Had a look at bonnets and then went next door to buy a flat cap. Ended up paying 35 for one, Gemma thought that was to much but it is a good quality hat that should last a while though I realize as I write that that I no longer know where it is! Oh well it will turn up I am sure.

We had lunch in the Wimpy. Some of the colour scheme has changed and I suspect that the bun is also changed but a quarter pounder with chips is still great as is a Brown Derby with nuts! Mind you I don’t think they had cleaned the gents since I was last there. Seems to be a different crowd running the show as well. We spent a total of two hours in the town, I would have liked to spend more but as ever on this trip we are under the time gun.

We went back via Sutton Hoo. What a disappointment there is nothing there basically just a display telling you about what had been there and had been removed. Still we got to use our Nat Trust membership.

Then back to the pub. I had wondered how busy they were and this evening I was surprised to hear that they are fully booked for six weeks and the owner was talking to somebody planning to put some more rooms on the existing block.

Dinner at the pub was scampi and chips, so 70's again! Then another walk around and turn in time.



Notice that my Brown Derby has nuts but Gemma’s does not!

2nd July 2010 - A Place in the Wops

I started the day with a continental breakfast for a change. This was a surprise for Gemma as every time so far I have gone for some version of full English breakfast. In this case I did not because yesterdays had been so bad so I decided that going for something that I could see at selection time felt like a better option!

Then Gemma and I spent some time trying to get our train tickets sorted for the European part of our trip. I think we should have spent more time before this doing the planning. Looks like we will have to drop Verdun, there is just not enough time for transfers etc. Gemma and I agree that Verdun will have to be a separate trip some time in the future. Perhaps we will have a holiday dedicated to northern France.

Gemma has just booked our Prague to London section on easyjet so we have our return timings now. We just have to sort out all the intermediate bits! We discovered that we will have to phone raileurope to get our tickets as not all of it can be done over the phone.

Then it's checkout time and we are off to look at the castle, slowly. Another truck has had trouble on the roundabout and everything is at a standstill. I suspect that this happens quite a bit around here, small windy narrow roads and lots if big trucks.

We got to the castle just as it was opening, $28 each to get in seems a bit steep. However the gardens are really nice, particularly the water gardens. It's a real castle not some disney mockup. Real keep battlements etc. Only the keep, the main halls and some of the battlements are open as the rest is a private residence but that is well worth visiting. The private chapel is larger than some churches. Due to a mix up we even got to see the bedrooms which were actually an add-on cost.

Then after a cup of tea/first lunch it was time to head to Ipswich. Well try to at least the traffic had still not recovered from the earlier problems. On the way we stopped at a little chef at Chelmsford bypass for second lunch/first dinner. It was like stepping back in time, really 1970's, even down to being disorganized. And the decor was very worn, it looks like it is ready for closure. Still it was reasonable refueling and we were off again.

Then it was Bury St Edmunds, and no cell coverage just as were were trying to refine our directions. Yes we are lost. We managed to recover coverage and check our details and discover that rather that being on the edge of town I have booked us into a place 10 miles outside! (Six Bells Inn Bardwell) It's right in the middle if nowhere the Wops of Suffolk! It's actually an old pub that has had rooms added onto it. It's in a real

picturesque British village. Very nice. Gemma and I had a walk round to find the post box to send some cards. It has a village pond with village ducks, one store (closed) and a village hall all very quiet but very nice. Gemma keeps on having a go at me about how far out we are. We eat at the pub that evening, nice but simple food. We booked our breakfasts and time to turn in.

Here is a Flickr set showing many more pictures from this day

1st July Fishbourne Roman Palace

Quite a poor English breakfast at the Inn, buffet style and I can't remember what was actually wrong, probably not up to my expectations, no black pudding I expect.

Fishbourne palace is very interesting, well organised. It was easy to find if a bit unexpected. I say that because when you drive there first you are driving through a winding road in an average English village when you turn a corner and there it is right in front of you. Feels more like driving onto a school sports field.

It's great to see the remains but it does leave you feeling that there is a lot more story to the site than they are telling you. I think kids tours should be limited to certain times and the kids should be muzzled. The noise and chaos spoilt things. I don't expect it to be like a library but never-ending screams of "miss! " get to much after a while. I bought a T-shirt and a very good book (Roman Forts in Britain by Paul Bidwell) on Roman forts in the gift shop.

Then on to Chichester. It's a small town but easy to walk around. We went into the National Trust shop which I thought was ok but Gemma did not think was that good. Then across the road to a Marks and Sparks. Stocked up on underwear, would have liked to look around to see what had changed but we were yet again under the time gun. We went to a nice looking pub near where we had parked for lunch, what a mistake to make! It was really bad, slow service and very poor food, mine was just edible bur gem's baked potato was so bad that she complained and got her money back.

Then Arundel cathedral. It is big really big, it totally dominates the town! I still don't understand how such a small town got such a big church. We went around the gardens which were really nice.

We are saving the castle for tomorrow and as it was getting late we went back to the inn. Rather than go and find someplace to eat we decided to eat at the pub attached to the inn. Given what the breakfast had tasted like I was a bit dubious about this decision but to my delight the pan roasted salmon was really good. It was followed by a couple of good beers then time to read, update the trip diary and to bed to refresh for another days traveling tomorrow.

30th June Arundel and The Dockyard day

We signed out of the Travel Inn and under the guidance of our trusted tom-tom set off to do historic Portsmouth. How people made their way through the maze of old streets without a navigator is a mystery to me. Even with the system I suspect we took at least one wrong turn. But without to much stress we made it there, however the parking system was not very clear. Though the car park was well marked it was one of those places which had areas reserved for various special groups. This is ok by me but would they please be clearer where the general areas are, as with special signs on every other pillar it can be very unclear as to wether you are in some special area or not. After a bit of discussion Gemma and I decided we had located a normal use slot, I guess we were successful as we were not ticketed or towed, and off we went.

We had originally only intended to do the Mary Rose as I had seen the other exhibitions before and Gemma was not really interested in them. However the single option ticket was no longer available it was everything or nothing. Having bought an everything we started out with HMS Warrior. The worlds first iron warship, it showed it in it's mixture of fittings from different ages, some would have looked ok on a Roman ship others normal today. The route through the ship was not marked very well to insure you saw it all and we think we might have missed something but it was fine.

Then across the dock to HMS Victory which was closed for a tea break or something. So we walked around to have and had a look at the M33 in it's dry dock. One of the smaller monitors designed in WW1. Quite a bit smaller than I expected but well preserved. However it was not open for inspection which was an disappointment as I would have considered it well worth a look at.

HMS Victory was now open again and in we went. The beams are low but surprisingly I only hit my head hard once, but Gem enjoyed that once! The same can't be said of a group of German students making their way round as they seemed to be continuously hitting their heads, being German they had probably organized a roster or something. Still you could tell where they were from the noise, Gem and I found it very amusing, getting them back for towels at the pool or something.

The magazine system in the Victory was much better and complex that I had expected. They had put some real thought and work into making it as safe as their technology allow. It would have been hell down there during an engagement. They had a system of stripping down and packing away barrels to reduce the fire risk that surprised me.

After some more climbing around it was out onto the dock again. But no Mary Rose! They are spraying it with something highly poisoned so nobody gets anywhere near without a biohazard suite. We watched a band of some kind blowing brass things and beating drums for a while then had a look at some exhibitions etc.. Gem and I had quite different opinions about the visit to the dockyard, what I thought was good she thought boring and vice-a-versa. Still I got a T-shirt and she got a spoon so both of us were happy.

By now it was after 12 so our food homing systems turned on. Just near the car park was a pub that looked ok so we decided to give it a go. It was a traditional British pub that I miss so much in NZ. An old fashioned layout, good beer, good polish waitress. I am starting to wonder if the joke about all staff in british pubs are Polish is true.

After testing their food and drink for a while we decided to head on. It was now time to go to Arundel. Not a bad trip, quite relaxing, thought the end of the trip was complicated by a crashed truck which was across the exit we wanted and if course everything was backed up. But after a bit of back lane navigation we were in the Premier Inn. Initial impressions of the Premier Inn is that it is smarter than Travel Lodge. Though the room was very worn again. At the start they thought Gem and I were mr and mrs which put Gem's nose out of joint. It's got a smart pub/restraint attached which makes food hunting easy.

After a bit of a break it was into the town centre as they had managed to clear the truck out of the way. It's tight country lanes territory and parking was a bit complicated but not overly so for a Jersey boy. I think Lauren would have been a bit taxed. A nice small town, dominated by a cathedral and a castle. We will do those tomorrow. So we just walked around absorbing the culture. I bought some more stamps at the twee little post office and sent some cards. As it was after 19:00 now we decided to hit the trough again. We chose a nice looking Indian which turned out to be a mistake, the food was ok but the waiter was really off-putting. His attitude spoilt the meal. One thing which puzzled me during the meal was on of the diners at another table. I could not work out if one of them was a she or a he! Really weird, neither voice or appearance was a giveaway.

Sat on the river for a while then back to the inn.