Cruis'n the Coast

The day started out fine & sunny but as the publican said at Pevensey 'it's not cloudy or raining YET', in England you have to add yet to every comment about the weather. She was right too, we enjoyed beautiful sunshine as we drove along the south coast to Brighton but it wasn't to last.

A bit further along the road as we rose out of a valley there was a magnificent view from the top, at the golf course (typically the golfers had the best view in town) so I was able to get more great photos.

On route through a gorgeous inland village called East Dean, we passed a cardboard sign for a local product market on the village green. Couldn't resist - had to drive a couple of kilometres to find a spot to turn around on these unbelievably narrow roads but it was so worth it - what a fantastic little township, cute as a button, bustling with local people and a well-presented market place on the green and in the village hall. Everything from fresh sausages to hand knits were on sale, even some smoked fish and fresh fruit & vegetables to boot!

Newhaven was the next port of call, literally, as it was an historic port. Fabulous harbour & some great boats in the marina. We walked up the hill to the Fort which had fortifications from the wars and a magnificent view back along the coastline towards the town of Seaford and the white cliffs of Beach Head which continued all the way along this coastal strip, it is still fine & clear.

View as we approached Newhaven

Brighton was the next town we stopped in and when we arrived it was fine with a mild breeze but that was only a figment of our imagination, the wind picked up to a roaring gale, the clouds rolled in - now we feel like we are in England, this is more what we expected!!



The wrought iron arch is the last remaining original,
one of many that had lights on them when the pier opened.

Naturally we couldn't go to Brighton without walking out on the pier, it was great just like a really loud, crowded and busy Luna Park. Must admit I had a bit of difficulty walking on the wooden decking as it has gaps between the boards and you can see the water - it was very high and scary. I stuck to the non-slip metalplate nailed near the centre of the pier, I'm such a chicken at heart.

We had a lovely lunch of tomato rolls, bananas & a cuppa with a shared rock cake while we sat in the park at Brighton, just watching the passing parade of people. It's amazing what you see if you just sit still for a bit. One thing we saw was a group of policemen in exercise gear & harnesses attached to a Police Bus which they were pulling along the road & round the roundabout, there were also about 6 or 8 at the rear of the bus pushing. Not really sure what they were doing but maybe some sort of charity thing, shame I didn't have the camera ready.

After Brighton we trundled along the coast through Hove, then the industrial port areas of Portslade-by-Sea and Shoreham-by-Sea, the lovely towns of Lancing and Worthing, then to Middleton-on-Sea where we turning inland to eventually arrived at Chichester. We stayed here, at The Nags Head, great little room at the very top of the roof space. It was the last room available so we were quite lucky as we had already tried a couple of B & Bs. It's a busy university town as well as having a Roman Town Centre, so budget accommodation was a bit hard to find but we were happy because it was within our budget and included a full english breakfast so BONUS!

The cathedral at Chichester proved to be a wonderful find, not only was it free, whereas you pay for most National Trust sites it was absolutely gorgeous, wonderful stained glass, tombs a thousand years old and woodwork, just fantastic.

Away from the coast a bit for an inland route through some of the South Downs National Park before arriving at Portsmouth where we braved the traffic (what a nightmare) and parked before walking to the Historic Port. We chose to take the harbour cruise which was great, I didn't even get seasick. There were lots of Naval vessels in port and the commentary was really interesting. That was an hour well spent. What a fascinating place...

Just one of the boats they had 'sitting round' left over from the Battle of Trafalgar

On the road now for a quick trip to Bournemouth & our next couchsurfing host, Mark. He is a lovely chap and is currently training for his next marathon so super fit, cycles everywhere he goes & runs every day. Last night there was a couchsurfers' get together at a local pub so we went along to meet a few locals and enjoy a cider or two. Lovely people, they are having a campout on Saturday night, shame we won't be here to tag along. They were all chatty and jovial and wanted to know everything about Australia, had a great time but it was a late night.

Mark knows the area like the back of his hand and recommended a wonderful coastal walk that began & finished at pubs. OMG the views were breathtaking, the hike was about 6 miles (not kilometres they don't have that organised over here yet) so it was just about my limit, I don't think I could have managed one more hill and that brewed ginger beer at the Scott Arms overlooking Corfe Castle was just fantastic. Enroute we enjoyed a home-made pastie & a cool drink at the cutest stone village so far. It was called Worth Matravers & the pub was the 'Square & Compass' which is quite famous for its homemade pasties.



The view from Houts Tout



Thank god we came down those steps not up them,
I doubt I would have made it!

With Bournemouth disappearing in the rear view mirror we stop off at Lulworth for Grant to go on a couple of hour hike (I decided to rest up at the cafe, tourist information office, museum and gift shops at the start of the walk, any excuse for a shop) to Durdle Door.

We arranged for me to pick him up at the end of the hike, unfortunately he came out a different exit to the main road & couldn't see me parked only 100 metres away (those blasted hedges can be a real nuisance even if they are gorgeous) and then walked all the way back to the original starting point. Then he rang me! Anyway all is well, we found each other in the end which is the important thing.

I am very glad I didn't try to go on the walk with him as it began with a very steep climb up a hill that had rough steps hacked into it, Grant tells me it got worse!! He loved it though & enjoyed being able to set his own cracking pace. We were reliably informed that it might take up to 4 hours, Grant did it in less than 2 so you can see he strided it out.

Our last real stop for the Saturday afternoon was West Bay, where we had fish and chips on the beachfront looking at Gold Top cliff, the highest cliff on the south coast which gets its name not from flowers as I guessed but rather from the colour of the rocks of the cliff itself which are a gorgeous gold.

Our next CS host lived in a small village called Buckfastleigh near the Dartmoor National Park. What a lovely lady, she prepared a delicious meal for us on the Saturday night and we chatted 'til very late about Australia, world politics, Britain's financial woes.......etc etc. A nice hot shower & hit the sack, perfect!

Now is that orange house cute or what! Had a converted barn & had an office in the neighbour's roof space,
it is called 'air freehold' only in UK where space is at a premium!

On Sunday we spent the day driving & sightseeing in Cornwall, such beautiful coastline & townships. We covered quite a few miles & although we do prefer to dawdle around, this time we had a lot of ground to cover in just the one day so decided to travel on the scenic routes wherever possible.

The Coastal Walk which runs all round the coastline here is wonderful and everywhere you go you see hikers, young and old (surprisingly there are lots of teenagers walking too, great to see them not stuck to their playstations). Negotiating some of the narrow lanes with hikers & parked cars (how they fit into some of these spaces defies the imagination) is an experience in itself.

We detoured into the largest tourist attraction in the UK, of all places it's The Eden Project (not a Disneyland like you might expect), they have built gigantic domes to house the world's largest indoor rainforest and a Mediterranean Garden & to develop recycling, sustainability, eco friendly products etc, etc. It was expensive to go in and to do it justice we would have needed a couple of days really, so after watching some of the free presentations and having a freetrade hot chocolate & sharing a slice of cake we hiked back up the hill to carpark 'Lime 3' that was enough exercise on its own for one day. The gardens along the walkway (mountain climb might be a more accurate description) were a mixture of edible flowers, herbs, spices, fruit trees and decorative vegetables, if you were hungry you could just have grazed all the way there & back again, the plants all had plaques telling you what they were, where they came from and what they can be used for too which was really interesting.

The main shopping street in Buckfastleigh, what a hive of activity!!

We took our host out to dinner at the local pub, The Abbots Inn, on Sunday night we had a lovely meal I chose the chicken, mushroom and leek crumble with salad while Grant had the chicken breast stuffed with cheese and spinach on a bed of mash with vegetable. Gosh it would be easy to eat out every night, the food is just wonderful!! Anyway the pub was great, wood paneling all round, stone heaths which in the winter would be roaring with a log fire and outside there was a babbling stream with trout, exactly what you would expect from a country pub. Luckily it was a nice stroll home, those alcoholic ciders that Grant was drinking really make you drunk in no time flat. Another late night, I will have to stop this or I will end up sleeping in past 6 am....ha ha.

Monday morning after our goodbyes we drove to Exeter via the Dartmoor National Park, OMG, what a starkly beautiful place that is. High hedges, narrow roads but then it opens out into wide expanses of nothingness. Next thing you go down into an overgrown hollow, over a stream, past stone farmhouses with signs out the front saying - BEWARE, CHICKENS ON ROAD or a real classic BEWARE, SHEEP LYING ON ROAD.

The first slopes leading to the moors, green & gorgeous

The moors - stark, barren, windswept and cold as hell

Again there were lots of empty cars left by hikers out for the day on the moors. It was clear & fine but the wind was bitter so they are a hardy bunch these POMS. After we left Exeter we stuck to the main highway for a while, the M5, then we veered off onto the lesser known roads again, that is much prettier and the pace more sedate. Glastonbury, Frome, Trowbridge then into Seend to meet our final Couch Hosts for this trip. Malc & Jen are just delightful, in their two weavers cottages joined to make one home.

Grant trying to open one of the locks in the Caen Hill Lock Flight,
a long series of manual locks (29 in fact) that rise 79 metres.
Apparently it takes 3 and half hours to negotiate.

Next morning after a short bus trip and a very scenic train trip we arrived at the Bath Spa railway station, we started by doing an open top hop-on, hop-off bus trip round the town to get our bearings jumped off at the Roman Baths and joined hundreds (well it seemed like hundreds) of French high school students for our audio tour round this incredible site.

One of the tales regailed on the bus tour was of people bricking up their windows
 in protest, when the king tried to tax glass. Thus the old saying 'daylight robbery' 

Water this colour would never be allowed in Moree! 
Fortunately no one is allowed to bath in this muck....

The Bath Abbey was our next stop, again a magnificent structure, gosh I love those ceilings and the woodwork is exquisite, such workmanship. Arthur Phillip is buried in Bath and there is a plaque in the Abbey commemorating his life with an Australian flag hanging over it.

A quick stop for a Bath Bun at Sally Lunn's bakery (the oldest building in Bath and still going strong) and a quick cuppa, very nice, this clotted cream is a great invention so yummy (must be low cal too I bet). Grant & I parted ways then, I went to the Fashion Museum and he walked to the Bath Fire Station to chat with the local brigade members. Guess who I ran into at the Museum, that's right, the busloads of French kids. Thank goodness they were more interested in the modern stuff while I wanted to see the period pieces and the wedding dress display. The oldest dress in the museum was from 1660, now that is quality fabric and workmanship!

We met up again one & a half hours later on the Pultney Bridge, with its shops along both sides. We jumped on the first hop-on, hop-off bus that came by as the wind was bitter and it was starting to spit with rain. By the time we got home it was pretty wet but we had had a great day out.

Pultney Bridge, like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, is one of just a few
bridges in the world with the shops built as part of the original bridge

On Wednesday we went driving again this time to the Avebury Stone Cirle, Castle Combe (voted the prettiest town in England and used in loads of period dramas because it has no visible power poles etc), we had lunch at the Pheasant's Inn and headed home via Devizes and the flight of locks in the canal.

Not a power pole or modern item in sight except the downpipes
and the road.

The time has come to turn our heads towards home now and to work our way back to Ashford to return the hire car on Friday afternoon. Thursday we went to Lacock & visited its famous Abbey and township. This was constructed in 1190 with renovations made by subsequent owners until the 1850s. The Lacock Abbey's current claim to fame is that it is the location used for the Hogwarts school in the Harry Porter series. Gosh I love those arched ceilings! We spent hours here wandering round the huge structure and its gardens not to mention the small township that is still occupied. I doubt there was a straight wall in the entire place but all was forgiven with the flower pots, window boxes and climbing roses all in bloom. 

It is hard to imagine that walls built like this have managed to survive
almost a millennium

That is it for England for the moment, tomorrow we will spend half a day getting to Heathrow to catch our flight to Bergen in Norway.  The next update will be after our cruise of the fjords in about 10 or 12 days, see you then folks.