Sunday Stroll in Kent

For the second Sunday in a row we risked the weather and got out of London, and again we struck it lucky. This week we went to Kent for what was supposed to be a 3 - 4 hour walk. Thinking we were clever, and to get a better deal on the train tickets, we got off at the wrong station and had completed a decent walk by the time we got to the start of the walk we had been hoping to do. A huge lunch at the local pub had us fired up for more but we didn't complete as we got lost, but we avoided the rain, somehow avoided a penalty fare on the train home and got home in time for tea.

Windsor and Eton

Dicing with the weather was the order of the day on our afternoon to Windsor and Eton. It hosed down on the train and taxi ride out to the Eton rowing centre and we weren't looking foward to our run in the rain. We struck it pretty lucky though, a bit of light drizzle at the start and then sunshine, and the weather even held off for our walk back to Eton and Widsor.



It was good to keep moving after the run and we wandered around to find 'The Long Walk' outside Windsor Castle before some afternoon tea in the Crooked teahouse and making a quick getaway before the rain came again.

Hamish and Kelley 'going long' on the Long Walk



Looking back towards the Castle.

Snow day

Well, what a chilly welcome back to London. A couple of inches of snow fell on my first Sunday morning back in London in the space of a few hours and disappeared almost a quickly as it arrived. Just enough time to get out for a walk, throw a few snowballs and make a snowman.

The picture to the right is the view from my bedroom window and below is Wandsworth Common. As you can see we weren't the only ones who got out and about, the snow had almost been trampled into non existence.



A trendy French snowman (note the beret) and its proud and cold creators.

Home

It was my first time home in 18 months and it was well worth the wait. It was great to catch up with everyone and spend time at home with Mum and Dad.

Some of the highlights included:

- Catching up with Dean and Helen and Bermuda Josh at the Wright / Watkins wedding in Te Aroha



- Our time in Te Aroha which exceeded my expectations, it was a really nice place and we had a wonderful time at Josh and Helen's wedding.



- Landing in Dunedin to the biggest welcoming committee that has ever greeted me at the airport (to be fair, not all of them were strictly there to greet me specifically...)
- Losing my pasty white Pommie skin to the fierce Middlemarch sun



- Being put to work by Dad, he took full advantage of the extra pair of hands and I was kept very busy which was good.
- Viewing Juliet and Kevin's new house in Mosgiel
- Easter time in Edendale, nice to have a couple of days off and enjoy the hospitality of the May family
- Catching up with Burt and Barry and meeting his new fiancee
- Enjoying some proper food - a couple of great roasts, BBQ's, Talley's mussels, Bluff oysters, a spectacular seafood sandwich at Ziff's cafe and Robyn's fabled 'Anything you like' potatoes
- The weather, which was fantastic the whole time and appreciated so much more right now because it is snowing outside in London as I write this.