England and Cornwall

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog over the last week or so. Let me try and get you up to date. Spent the first four days with my Auntie who lives in a beautiful little village in Surrey called Chobham, about half an hour by train from London. Just spent the first few days relaxing from the hectic pace of taring through Europe.

Erin and Paul Stevenson

On the Friday the day dawned bright and sunny which was a nice change as the weather up until then was rubbish. Overcast and wet, apparently a typical English summer. We decided to take the train to London to meet a friend Erin from Sydney, who just happened to be in London at the same time that we were to attend a wedding there. We had lunch with her and her new husband Paul at a restaurant along the banks of the Themes river. It was really good to catch up with Erin and get to know her husband a little bit.

London Town

We then spent the rest of the afternoon looking around London, it was a warm sunny day so everybody was out and about which made it a bit crowded in areas, but most enjoyable none the less.

We saw the bro’s cart witnessing on the Westminster Bridge bridge over to Big Ben so we stopped for a little chat. Then it was time to head back to Auntie B’s for a formal dinner evening with my cousin Karen and her family.

A typical evening Meal at Auntie B’s

Yes you read correctly, I said “formal”. It actually was my suggestion, I had dragged my suit all over Europe and so wanted to get a little use out of it. My Auntie Barbara is world famous for her palaver so it was a meal fit for a king. Entrie was herb ciabatta with smoked salmon, main was beef wellington with pepper corn sauce and mixed vegetable and mashed potatoes. For dessert, lemon cheese cake with double cream and finished off with cheese and biscuits and fruit. Yummy!

My other cousin Helen arrived back from a couple  of weeks holiday with her family in Tuscany and we moved to her home in preparation for our trip down to Cornwall which is the south west tip of England. Inspiration for the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, its coastal fishing villages and coves a haven for smugglers in the 1700’s. Also supported a thriving tin mine industry.

Abovetown Cottage

We headed off in the morning for our accomodation near the little village of Lerryn, a 5 bedroom farm cottage in the beautiful Cornish countryside. Narrow winding roads passing through little villages with old stone cottages that you would swear haven’t changed in a hundred or so years. The drive takes about four hours in good traffic and fortunately we had light traffic and so managed the journey in about that time, stopping about half way at Exeter for a picnic lunch that Auntie B had prepared for everyone.

Cornwall country lane.

The drive there was an adventure in itself. The country lanes are only one vehicle wide and the sides are hedges taller than the cars so if you meet someone head on one of you has to yield and reverse until you come to a driveway you can back into to allow the other driver to pass. Quite disconcerting if you come up against a massive tractor towing a full load of hay bails.