2 April

For the first time in ages I woke up with the alarm (at 7). Up not long after to get ready for breakfast and then down by 8 to start (had to put both the time and the menu in last night). Started off well with a pot of tea and toast (so I could have my Vegemite). Then followed a repast of baked beans, bacon (cooked, not killed!), sausage, tomato, hash brown and egg. Ah, it brought back very fond memories of B&Bs past.
During breakfast I chatted with Linda (proprietoress), Chris (husband, supervisor of mental health nurses) and Goram (fellow guest). Breakfast extended for a time as it was difficult to enjoy the food in a hurry. Finally I dragged myself away and got ready to leave and headed off for Alan’s place. I was there not too long after 9:30 where, after some initial difficulty, I got to meet Alan again for the first time in twenty-seven years (I lie – I got to meet Cathie, who, I hadn’t heard of, but who was obviously very good for Alan, because when I got to meet him five minutes later, he looked only a few years older than the last time I saw him.
Things settled down very quickly as we all chatted away. Cathie had picked me up as an “adopted” relative as mum had with dad’s cousins in England, so she was already aware of my habits, interests and life events over the last years. During conversation about computers, Cathie rang her daughter Paula who dropped over. Between discussing iPods, computers, laptops and what I had seen in the US (I showed some photos on the laptop as Alan and Cathie don’t have email access at home and so hadn’t seen my blog or my pictures – which they may well be grateful for once they do get access to them), the time raced by and suddenly I realised it was 11:50 and I had said I would most likely be at Terry and Pat’s by 11:45. As I am not Dr Who (who?), I said quick apologies and will make another time or two before I have to leave to catch up with them.
The SatNav again came to the rescue and gave an ETA of 12:30 so I passed that onto Pat and Terry. An uneventful drive saw me there on time and after a relatively quick chat I was whisked off to the Grasshopper Inn (an olde world pub) for lunch. We all had steak and each of us got it the way ordered and it was very good. This again was a leisurely affair and we headed off at 2:30 to catch up with more cousins. We met Jean and Joe at Chartwell, Churchill’s home, and I was given a tour of the grounds and the house. It was most interesting, with volunteers there to keep an eye on things (NO PHOTOS allowed) and many interesting exhibits, from Churchill’s family and political life as well as contemporary things.
Then it was afternoon tea (gee, I wondered whether anyone had ulterior motives and I was being fattened up for later), a farewell to Jean and Joe and back to Pat and Terry’s. Here I met son Ken and then we all had a talk until Ken headed out and then an hour chat extended into well over two hours and it was time for me to head back to my base.
The drive back was quick (little traffic) and the SatNav is now putting up speed limits, as it did in Australia but didn’t in the US, for main roads and highways. It was 9:45 before I got back (and filled out tomorrow’s breakfast menu) and then started on computer work. Flickr was playing up, as it sometimes does, telling me my version of Safari was too old and I should download another version (which in fact is older than what I have), but I will try again later (when it should work – the photos are there, just not quite in the correct spot).
Once this blog is uploaded, I’m off to sleep – for how long I’m not sure.

By the way, I did make it to England successfully. As an aside, the dual convex mirrors on the Peugeot mean I can only use them as digital devices, not analogue, so I can look to see if something is there, but if it is I then have to use my centre mirror (planar) or turn around to estimate distances and locations. I cannot believe they are legal, but then again hanging and burning witches and drowning gossips was once legal too until those who made laws came to their sanity. I’m reminded that high centre brake lights were also illegal in Australia but are now compulsory. I just hope too many are not killed until this mistake is rectified.