May 2019 (part 1)

No farming blog this month, as I spent most of May on holiday in sunny England.  Instead, I'll take the opportunity to reflect on the highlights of re-visiting my previous pommy life.  It's been 11 years since I last darkened the doors of old Blighty, and there was much and many to catch up with.  And yes it's shockingly late for May - excuses include jet lag, a cold and too much work (worked for 13 out of the last 14 days). Will that do?

Fog at Auckland delayed the start of my journey long enough to miss the connecting flight to Hong Kong.  Eventually I was re-routed via Vancouver (after a hasty visa application) and from there arrived at Gatwick. The tube took me to London Bridge where the lovely Rachel was waiting for me.  Soon Geoff (aka Jif), Sam and Joe joined us.  Jet lag was staved off with a brisk walk up the Thames, and an obligatory pint in a riverside pub.  The next day we took a Thames Clipper to Greenwich Park, had a fish, chip and mushy peas lunch and visited the National Maritime Museum.  A great day in the British sunshine!  Thanks to Sam for giving up his room for me.


Then onto Patsy and David's in Tooting, where I was able to spend precious time in the happy company of Katie and Ben.  They were very little kids the last time we met - fantastic to get to know them again.  Eldest sister Jenny lives in London and joined us all for the evening.  The next day I went to David's allotment and Pats and I pottered around until the early evening.  She had got cheap tickets for a Take That concert in the O2 Arena.  Rick Astley warmed the crowd up first, and Lulu made a guest appearance.  Rachel joined us for a very memorable evening.

My travel jinx was on form the next day, so my trip to Heathrow to pick up a hire car was delayed by a broken down train.  Eventually, I navigated my way out of London in a rainstorm and arrived safely at my god-mother Jayne's near Basingstoke.  We'd recently re-connected via social media and I was delighted that we could actually meet in person.  Jayne and Howard provided a delicious meal including more than one desert!  It was wonderful to meet up and begin to catch up on the last 50 years.



From there I headed west to Auntie Sally's in Somerset.  Uncle Peter was there, and I called into Pat and Pearl's place in Bath the next day on my way north.  Great to see them all and be updated about my cousins and extended family.  I'd recently seen Sally back home in NZ, but it had been more than a couple of decades since I'd been to her home. 

From the south-west, I headed north to Birmingham, towards Marcus's via Mum's at Halesowen.  Fantastic to spend time with the whole family. Kaja and kids joined us all for an Indian takeaway and a good old refresh on family events.  Thanks to Jago for kindly donating his bedroom for the night.

It was a brief Midland stop, and I was underway the next day to York (Stamford Bridge in fact) via the glamorous Trowell Service Station on the M1 to meet my lovely awd mate Pauline and 2 of her 3 triplet sons.  Graham and James, now well in their 20s, patiently waited for me following another travel jinx delay.  Suffice to say that they'd grown considerably since I bounced them on my knees many moons ago. 

Hag and Paul and Lexie the dog were all home to greet me, as usual never very far away from a bottle or 6 of wine.  They have a pretty well-stocked spirits cupboard too, and a few beers in the fridge - all bases accounted for.  Despite this, I managed to avoid the usual humdinger hangover that comes with a stay at Hag's.  We had some great grub, played card game Dobble, and of course that gem of a shower moment (eh Paul!).  It was an interesting visit to Hag's place of work - funny how she's found her niche with disturbed youth!  I'm still trying to persuade Hag to come to NZ, and she's still sure that she won't ever travel over.  Stale-mate but I'm not giving up.


Jane travelled down from Edinburgh and stayed in York for a couple of days.  We had a great day, visiting old haunts in York ('Lakeland', Museum Gardens and of course, Betty's Tea Shop).  I even had a video chat with daughter Jessica whilst we were there.  

I had morning tea with old fellow Stockton-on the-Foresters Jane and Hilary, whose sons Alex and Callum were Sam's school-mates.  Happily they haven't changed a bit and we exchanged photos of our collective off-spring who are all busy with their own young lives.

I also managed to catch up with Amanda, a fellow health worker who I met in NZ and who then returned to England earlier this year.  You won't have heard of it, she said, but we're moving to a small village called Stockton-on-the-Forest near York.  Her husband and sons Thanassi and Alexander are happily settling back to English life.

And I called in on Graham, husband of my dear friend and former colleague Joanna, who died of breast cancer after I'd emigrated.  Really good to find out about their 3 sons, and also to meet Nathan, Janet's son.  His intrepid sister Hayley had stayed with us in NZ a few years ago.

All the while the sun shone and springtime in Yorkshire was a sight for sore eyes.  Driving around the countryside - fanatically obeying the Sat Nav woman - tugged at my nostalgic heart-strings and was a timely reminder of Yorkshire's rugged beauty. 
Across the Pennines next, to Sheffield and Grannie-Annie.  We had a fab day shopping in Meadowhall - a place I'd usually avoid like the plague but years of rural living means that a shopping centre experience finally holds a novelty factor.  I met and enjoyed playing with Ann's youngest grand-daughter Ellie-May.  Then we picked up Peter and Billy at Manchester Airport - and that, as they say, is another story...