Odd weekends!

One Thursday evening, we were rung and advised there may not be any school the following day as the Civil Defence had issued a warning regarding high tide and northerly winds coinciding on Friday morning, which was likely to cause flooding in Great Yarmouth. Severe flooding had happened two years ago where many shops and accommodation had been affected so they were making sure people were evacuated to C.D. shelters and all precautions in place before the event! We woke on Friday morning to hear all schools had been closed for the day and there was no entry into our area at all. The low lying houses and businesses were flooded and it was backed up to the Broads. Our house is on high ground so Gorleston really wasn’t too affected, but we did wander down to the water to see the high seas crashing in. There were helicoptors flying around filming the damage so we saw more on the television really!
This was the weekend we were expecting Hugh and Santanu to come up here and at one stage we were doubtful they would make it. However, by that evening the danger warning had been lifted and they arrived. On Saturday we travelled to the Broads and hired a boat for 3 hours. As it turned out it was a really good time to go as the water line was high, not many people out and about and relatively fine
weather.

In the afternoon we drove into Norwich to show Santanu the city as he hadn’t been there before and all of us visited the Cathedral.
On Sunday we drove up the coastline, which we had seen many times before but this time the sea was really rough and more dramatic.

Another weekend we visited our friends, Colin and Wendy Young in the Cotswolds. This is a prime example of Britain’s beautiful countryside. It is certainly where many of the more wealthy people have property and commute to their London businesses, either on a daily basis or they own an apartment there to use during the week. On our way there we stopped at Oxford (visited before but only briefly) and then motored on through Burford, which has a main road full of inns, shops and cottages before crossing over the medieval bridge to exit. From here, on to Upper & Lower Slaughter before stopping at Bourton-on-the-water. This was a really pretty village,where the river Windrush flows beside the main street and beneath a succession of graceful footbridges. We arived in the early evening so it was even more stunning, lit up. We arrived at the Young’s in Horsley, ready for drinks and dinner! They work for a wealthy young lawyer who is one of those with an apartment in London to live in during the week. Their house was originally a barn and altered for their employees - a very attractive place to live in with all the amenities from home! Colin is redeveloping their 25 acres property, dismantling old buildings, tidying up the land and rebuilding their beautiful stone walls (he attended a course to learn how) which are everywhere. These walls are built with flat stone so look really stunning. Quite different from the ones we have at home! Wendy helps out in the house, cooking meals and supervising homework for the 2 boys who attend the local school.
The next day we travelled into London to have a traditional Sunday lunch with Joanne Small, her partner and little Daniel. They have a lovely house near Wimbledon and it was our only chance to catch up before we leave for home.

Before leaving for NZ we realized it was necessary to send some gear home by ship!! Oh dear it is amazing what is accumulated over a year! So Ian packed up 2 boxes and we took them down to the depot in London on our last weekend visit to the big city. Greenwich was always a place we wanted to visit so this was going to be our last opportunity. It earned its reputation, when it was a playground for the Tudor royalty. Henry VIII and his daughters Mary 1 and Elizabeth 1 were born here. In fact it was Henry’s favourite residence. The Cutty Sark is under major repair so we obviously couldn’t see that but we did join a walking tour. This took us along the bank of the Thames, past the Old Royal Naval College, Queen’s House and up to the Royal Observatory and Planetarium. Outside the Observatory, built by Christopher Wren for Charles 11 in 1675, you can straddle the Prime Meridian Line, with one foot in each hemisphere. Many instruments are kept here that belonged to John Harrison. He was the man, together with Edmund Halley who discovered accurate measurement of longitude. On our way home we stopped off at Tower Bridge as I wanted some to take some photos of this at night.

On Sunday we visited Harrods, for viewing only! As we came up from the tube station we saw hundreds of people waiting for Harrods to open their doors -apparently this is quite normal for Christmas! On our way back we stopped off at the British Museum, one of the more popular. There is too much to absorb in one visit so we concentrated on the life and death beliefs of many races, African section and then quickly looked at the ancient Egyptian artefacts. After saying our goodbyes to Hugh and Santanu we headed for home in the dark, even though it was just after 6pm.