Well, at 54 years of age, we finally made the huge leap to get out of our comfort zone and get ourselves a passport. But where would we go? We didn’t really want to go on an organized tour, as we have always enjoyed each others company, and wanted to take our time and explore our new surroundings ,without the hustle and bustle of packing suit cases every morning and hopping on a bus, that would whisk you through the country side. So as I am a huge fan of Escape to the Country and longed to wander some cobblestoned streets, we decided on England. The safe option, for our first foray into the unknown. They spoke English ( as we do ), they drive on the same side of the road as we do, and their currency is easy to work out ( just double it ).
With the destination sorted, we search for hundreds of hours, on the internet, on where to go and where to stay, finally deciding on renting cottages in 6 different locations throughout England, Wales and Scotland. We found all the accommodation on Stays and Trip Advisor, that suited our dates, and by renting each of them for a week, it worked out much more cost effective than say 3 nights in a hotel. We cooked our own meals and made our lunches to take with us on day trips, which saved thousands of dollars. We rented a car through Europcar, which would be waiting at Heathrow for us ( or so we hoped ).
The time had finally come to hop on the train for a 2 hour ride to Sydney. We arrived the night before and stayed at Rydges at the airport. I cannot convey how convenient this hotel is. Literally straight across the road from the International airport. In the morning you just check out, walk across the road and check in for your flight. Being newbies to all of this, we arrived at check in 4 hours early so we wouldn’t miss our flight. In doing this, we were suddenly put on an earlier flight, that was leaving in half an hour. You can only imagine how our stress and anxiety levels were going through the roof by about now. We get to passport control and were asked for our boarding pass. “Whats that”? we asked. Run back, fill out the little green piece of paper and bring it straight back. Hurry. By this stage we were seriously wondering what we had got ourselves into. Finally we were ushered to our seats, on our Cathay Pacific flight, strapped in, headphones on and checking out all the latest movies on our own tv screens. We were excited beyond words. It is quite amazing how 25hrs of flying, with a 9 hour stop over in Hong Kong, can go so quickly and be so interesting when you have never been on this type of adventure before. We loved every minute of it. Tony really liked the food on the flights. I’m sure it was just because he didn’t have to prepare it ( as he does at home. Lucky me ).
As we came through arrivals, at Heathrow, there was a lovely gentleman, with a sign with our name on it, waiting for us. He was from Europcars, and escorted us to our car and showed us how to use the Sat Nav. I cannot stress enough how important it is to hire a Sat Nav when you go to England. It was just too easy to put the post code or destination code into the sat nav and have it direct you.
Well, I think the Sat Nav was working fine, but as we left Heathrow, we realized we were not prepared for the size of the English roundabouts, and got into the wrong lane. So after getting dizzy, from going around the roundabout a few times, we finally made it to the freeway, heading south to our first cottage, a beautiful barn conversion on a working farm, at Newton Valence. Inadown Farm is a 50 minute drive south west of London, set in a lush green rural area. We were very fortunate that we could check in at 8am, unpack our bags and enjoy a cup of coffee in the glorious English sunshine.
With about 12 hours before we should go to bed, we decided on a drive out to Highclere Castle, also know as ” Downton Abbey “. A very interesting manor house made famous by the television series. As a fan of the show, I was keen to explore the beautiful gardens and do a tour of the castle, which comes complete with an Egyptian Exhibition Room. During the First World War, Highclere was transformed into a hospital and after the war, the Castle returned to a family home.
We arrived back at our accommodation by about 4pm, starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. By 8 pm, we had hit a wall and sank into our super comfy bed. Laying down never felt so good.
After a good nights sleep and a hearty English breakfast, we hopped in the car and hit the road, just choosing a direction, and with utmost confidence that by entering the postcode into the Sat nav we would be returned to our lodgings at the end of the day. We headed to New Forest National Park in Hampshire, the old stamping ground of William the Conqueror. It was proclaimed a Royal Forest in about 1079 and used for Royal hunting. Today it is home to the New Forest Ponies which roam throughout the open heath and woodland areas and are the main tourist attraction. Little villages and small towns surround the National Park and all are very quaint and full of history. We can’t believe the history over here. Everywhere we went had the most beautiful cobblestoned laneways, built hundreds of years ago, old churches and thatched roof houses. Everything we imagined and much much more.
Driving in the English country side is totally different to driving in Australia. Away from the motorways, the roads are very narrow and mostly bordered by bramble bushes or dry rock walls. This makes for a very picturesque drive but not a safe one. You really have to keep your eyes peeled for on coming traffic. Because of the height of the bushes or fences, you are unable to see what is coming around the next bend, and you can suddenly find yourself having a near miss on the very narrow roads. In the small villages, you very rarely find a park in the main street, and it can take a while driving around back lanes before you can park. This is all so totally worth it though, once you start to explore the quaint cobblestoned alleyways, stop to browse in the antique stores or sit in a charming cafe, that was probably built 300 years ago.
The next morning we headed to Petworth, a small market village in West Sussex, and steeped in history. The cobblestoned streets and the purple haze of Wisteria hanging from ancient walls and doorways was a sight to behold. We decided to do a tour of Petworth House, originally built in the 1200’s, but most of what you visit today was built in the 1690’s. The Manor is a treasure trove of antique furniture, opulent furnishings, and is famous for it’s extensive art collection. Everything we expected from an English Manor.
As we were leaving Petworth House, the lovely lady at the Entrance asked us if we would like to join The National Trust. We explained that we were only here on holidays for 6 weeks, so there was no point. She went on to explain that if we did join, we would be given access to over 300 unique historic houses, castles and gardens, throughout England and Wales. We paid our 95 pounds, and were refunded the 24 pounds we had just paid to visit Petworth. Over the course of the next 6 weeks, we saved hundreds of pound in entrance fees.
On our drive back to our accommodation, we stopped in at the quaint little village of Selborne, and wandered through the magnificent beech woods and flower meadows of the Selborne Common.
Well, we made it. 2 days in England and we have, so far, not been disappointed. It has been everything we expected, and much more. As we look forward to the next 40 days of exploring the amazing history and scenery of Great Britain, we remind ourselves that this is not a practice run, and wishing we had done this years earlier.
RED DIRT 2 COBBLESTONES 
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