Planning the UK phase

3

So we have plane tickets, and the boat is booked. It was time to sort out the tail end of the trip. A whirlwind visit to the UK. Ironically, this trip was supposed to be a three-four week visit to the UK on the canal boats (narrow boats). We have been fascinated with these boats ever since my Mom returned from a trip to England several years ago and brought a brochure back with her. It has been around ever since and I keep looking at it and thinking about it. So the original plan WAS to go there…but plans change. And we decided to go back to Greece for a month of sailing, for various reasons.

But the next time, it WILL be the canal boats and an extended journey in the UK! Maybe…. I think….of course the coast of Turkey is calling to us too….

So until then, we will have to content ourselves with a short visit which will hopefully whet our appetite and get us thinking about the next journey down the road.

We finally have our plans for these last few days sorted out.Roughly three and a half days to whiz around and see a few sites…but more importantly, to meet a few people too! We will get out of London right away. Hopefully anyway…if we don’t become hopelessly lost! The population density, coupled with the traffic, with the added fun factor of driving a right hand manual transmission should prove highly entertaining! We are so used to the fact that, for the most part, every vehicle rented in North America is an automatic transmission. It appears that the opposite is true in the UK…. at least unless you get into a larger, much more expensive car. So, we have booked a little compact…with a right hand drive, and the stick shift on the wrong side (for us). That will be an interesting challenge… for Kirk…. since I will probably be in the passenger seat laughing hysterically and being absolutely no assistance whatsoever with the navigation!

So once we surmount that first hurdle, we will attempt to navigate our way to Avebury where we have a room booked for the night. Avebury looks like a fascinating place. We had intended to go to Salisbury and then see Stonehenge the following morning, but we’ve been talked out of that and been directed to visit Avebury which I’m told is a much nicer place. Would still like to at least drive by Stonehenge, just to say I’ve been there… even if they have now fenced it off. And in Avebury, we may meet our first Flickr friend. She lives in Gloucestershire to the north and may drive down to meet us for breakfast and a visit. Somewhere along here, in one direction or the other. we hope to meet up with another Flickr friend, a fellow who lives on a canal boat and travels the waterways with his cat.

Then it will be off to Bodelva in Cornwall where we will visit the Eden Project and meet up with two more Flickr friends and their spouses. One has generously offered to put us up for the night! So looking forward to meeting these people who have only been words on webpages up to this point!

The next day we will wander along the South Coast and stop to sightsee along the way. We will end up in Bournemouth that night. Tuesday we will head over to Poole Harbour and there we will meet a few more people, two, three, four…I’m not entirely sure. But it will be fun I’m sure!

On Wednesday we will leave our hotel in Bournemouth and head up to visit the New Forest and meet with two more Flickr friends for breakfast and a brief visit of the area before heading back into London to fly home.

After the leisure that I hope to enjoy in Greece over our four week sail, it will be a shock to the system the be driving and have an agenda to meet. But I’m looking forward to it!!!