Kanga And Wombats Adventures

Great flights home. Lucky and spoiled.

We did nearly miss the connection in Muscat however… We’d taken the ‘Visitors’ exit instead of the ‘Transfer’ exit! Not sure how that happened as the transfer sign stretched from the floor to the ceiling!

The official passport controller man asked me how long we were staying in Muscat, and when I replied “one hour,” he seemed puzzled…then it dawned on him. Needless to say, we were hastily redirected.

We’ve had a wonderful but exhausting trip. It’s the people you meet and connect with that make travel so memorable. (And I have to say we were pretty lucky with the weather too!)

It would be impossible to pick a highlight, because……

Catching up with Katie and Chris’s friends Ashley and Ben in Glasgow on Day 2 was fantastic and set the mood for the trip ahead.

The Orkneys and Scotland’s west coast were wild, mysterious and stunningly beautiful.

We had the best company ever on our canal adventure to Wales and back. They tolerated my pouting after each Euchre loss and taught me the value of thinking like a goldfish! Thanks, Jen and Grahame.

Jane’s inlaws, Kate and Mike were so generous and hospitable when we visited them in ‘Chip’. And what a bonus to meet Nick, Billie and Alfie too.

Kaf and Alan, we can’t thank you enough for introducing to what for us was an unfamiliar part of England. We could certainly see why you love it so much.

England’s green and pleasant land was indeed just that.

To say Paris stole our hearts is a foregone conclusion.

I loved catching up with the rellies, Avril, Bob, Terry, Annie and Pam. Family ties are important for both honouring the past and building the future. Thank you to Emily Hockley, who started the ball rolling all those years ago, back in 1865.

We saw so many new places, and of course that only made us realise how much more there is still to see!

When at last we reached our home turf, it was still exciting. It was a thrill to glimpse the Harbour Bridge through the haze in the distance, and the jacarandas were in full bloom!

Wow, look at those Jacarandas!

How lucky are we to be safely home. It was wonderful to see, hug and kiss the ones we love and missed the most, Jane, Matt and Millie, Katie and Chris.

But, can anyone help me with a mystery I still can’t  solve, even after 8 visits to the UK… How do those darned showers work!!??

I could never get the hot and cold just right!

All in all, not a bad adventure for a couple of Twatts!

It’s amazing how much you miss when you’re just wandering around a place and not particularly focused!

This morning we went on a guided walking tour, a lot of it retracing our steps from last night. It all made a lot more sense today!

Our guide, Sarah, was a uni student. The tours are advertised as being free, with a donation given at the end to the amount you think it was worth. At first, we thought the group was going to be quite small, but by the time we set off, Sarah had a following of over 30. She did a great job and was worth every Swiss franc she earned!

We learned so much! Here’s a summary.

Women in Switzerland didn’t have the right to vote until 1971, and it wasn’t until 1990 that ALL women in all cantons (areas) could vote in Federal elections! That really shocked me! I had always thought of Switzerland as being ahead of its time.

Because of its geographical location Switzerland has 4 main languages, German 65%, French 25%, Italian 9% and Romansh 1% (native to the mountain canton of Graubünden). Zurich is very much in the German region, hence the proliferation of beer halls!

In reality, there are many more dialects, and most people also learn English. Sarah herself spoke 4 languages!

Although originally Catholic, it is now largely Protestant, reflected in the simplicity of the churches and lack of stained glass!

Firstly, we visited the exterior of Fraumünster, established by nuns, with some beautiful murals depicting the story of its beginnings. As an example of its lack of austerity, it had an archway outside the entrance that ladies were expected to walk through before entering the church. If their dresses were too big to fit through the arch, they were considered too well to do and not pious enough, and were denied entry!

A little further on, Saint Peter’s boasts the largest tower clock face in the world. Interestingly, it also has the number 4 depicted as llll rather than lV….

We climbed up to Lindenhof, a peaceful garden and park area, for a pretty good view of the city.

Along the pedestrian streets where we’d had dinner the previous evening, Sarah suggested we look up.

Zurich has 1200 fountains, and unless there’s a sign saying otherwise, you can drink from all of them.

The final stop on our guided walk was at the largest church in Zurich, Grossmünster. At last, some stained glass, but of the modern kind. Stunning.

After the tour, we climbed the 187 steps up the right tower. Fabulous view.

When in Switzerland, do as the Swiss do, right?

It was fondue time.

Delicious, but expensive. Even the knee rugs reminded you where you were.

A visit to the chocolate shop is obligatory, and we chose Sprüngli, originally in partnership with Lindt. A falling out over advertising caused the split, and the rest is history. Also very expensive.

We just had enough time to take a ride on the Polybarn, all 176m of it.

Used mainly by students to access the university quickly from the train station, it took us a ‘staggering’ 1.5 minutes to reach the top!

The university ‘s exterior was pretty dull, but inside the modern makeover was a surprise. Tucked in a little corner was an art gallery featuring works by Marc Chagall.

Sarah had told us earlier in the day that Einstein was once a student there but was asked to leave because of poor grades. Imagine!

A 10 minute train ride took us to the airport for our 9pm flight home.

We can’t believe the party’s nearly over.

Goodbye Montmartre! Hope we are lucky enough to return one day.

Uber to Gare de Lyon. Entertainment at the station, common in Europe. What a lovely way to start your trip.

The French, then German, then finally Swiss countryside sped by. We even caught a fleeting glance of a canal! Four hours from Paris to Zurich on the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse or very fast train). Just like that!

Zurich’s main train station is right in the centre of town and our hotel was just over the bridge next to the Polybahn, a funicular railway that goes up to the university. We settled in at the Swiss Chocolate Hotel, with its own chocolate fountain of course, (how Swiss!) and set off to explore.

Zurich old town is situated on both sides of the River Limmat, which then empties into the Zurichsee (lake).

Whilst each side has one main street stretching the whole length of the old town precinct, each side is quite distinctive.

The Niederdorf/Oberdorfstrasse (upper and lower streets) on the eastern river bank were totally pedestrian with many restaurants and beer halls to choose from. On the western side, Bahnhofstrasse (railway station street) was the shopping and business side of the city.

Naturally, we circumnavigated both, ending up at the ferry terminal. The last lake cruise had just left! We gazed wistfully at those lucky people aboard and had to be content with looking at the swans and beauty of the Swiss Alps in the far distance.

Probably only 10 minutes had passed since the ferry had left, so we were amazed to see it turning around and coming back to the wharf. Simultaneously, a police car pulled up, police tape was strung across the entry passage, a police patrol boat arrived and several heavily amed policeman made their way out to the end of the wharf.

It seems about 7 young men on the boat hadn’t been minding their manners. As soon as the ferry docked, they were escorted off, searched and, from what we could see, weren’t going anywhere fast.

A bit of Starsky and Hutch excitement, but we’re still none the wiser about what had actually happened.

We booked a walking tour for tomorrow and headed off to find somewhere to eat. The old facades looked pretty in the early evening light.

It was beer and bratwurst for dinner. What else!?

Visiting Terry and Annie today was going  to take us out of Paris into the countryside.

It’s hard to describe our relationship with them! A blip in 1969 when our family met Terry in Lisbon for one day on our way to England, another blip when we’d corresponded after both our mums (cousins Dorothy and Edna) had been diagnosed with dementia.

When their daughter Carolyn and husband François visited Sydney and then moved here permanently with their two daughters, Angela and Stella, the communication and contact ramped up a bit. We were honoured to be invited to their Australian Citizenship Ceremony.

Finally, in 2016, we met up in person at Swanage, on England’s south coast, and it was like we’d been always been next door neighbours! Instant bond, forever I hope!

Terry and Annie have visited Australia 3 times since then. It’s been great getting to know them and share in Terry’s love of family history.

Terry had been instrumental in arranging a mini family reunion with another cousin,  Pam, on the very first day of our trip to the UK.

And here we were, 6 weeks later, in their home territory.

As we stepped off the train at St Nom  Terry’s first words were “Finally, you made it”!

Terry and Annie live in St Nom la Bretèche, about a 45min train ride from the centre of Paris. Terry said we’d come at the worst time of the year, wet and cold, but I thought the autumn colours looked pretty. Not pretty pretty, but pretty!

Their village is typical of French villages, narrow streets, stone houses, the church at the centre of the community.

We were taken on a little tour of all the backstreets, where they used to live, where they go to watch the Paris fireworks high above the village on Bastille Day, and where you can actually still see the Eiffel Tower on a clear day!

Annie was waiting at home with their French grandchildren, Sunny and Zia, whom they’d been minding all week as it was half term holidays. Unfortunately,  Zia was unwell, so spent most of the day sleeping.

Annie had cooked up a storm! She’d cooked Lapin a La Cocotte, a traditional rabbit stew with mushrooms and onions (her mother’s recipe) and it was delicious!

Mozzarella,  tomato and basil salad, roast spuds,  a French apple and almond cake, cheese, wine…… Seems like we spent all day eating, and talking of course.

The most wonderful part of the day however, was meeting their son Thomas  whom we’d  heard so much about. He and partner Fabian  were so lovely and made a huge effort to speak English for us. We really appreciated that!

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. Some hasty pics were taken and goodbyes said. Not sad this time, as Terry and Annie will be in Australia for Christmas.

Back at Abbesses, we took a different route home and stumbled across this tiny little park. We knew it must be special as there were 2 groups of tourists being guided around to the front of one particular house. We deduced someone important must have once lived there. We had some googling to do!

The little park was actually called Place Emile Goudeau after a popular 19th century novelist, poet and journalist who founded the famous literary club called Les Hydropathes. In the picture above, the group of tourists on the right are huddled in front of a black building called the Bateau Lavoir, a residence and meeting place of notable artists and theatre people, including Picasso!

Not only that, but the green structure in the foreground is what is known as a Wallace Fountain. They are considered integral parts of the Parisian landscape and were once rare points of free water for poor citizens. Not many remain in Paris that actually function, and those that do are shut down in Winter so they don’t freeze. Amazing!

Gina welcomed us once more, and we set about stuffing ourselves for the second time that day!

The couple next to us had ordered a raclette  which consisted of a huge triangular prism of cheese suspended on a hook next to a burner that slowly melted the cheese. The melted cheeses was then ‘shaved’ off with a large flat knife and smeared over veggies, potatoes, bread and salad. We couldn’t believe they could eat all that cheese, but they did!

We vowed we’d return in another 7 years  but only if Gina promised to still be there!

We’d had a great day. To finally see where T & A lived put some context into the places and people with whom they shared their daily lives in France.

It hadn’t been a frenetic stay in Paris, but it was perfect for us. We’d had just the right mix of family, sightseeing, and culture.

Good morning Paris!

We’d been pretty lucky to spend a week in Paris back in 2016. It sounds blasé but we didn’t feel the need to visit the big ticket items again.

Except, that is, our local ‘hood, Arrondissement 18 and the heart of Montmartre! Ascending the ‘stairway to heaven’ we landed smack bang in the middle of Place du Tertre (place of a mound), the artist’s square.

Surrounded by cafes on all sides, the green and leafy square provides a great backdrop for buskers and freelance artists making a living from drawing portraits of tourists. We even took a picture of those taking a picture of those drawing a picture!

We did the only sensible thing and found a cafe to engage in some good old-fashioned people watching. A happy piano accordianist entertained us while we sipped and ate. Or maybe it was us entertaining him?

Around the corner, Sacre Coeur was very busy!

The lovelocks on the fences were in their millions. In fact, the fences looked solid until you got up close and realised they were padlocks not panels.

Our Airbnb host, Alexandre, had suggested some alternative places to visit, so we bravely sourced our ‘Navigo’ passes from an unforgiving machine (think Opal cards), headed underground to the Metro and popped up at Place de la Concorde and one of Paris’s newest museums, the Hôtel de la Marine. Only opened in 2021, it is housed in the building that was once the HQ of the French Navy, hence the name.

We donned headphones and set about touring the building.

Originally, the building was used by the Intendant of the Garde-Mueuble who was a high ranking official appointed by the King to oversee, maintain and protect all the furniture and decorative items in royal residences. These pieces were considered National, not personal property.

It was like Versailles without the crowds.

The chandeliers were out of this world, and I loved the detail on the curtain tassels.

And the view from the balcony would have been great, except for……

Fans were pouring in for the England v Argentina play off for 3rd place.

We had to smile at these happy lads who seemed oblivious to the fact they were standing about chatting in what was a popular spot for taking an iconic photograph!

A walk along the Seine showed just how busy Paris is at the moment. The tour boats were frequent, fast and full!

Our next recommendation was the Place des Vosges, the oldest purpose built and designed Square in Paris (1792). Dedicated to King Louis Xlll, it is a 140sq m closed Square, with only 2 entrances that pass through arched pavillions. It is surrounded on all 4 sides with lines of 2 storey red brick residences with white limestone trim and very steeply sloped slate roofs.

Originally called Place Royale, its name was changed after the French Revolution in tribute to the northeast region of Vosges, for being the first area to pay taxes under the new government.

In the chaos of Paris, what a haven!

Finally, Alexandre suggested we visit Musee de Carnavalet, dedicated to the history of Paris. What a quirky place!

Along with the usual recreations of lavish 17th and 18th century rooms, it had sculptures, paintings, and all manner of weird objects, even a fireplace that looked like a cupboard!

One of the weirdest displays I found was parts of a 1614 statue of Henri lV that was destroyed in the French Revolution. Only these parts were ever found.

I loved these wrought iron pub signs that had been saved after the pubs had long gone.

One of the fondest memories we had of our 2016 trip was dinner at our local restaurant,  Bistro Montmartre. We’d built up quite a friendship with Gina, the owner.

We were astonished to find that 7 years later, including the disaster brought to many restaurants with Covid 19, that Gina was still there!

We were welcomed with open arms and treated like royalty. Needless to say, we booked to return tomorrow night!

No tears before bedtime, just one more peek!

Early start. Short post. Train day.

8.30am train from Christchurch (thanks for the ride Alan) to London. Said our goodbyes, knowing it would only be a short time before we saw each other in Oz.

As we approached Waterloo Station, the ‘Gherkin’ was peeping out from behind another building and the ‘Shard’ was shrouded in mist.

Kings Cross St Pancras International was heaving with fans heading to the Rugby Union finals weekend. With trains leaving for Paris every hour, it was standing room only in the Eurostar waiting area!

We were returning to our 2016 bolthole in the 18th Arrondissement, rue Gabrielle in Montmartre.

A quirky 3rd floor apartment in a beautiful neighbourhood with the most stunning view!

Determined to get ‘out there’, we braved the rain to head out for dinner.

French Onion soup and a front row view of the world made up for the lousy weather.

We felt very much at home! Belle belle!

Kath and Alan live in Christchurch, specifically the area near Mudeford. They are rightfully proud of their ‘patch’.

It is a pretty beautiful part of the world!

They had generously taken a day off packing (in less than a fortnight, they are moving back to Australia for 2 years), to take us on a guided tour of the things they love the most about where they live.

Just down the road is Mudeford Quay, sitting on one side of the entrance to Christchurch harbour. The entrance itself is extremely narrow, probably 60m at best, which creates a very strong current either way dependending on the tides. The swirling water was quite mesmerising to watch, and if we looked very carefully, we could see as far as the Isle of Wight and the Needles!

The Quay itself is composed of The Haven Inn and some ex fishermen’s cottages called the Dutch cottages dating from 1697, the oldest buildings in Mudeford.

A ferry leaves every 15 minutes for the short ride to Mudeford Sand Spit and Hengistbury Head on the other side.

It was good to see the ferry master (or someone) had a sense of humour…if the flag’s up, the ferry is running! Babies, cats, dogs and parrots travel free, but it’ll cost you £1 to take your kitchen sink across!

As it was half term break, there were lots of families out and about engaged in a favourite pastime on the Quay, catching crabs! It was pretty amazing to watch them lower a line down the edge of the wall and literally immediately haul it back up with 5+ crabs attached to the bait.

Kath told us that having languished around in the bucket of water for a couple of hours, the crabs are thrown back in the sea when the kids have had enough fun….how good is that?

We walked a little further on to Avon Beach with a pretty impressive row of those classic bathing huts. I’d imagine it might be a tad busier in the Summer!

Driving through Highcliffe and Barton on Sea, (known locally as WWW, wet, windy and widows), with the blink of an eye, we were in the New Forest.

Think New Forest, think ponies, right?

Perhaps it was the weather, but the normal hoards of ponies were few and far between today. But Kath managed to find those few!

Kath and Alan often walk in the New Forest, and this is one of their favourites.

With lots of water lying around, we had to make a few diversions to reach our refreshment stop, the pretty village of Beaulieu.

The name Beaulieu comes from the French ‘beau lieu’, meaning ‘beautiful place’. Derived from Beaulieu Abbey, it was populated by 30 monks of the Cistercian order from Cîteaux Abbey in France, on land given to them by King John.

Situated at the head of the tidal Beaulieu River, the village dates back to the 13th century.

With the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530’s under Henry VIII, the land was given to the present Lord Montagu’s ancestors.

It comprises 9000 acres of land, and you knew you were on the estate because of the presence of the Montagu family symbol of 3 adjoining red diamonds. They were everywhere, even in the public loos!

Now, I’ve emphasised the word tidal for a reason. In the middle of the village is a set of sluice gates that close off the river at high tide. Once the tide has gone out, the sluice gates are open, creating a rush of water that powered the mill. Ingenious!

We took a walk up the main street, gawping at the beautiful buildings and this funny fellow in front of the school.

The only place to be in Beaulieu for afternoon tea is Steff’s Kitchen, where we had our fill of cake, chips and fried camembert! Yes, we did! Steff’s kitchen sources all its fresh produce from Patrick’s Patch across the road, where the winter veggies were doing just fine.

It was time to head back to town and get our glad rags on for dinner.

We started at Kath and Alan’s local ‘The Ship in Distress’, literally a 2 minute walk from their front door. Can’t get more local than that!

Aperitif done and dusted, we headed off another 5 minutes down the road to their other ‘local’, ‘ The Rising Sun’ for dinner. Thai food! So delicious!

What a great day! Thank you so much, Kath and Alan. At a time when you least needed visitors, you made 100% effort to show us around and entertain us.

We can certainly see why you love living where you do. A little slice of paradise!

Misty morning start to the day in North Wraxall!

We had no plans for today until 4pm, when we needed to drop the rental car off in Bournemouth and meet up with friends,  Kath and Alan.

After consulting the maps and drawing a line from Chippenham to ‘Muff’, we discovered we could probably bump into a few things of interest.

But first, we made a quick stop to visit Matt’s cousin Sarah and her new 6 week old baby, Olive Eliza. What a cutie!

Big brothers Luca and Theo weren’t at all interested in these funny speaking visitors, and happily played trains.

The fog had disappeared, and it was a glorious day. As the ‘anthem’ goes, we were definitely immersed in England’s green and pleasant land!

Having started our trip with neolithic magic in the Orkneys, it seemed appropriate to bookend our stay in the UK with the most famous neolithic sight of them all.

We queued for 25 minutes to buy entry tickets and were just about to give up. But happy Carol in the ticket booth and even happier Peter in the shuttle bus buoyed our spirits and made us smile.

And so did this.

A lot had changed since our last visit in 1982. Well, it was 41 years ago! Back then, you parked the car beside the A303, hopped over the fence, and wandered around the stones as you liked.

Now it was pretty impossible to see Stonehenge unless you paid your £24, then took the shuttle bus or walked the 1 mile to where they were standing beyond a strategically placed wood! Some did try to bypass the system by accessing a little dirt lane in their campervans, and the A303 was bumper to bumper with traffic slowing down to take a peek!

But from our perspective, it didn’t matter from which angle you looked at it, Stonehenge was simply spectacular.

Although there were lots of people there, you wouldn’t know it. The sweeping pathway gave you lots of space to connect with its magnificence, stare in awe, and marvel of the meaning of it all.

Back in the day, (1982), we’d cycled from Salisbury to Stonehenge along the River Avon. We were determined to find the little pub we’d stopped at all those years ago, remembering how pretty pretty it was.

Accessing Stonehenge might have changed over the years, but this little spot in the sun was just the same.

The ploughman’s lunch was delicious, the beer tasted good and the swans entertained us. And it was actually hot! That green and pleasant land was serving up a lot of contentment, and it was hard to drag ourselves away.

Thinking we had heaps of time, we made a fatal decision. Salisbury on Market Day! Yikes! As designated driver, I thought it would be a good idea to drop John off at the Cathedral to take some obligatory pics, then ‘go round the block’ and pick him up.

30 minutes later, I managed to claw my way back to where I’d left him. I was completely traumatised! I’d gone up several one way streets, through bus depots, Tescos carpark (three times) and run more than a few orange lights. In the end, a kind man actually stopped the traffic and guided me down a private road to get me vaguely back to where I was supposed to be.

John had taken his phone to take the pic, but as it had been hooked up for navigation, I was stuffed! After my good Samaritan set me free from the traffic chaos I’d found myself in, I basically drove until I saw something vaguely familiar and somehow found the spot where I’d dropped John off. By this time, I think he was just as traumatised as me!

We couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

No more stops. Time was running out to get that car back by 4pm. We didn’t want to deal with Europcar over any more issues!

Kath, a teaching buddy back in the 80’s and friend for 37 years, and her husband  Captain Alan were hosting us for the next 2 nights at Christchurch. She picked us up at our appointed meeting time and whisked us back to their place.

It was so good to see them both, enjoy our first BBQ in 6 weeks, and have a good old talkfest. Dessert was bought in my honour!

Castle Combe. We were there by 9.00am and jagged a parking spot 100m from the village.

Pretty pretty for sure!

So many nooks and crannies, beautiful cottages, and a babbling brook in the middle!

But, is it the prettiest village in England? It would probably go close. A victim of its own prettiness though, and I pity the poor people who actually live there having to put up with the hundreds of visitors that churn through each day. We chatted to one local who was driving out of his house and had stopped to close the gate and put  parking cones in front of it. He initiated a conversation with us about our holiday then told us all about his latest trip away. He said he didn’t mind tourists poking about, except the Americans! He also said you couldn’t not love living in a place as beautiful as Castle Combe, and he certainly had a good point! And he lived in the biggest house (read manor) in the village accessed by the bridge in the photo above. Indeed, what’s not to love!

It felt like we were on a movie set, and we well could have been. Castle Combe has been the setting of numerous movies, TV series, advertisements and documentaries, such as Dr Doolittle, Warhorse,  Stardust, Poirot, Downton Abbey, Harry Potter etc.

You can see why…with a sprinkling of dirt over the double yellow lines, you could instantly be transported back in time.

With a last look around and a peek inside the church, it was time to move on.

Mike and Kate were picking us up for a days outing.

Today we went south. The ‘pub de jour’ was The Barge Inn at Seend Cleeve, right beside the Kennet and Avon Canal.

We looked enviously out the window as we ate, watching the barges go by. It seemed weeks, not two days, since we had been doing that ourselves!

And the four of us certainly hadn’t done in the talking department! They wanted to know all about Millie’s latest achievements and milestones, of course, and it was obvious how much they loved having her stay at Christmas and how much they miss the family.

A short drive away is Avebury, probably most famous for its Stone Circle. But Mike and Kate knew we’d been there on our last visit and wanted to show us its other gem, Avebury Manor.

Now taken over by the National Trust, it featured in a BBC show called ‘The Manor Reborn’ that showed how it was restored.

It’s a Grade 1 listed C16th manor house, with each room authentically decorated to recreate the time when different families lived there, starting from Tudor times up to the 1930’s.

The difference between Avebury Manor and other stately homes is that you can dress up, touch anything, sit on anything and even get into bed!

So we did!

We also learnt stuff!

Did you know that the phrase ‘sleep tight don’t let the bed bugs bite’ originated from Tudor times and has nothing to do with bed bugs? It actually refers to the Tudor version of our innerspring mattresses, where ropes were tied across the bed frame to support the straw mattress on top. The ropes needed to be ‘tight’ and the rope knots, called ‘bugs’ needed to be avoided!

By the time we’d finished our manor tour, it was getting late. Our tour guides for the day had done an amazing job of feeding and entertaining us, but would only accept a cup of tea and chocky biscuit back at our digs in return.

We said a sad farewell to them by the light of the car headlights, hoping next time we get together, it will be in Australia, and we can reciprocate their generosity, kindness and find dress up opportunities for them of our own!

To sleep in a real bed. Perchance to dream! To shower in a real bathroom. What luxury! We love our little bolthole!

Our reason for coming to Wiltshire was to visit Mike and Kate (Fenner), our son-in-law Matthew’s parents, who live in Chippenham. We had a lunchtime date with them at Yatton Keynell but had a few things to do first.

Castle Combe, reputedly ‘the prettiest town in England’, was spitting distance away from North Wraxall. Google Maps told us it was 3 miles away and would take us 10 minutes to drive. Single track laneways and lots of Sunday cyclists turned it into a 20-minute drive, but boy, it was pretty pretty along the way!

It was 10.00am on a Sunday, and Castle Combe was already awash with mobile camera finger clicking tourists. No parking unless you wanted to hike a mile to the carpark. We drove straight through and decided to return tomorrow.  Earlier!

Heading towards our next destination of Malmesbury, we passed through a couple of cuties.

Why Malmesbury? Matthew lived there before he went on his round the world adventure (subsequently meeting Jane), and we wanted to see what he’d left behind to marry our daughter!

A lot!

Malmesbury is simply beautiful. It even has an Abbey!

With the 10.30am Holy Communion service on full swing, we had to be content with exploring around the outside of the Abbey and the township until the worshippers had gone home.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the Abbey looked glorious in the morning light. Situated on a hilltop, the Abbey dominates the town. And so it should. It survived the dissolution of the monasteries in Henry V111’s reign and is also the burial place of England’s first King Æthelstan.

From the Abbey, the High St leads down a gentle curve to the river.

In 2018, we were in Melbourne for a Swans game, and our hotel room had a picture of Malmesbury bridge on the wall! We thought at the time it was such a good omen, never thinking we’d actually get to see it!

Holy Communion over, we got to peek in the Abbey.

A bit underwhelmed! There were lounge chairs, a souvenir shop, kitchen(!) and toyroom/creche right in the body of the Abbey.

Ok, I admit I’m a traditionalist and purist when it comes to churches. I realise religion these days has to reinvent itself to appeal to more people, but I simply love the stained glass, wooden pews, and seeing the altar where it should be, at the top of the nave.

Not here.

I have to also admit, however, that there were at least 50 members of the congregation enjoying a cuppa after the service, so the powers that be must be doing something right!

And as beautiful as Malmesbury is, we’re glad Matt found Balmain more appealing!

We hightailed it back to Yatton Keynell and ‘The Bell Inn’ for our lunch date and Sunday roast.

Talkfest started and didn’t stop. 4 years of catching up to do!

Kate and Mike insisted we go back to 16 Maple Way for more drinks and snacks, and of course, to see Matt’s brother Nick, his partner Billie and her son Alfie. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet her daughter Brooke, who was on a half term break with her dad.

The talkfest continued, wine flowed, and best of all, Kate had made a batch of her famous cheese sticks, our favourites! Bless her!

We’d had a great day, and all agreed our kids had done a great job in picking us as parents!