Saturday - pack and go!

Saturday dawned fine and hot again! Not complaining about the weather at all. 

Carol and David cooked a big breakfast which was delicious and we discussed what to do for the rest of the morning.  We decided to go to the open day at a little church near Birchington in a little village called Acol. 

The church was built as a school and church so it was used all week. 

We were greeted very warmly by the people there. The church is very well kept and holds about 50 people. 

This is the cross that used to be outside on the roof but it fell down at some point. They decided to hang it inside above the altar and discovered that when it is lit up, the shadow looks like Noah’s Ark! 

We then went down to Minnis Bay to get ice cream. Some brave souls were swimming in the shallows a long way out. Many more at their beach huts or on the sand. It was about 28C there yesterday! 

Packed the bags then drove down to Gatwick to stay the night before flying to Rome on Sunday morning. 

Friday - more shopping!

Woke early again today, but by the time we had breakfast and tidied up it was getting on in the morning, so we decided to go back to Westwood Cross again for some bits and pieces. We stopped at the medical center to pick up some eye drops for the conjunctivitis we seem to have picked up from somewhere! 

Carol and David needed to go to the supermarket too, so we went to Sainsbury’s. Their superstore has just about everything you need, so we started with early lunch then I found a couple of new tops that I needed for the cruise! David found a bargain! A new alarm clock for just £2.50! Roger bought some shorts and we also bought food for dinner. 

On the way home we stopped for a look at the Spitfire Museum at Manston, which used to be an air base in WW2. They have a Spitfire and a Hurricane in the museum along with lots of memorabilia from pilots who were based at Manston. Many of the street names around Birchington and the area are named after some of these people. 

It was turning out to be hot again so we went back to the Little Bungalow for a cool drink and a relax in the shade. 

Unfortunately, it was still really hot at night and was a little uncomfortable sleeping. Still we did get a better sleep and seem to be recovering a bit from the colds we brought with us. 

Whitstable and Herne Bay

Decided this morning to take a trip to Whitstable. I found a little fabric shop on line that looked like a nice place to go. 

The day was looking to be quite hot so we went before it got too unbearable. 

Whitstable is a quaint town on the coast west of Birchington. It is a mixture of old and new. Found a parking spot then walked to the Fabric shop. It was quite fun poking round in the wee shop. Not a huge range of patchwork fabrics but found some nice little pieces to make something for the grandchildren. 

Found a little cafe for a cold drink then headed towards Herne Bay. Another interesting little place obviously catering for the summer vacations. 

The Pier has a fun fair at then of it and lots of little food shops along the side. 

We had a sandwich for lunch at a nice place on the seafront. Roger had a battered fish sandwich and I had a prawn sandwich. Then we had a delicious ice cream.

Back to Birchington for a rest and greet Carol and David back from their trip to Derby.

Another present from Jack!

Yes, he must be so pleased to see us that he brought us a mouse at 4.30am yesterday morning. 

We managed to go back to sleep for a while then decided to go to Reculver, a few miles west of Birchington. There is an old abbey and Roman fort there as well as a small village and ice cream shop.

Reculver is on the coast which is a fairly shallow coastline but has cliffs raised up so it is not easy to access all the way along the coast. 

There are some spots for swimming but the water is quite muddy due to the shallow beach.

On the way back we went through a little village called St Nicholas at Wade. It has a lovely old church there and two old pubs - The Sun and The Bell. One is right across the road from the other!

We came back to Birchington and stopped for a nice lunch at The Quex Barn, bought some locally made bread and pickles then back for a rest at The Little Bungalow! 

Shopping Expedition

Woke early this morning as it was light really early and we had gone to bed early because we had a bit of sleep to catch up on!

Around 6am we decided to try to contact the family in NZ so we got onto FaceTime and were lucky to get both Suzanne and Max as well as David and Gayle. They were all in the car on the way home from work so they called back when they got home. The internet connection was not the fastest and it did disconnect a bit, but we were still able to talk to them and catch them up with the flights etc. Eilidh asked why we were still in bed when it was nearly time for dinner! Had to explain that it was morning where we were.

Jack, the cat, decided to bring us a welcome present. He had caught a bird and was sitting on the grass guarding it and looking at us. It was a reasonably big one too, but unfortunately was past its last legs and into the bin it had to go!

After a leisurely breakfast we took the car over to Westwood Cross shopping centre near Broadstairs, about 7 miles from Birchington. First stop was a pharmacy to stock up on cold remedies - we have both got coughs and colds so it was good to get something to help. Next was coffee at Costa. Have to say the quality of the coffee here is getting better but the service is really slow as it seems the one person at the counter does everything so you have to order, pay and wait until she makes the coffee. Meanwhile the queue was heading back out the door! Hobbycraft was next and I spent a bit of time wandering round both floors, finding bits and pieces to keep me happy. Roger always likes bookshops so we had to visit Waterstone’s as well as WH Smith. Marks and Spencer’s was next and managed to get the bits I needed as well as some stuff for Max, ordered by Suzanne! Have crossed all that off the shopping list now so anything more is extra! Found some nice summer tops but managed to refrain from purchasing them.

Ha d lunch at M&S then headed back to Birchington where we rested for the afternoon.

Big excitement in the evening in between nodding off - England beat Columbia at the World Cup so there will be a lot of relief around that they have made it through to the next round! 

Finally - after lots of delays

Well, we finally made it to our destination! A chapter of delays and frustrations.

First, our flight from Christchurch to Auckland was delayed by 20 minutes. Fortunately we had plenty of time to get the next flight, because it too was delayed by over an hour! They had to spray the plane for some reason and it was late getting back to the gate we had to leave from. The gate was away in the back of the airport and it took minutes to walk there. Finally boarded about 11pm and got away. They did make up some time in the air but we were still about half an hour late getting into Los Angeles.

Even though we were doing a direct transit back onto the same plane, we still had to go through immigration at the airport. So they have this wonderful electronic system for immigration then you still have to go to a person to get your passport stamped and fingerprints taken again (for Roger). After spending nearly an hour in lines, some of the transit passengers started to get anxious that the onward leg of the journey would be delayed even more because  of the length of the queues for immigration, the AirNZ staff decided to create a special line just for the flight. That being done, we still had to walk miles around the airport to get back to the departure gate. Managed to find a duty free shop, but they didn’t even take Apple Pay! Rather behind the times...

Arrived at Heathrow around 12.30pm only 45 minutes later than expected so made good time. Luggage arrived too which was even better!

Immigration was a breeze compared to LA and customs was a walk through with no officers to be seen.

We got a shuttle to the car company and it took ages for the man to process the car - he had trouble with the credit card and had to start all over again. Finally, we got on the road by 3 pm and found our way to the M25,which lived up to its name as the biggest car park in the world. Lots of stops and very slow at times. Thank goodness we were able to get off and use the M26 and M20 towards Canterbury and arrived in Birchington just after 5pm, which is just about when the iPad app said we would get here.

Carol and David had left us food for a meal and a well stocked fridge so we have been very spoilt. Bed early and hopefully a good night’s sleep!

All packed and ready to go!

At last, the day has arrived! The bags are packed and we are almost ready to go.
The cat is safe in her little house at the cattery and the housework has been done.

We are off to visit friends in the UK and take a cruise in the Western Mediterranean, visiting the South of France, Spain, Sardinia and Corsica.

I will try to keep the blog updated as we go, but this is dependent on accessing wifi to load up the pages.

Keep warm, our NZ friends and try not to be too envious as we fly into the sweltering heat of the UK at the moment!

Update:

First flight to Auckland is delayed but we should still have plenty of time to get the international connection!