The Bernard Files.: Leaving England for a while...

Well,

I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front for the past few days, mainly because I have had a bit of a break in between school visits.

After a few days in London spending time with Sam, I was on a train on Monday to Exeter, down on the south-east corner of England.

Upon getting here I just crashed in my digs as I was fairly tired after a fair bit of walking today. I was due to pick up a hire car the next day so I went for a walk to see how long it would take to get there. Just as well that I did this because the instructions I got from Google Maps sent me down some private roads and no entry streets. It took me over an hour to get there, but only 30 mins to get back as I now knew my way.

My first impressions were 'It's got to be haunted", and I was casting furtive glances up to the top window, expecting to see someone who has been locked away in the attic for the past 40 years!!

The next morning I was up early for the stroll across town to get my hire car. Today I was going to test myself and drive down to Plymouth and Torquay, the so called "Riviera of England", and my goal was to get some good old fashioned English Fish and Chips.

Where else could be better to eat them than in a traditional English seaside town?

Exeter Cathedral

The river that runs through Exeter

Rows of homes like this everywhere, incredibly narrow.

My street in Exeter

Just around the corner. An omen for 2016???

Out comes the umbrella.

The car that I got was a ripper, a little Ford Focus. The thing that surprises me here when compared to Australia, is that most cars on the road are manuals. Even when walking along the streets and having a quick glance in car windows, automatics are rather rare.

The drive down to the coast could not have been bleaker. Heavy rain all the way and I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of my decision.

However, upon entering Plymouth, the weather didn't exactly change into anything resembling glorious, but at least it stopped raining and I got glimpses of blue sky.

I just followed the traffic and eventually found myself down on the foreshore near a big marina. The streets were extremely narrow, but full of incredibly old and quaint buildings.

I ventured into one little shop and got a coffee, but as I was chatting to the lady so much she stuffed it up twice, and by the third attempt I shut up a bit so that she could concentrate. As it was so cold outside, the wait was worth it.

I just strolled up the streets and found myself at the high point in the city where the lighthouse is, great views out across the Channel (not that I could see far due to the weather)

Below me was what could be described as a swimming venue, very similar to the one at the Geelong Foreshore. An enclosed sea water pool, and around the corner another swimming spot that just faced the open water.

Now I know that Winter has just finished here and no-one with a sensible mind would be swimming at the moment, but just check out the photos below. Even on a nice day, any sort of wave action could be rather disastrous.

Entering the Plymouth foreshore.

My wheels, a great car.

So hard to choose which streets to take photos of. Imagine the history here!

In front of the lighthouse, perhaps I should have stepped to one side a bit more!

They swim down there

And there.

And there!

Good old English Fish and Chips.

After the joy of eating the most delicious cod, chips and gravy on a very cold jetty, it was back in the car and on the way to Torquay. For all I know, the fish and chips could have been life threatening, but perhaps it was the environment that I was in, added to the anticipation that made them so enjoyable. I'm sure if I had them when I was up in the north of England last week, or in London, or even here in Exeter, the impact and memory just would not have been the same.

Driving to Torquay was a real joy. After turning off the main highway I was now on small lanes and roads that twisted and turned endlessly. A couple of times I missed a turn, but had to drive quite a way down the road just to find a place to turn around as these roads are so narrow, and most had hedges either side. Pity the poor motorists travelling behind me as I was just taking my time, enjoying the scenery and trying not to sideswipe other cars as they went past me in the other direction.

If you get stuck behind a truck on one of these roads there is no way at all to overtake.

So, coming into Torquay, the thing that struck me immediately were the number of old style hotels on the cliffs overlooking the beach area. And when I say 'beach', don't for one moment think of Australian beaches, these are very basic.

Torquay Beach

The steps down to the beach.

The view from thE pier back to the beach.

Torquay

Torquay. How the wind didn't blow me over the edge is a miracle!!

Rugged up on the English Riviera.

Just couldn't decide which one to do.

That explains why it was so warm today!

Normally wouldn't go there, today I did.

They were bad before I left, they'll only get worse.

And one for a family from home!!

After enjoying the most beautiful hot chocolate (once again on a cold and extremely windy pier) I was ready to move again. Speaking of the hot chocolate, I was beyond caring what the bloke who made it put in it. We were having a great chat and he kept asking "Want this? How about this?" to which I kept replying ""You're the man, you put in what you think I need". So he did.

Thankfully he left out the marshmallows and M&M's, but this is the first hot chocolate I've had that is topped with sprinkles!

The way home to Exeter had me wandering the country lanes again and soon I was back on the main freeway. I even managed to make the right turns and got back to my digs safely.

On Wednesday I was off to Broadclyst Primary School, a visit I have really been looking forward to.

Once I got my ipad sorted and on my lap (highly naughty I know!!) I was able to follow the magic blue dot and navigate myself through a myriad of twists and turns through Exeter.

The staff room.

Some plain weather.

a bit of coolness on the ground.

With Jonathan Bishop, the Principal.

Broadclyst Primary School.

Love the roof!

I came away from Broadclyst with many questions still in my mind, and will need a few days to really think through them carefully.

When returning the hire car, the bloke on the desk asked if I'd refilled it. When I told him that the girl who hired it out told me that I could return it without refilling it and they'd just charge me for what I'd used. He asked if I was told what this would cost, and of course, I hadn't. He then told me that if they refilled it the cost per litre would be more than 3 pounds!! Did I want to go back out and fill it myself? YES!!! (At 1 pound a litre, that's a big difference!!

So, last night was washing night, and it was lucky that there is a laundromat a few doors down from my digs. Clean clothes for the next leg of my trip!!

It was up early this morning as the owners of the B&B where I'm staying have a habit of changing the breakfast time from the advertised 7.30-9.30.

Today it was only going to be 7.30-8.30 which didn't bother me as I'm an early riser anyway.

The past two mornings I've lived carefully and sensibly and opted for the juice and a bowl of cereal, managing to leave the table contented.

This morning, as it was my last day here I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for the full English cooked breakfast (When in England....as they say)

I was not let down at all, and after waddling back up to my room it was a brisk walk around a few streets just to squeeze in a bit of exercise, as I'll be sitting a fair bit today.

Today I'll get back into London this afternoon sometime then it's off to the airport hotel in readiness for my flight to Helsinki in the morning

I checked the temperature at home and compared it to Helsinki for the next week. Honestly, I think I'll opt for the cooler days, as it means it's so much easier to sleep at night. I've told teachers over here about the weather Bendigo is having and they just cannot believe it.