Friends, Family and fun times in the UK
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2010
1
6
Trip End
Dec 31, 2010
Portishead, England, United Kingdom
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
£77.00 and 2 hours later, we arrived in the very familiar city of Bristol. There’s been quite a bit of development since our last visit, including an outdoor shopping mall with all the great brands: Next, Topshop, Oasis, Warehouse, H&M, Radley, House of Fraser, Jane Norman and Ted Baker – just to name a few of Nikki’s favourites. Other than that, it felt like the home we had left six years earlier.
We stayed in Portishead for a week and took up daily food shopping at Waitrose (a habit that must not be continued if we plan to have the funds to continue travelling).
A days driving took us from Portishead, via the Exmoor National Park to Padstow on the A39 (however peering in the windows of Rick Stein’s restaurant was all we could afford to do). Then back on the road via the A38 & A385 to Totnes. Nikki boarded a yacht for the first time since the sailing adventures of last year (a big deal, even if the boat was parked in a dry dock). A fabulous meal at the Steam Packet Inn, and a chilly night’s sleep on the boat.
Another day of driving led us from Totnes to Bristol on the A38 & M5, and onto Haverfordwest, Wales on the M4 & A40 (not forgetting to pay the Severn Bridge toll of £10.90 ... ouch). We had a couple of days exploring the Pembrokeshire Coast, including Broad Haven, Milford Haven and Tenby; some great food and the best cups of tea since leaving New Zealand.
Then armed with a list of must see villages, we made our way back to England via the M4 (luckily without the Severn Bridge toll this time), and onto the A46 travelling via Tetbury (where Prince Charles lives), Cirencester, Bidbury, Burford and onto Oxford. Then Thame, Aylesbury, Dunstable and onto Harpenden (think Cambridge in NZ, with horses, designer gumboots, and people rich enough to wear mismatched colours and get away with it). A couple of days to see Harpenden, experience their fantastic farmers market, enjoy home baked muffins, the Saturday night curry, and a great home-made Sunday roast.
And back to Portishead.
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A BIG thank-you to Carl, Katina and Curtis, in Portishead, Murray, Jenny, Claire, Dicky and Jessie in Haverford West, and to Melissa and Alex in Harpenden. We had a great time catching-up with you all, and look forward to seeing you again soon.
