Crossing the country in a day... and only a few photos... for a change.
Bye to Liverpool and hello to Headcorn in Kent. We did that long drive today from the mid north west to the south east of England. With breaks and to find our intended destination, it took us more than 6 hours. Aah, the joys of traffic around London!
But first, there were a few new faces at breakfast this morning at The Old Dairy. One bloke in particular reminded Hans of... May we say it... Fat Bastard from Austin Powers Goldmember movie. He was... say, big, fully dressed in black, both arms filled with tats and... had fallen out of his bed this morning and managed to lose a lens from his specs while at the same time got a nasty open wound on his head probably due to landing on his glasses. He could not see to fix his glasses so Di had to help him get the glass back into his specs and also fix the frame. He could talk though... Right...
We drove and drove on motorways that were not interesting and where the scenery was obscured by fog/smog most of the way. Morning tea was from our own supplies and thermos and we had a late lunch at a service stop somewhere along M1 north of London. Hate to say it, but we had American fast food - Burger King - convenient but not cheap. Don't do the $A conversion on a £7 "meal deal".
Here is Di checking out whether there was any wifi available. Or is she perhaps playing Solitaire... Or maybe just using the phone as a mirror...(note from Di - far more practical...checking maps). OK... Hans note.
You may ask where we went. The blue dot below is where the village of Headcorn is and we are planning to stay here 4 nights. It is equal distance from either Canterbury (northeast) or Dover (almost directly east). Sounds like a day trip...
We arrived around 4pm and found the Liley home called Hollyberry surprisingly easily considering it has no street number only the name of the home.
John Liley, who is Di's mum's cousin and his son-in-law Richard were home but Ruth, John's daughter, had to make a work trip up to Liverpool. So, we went one way and she went the opposite, although by train.
The house they live in is a large place undergoing renovations, both inside and outside, but seems to have plenty of space. Will, who is John's grandson from his other daughter, Helen, is staying here too.
The afternoon passed quickly with tea with John, and chat and more chat followed. Very nice. Richard was working.
The Lileys have two dogs. This is Max, a cross of St Bernhard and German Shephard.
And this is Chloe who is a West Highland terrier.
Both dogs were a bit suspicious about us when we arrived, but we managed to soon win Max over. Chloe is definitely John's dog and was not that easy to get close to, she was very protective of him.
We went out for dinner around 8pm and wandered a few streets to the local High Street of Headcorn which has a nice pub (called the George and Dragon, a common pub name it seems, and Will works there) and some other good restaurant selections.
Indian food was agreed and the Krishna restaurant was pretty busy and lively. The food was good too. No photos as we were caught up in a nice dinner and conversation. Sorry.
Back to Hollyberry, the Liley's home for a nightcap...west Scottish Whisky from Islay. John likes his Whisky "peaty", which is quite different than the Speyside whiskies we tried in Scotland. Di described John's taste as more like Whisky that was made in a fireplace but she seemed to have no trouble drinking her tot. Does she look just a little bit unsteady on her feet...?
Chloe was still guarding John...
Time was now after 11pm and we were ready for bed.
John had kindly offered his bedroom on the ground floor to us meaning that we had our own wing so to say. John himself was sleeping upstairs somewhere. But now it is definitely good night.
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