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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
First couple of days in UK and guess where we spent them, in the shops of course. Joan is really enjoying the sight of lots of shops with such a wide choice of clothing. Guess this is going to hurt!Yesterday we spent in Ashford, at the big new shopping centre and today we had a trip to Rye to visit one of her favourite shops. Jill was with us, as she was not working today, so she enjoyed the experience of somebody to go shopping with. We all went to Camber Sands on the way home, because Joan and I used to live there many years ago and wanted to see what changes had taken place. We visited the Green Owl pub and were pleasantly surprised to find that our old friends, Paul and Tina, still kept the best pub in the village. We must go there to eat before we come back to Cyprus.
Today was the New Romney annual summer Carnival and true to form the weather has turned warm again, in fact it was almost as warm as Cyprus.The carnival started with the traditional parade and a carnival queen of course. We spent most of the day watching the many artists and wandering around the many stalls. There were trampoline clowns, musicians, a display of sheep dogs herding ducks instead of sheep and later in the afternoon the traditional English "Morris Dancers". We had all spent an hour in the Prince of Wales pub around lunch time, necessary as it was so very hot, at least that was our excuse; and there we had met the Morris Dancers singing their traditional songs and enjoying the local hospitality. By the time they gave their final performance, around 4 p.m., they were in great form.Amongst the many stalls, raising money for many charities and good causes, there were bouncy castles, fire engines and an old fashioned archery competition for the kids. All in all a great day for all.Later in the evening we had all been invited to a 80th birthday party. Reg and Brenda, friends from our New Romney days, had organised a surprise party for Rene, Reg's mother. She was completely taken unawares as she thought that she was just going around to the Ship Inn for a quiet drink. There were some 60+ people there and somehow they had all kept the whole thing very secret, she was totally unaware of all the organisation that had been going on for weeks. We all had a great time and managed to keep the pub going until after closing time.
Yesterday, Monday, we had driven up to Lincolnshire, to stay with Dennis and Linda for a few days. The weather continued to be full up summer, so we decided to go to Cleethorpes for the day and sit on the beach and maybe go for a swim. The sun shone all day, it was very warm but the wind made the sand blow horizontally across the beach, so we forgot all about sitting on the beach and walked the full length of the promenade, people watching. Around lunchtime we stopped for a few beers and then later visited a traditional "chippy". Haddock, chips and mushy peas, delicious; couldn't resist a chip butty.
Yesterday we had spent the afternoon at a boot fair, it was incredibly hot and in the evening, Dennis and Linda had invited some of their friends around for a drink. We had all been able to sit out, until way after 11 p.m. and only went to bed when Dennis ran out of whisky.
Today Linda was working at a local hairdressers so the three of us went into Lincoln to do some shopping. There are still things on Joan's list that we have not yet bought. The main reason for going into Lincoln was because of a recently opened Catalogue Outlet shop that Dennis had told us about. We were very lucky to spot a really good priced DVD player, something we had been promising to buy for some time, lets just hope that we can get it into the suitcase. We feel sure that it will be really good for watching films during the winter months and we will also be able to download all the photos off this computer, onto CD's and look at them on the big screen.
Many years ago, Joan had worked in Kuwait at the Oil Company, training staff on computer equipment. During that time she had made some friends with other ex-pats working there. She had remembered that one of them, Tony Hindmarsh, lived around the Lincoln area, so, on an off chance, had searched out the name in the telephone book. Surprise, surprise, he and his wife still lived in the area, so Dennis and I left them sitting in a pub garden reminiscing about the old days and looking at old photos and we went off to B & Q, something else that I miss, a traditional D.I.Y. shop.
Back to New Romney last night and today we had organised a day trip to Calais. Whilst we had been living in Cyprus, we had kept up the English Lottery, with Les & Jill. As we had won the magnificent sum of £30 between us, during the last 12 months, we had spent £29 on a day trip ticket, maybe we can spend the last £1 on a scratch card, who knows.
It was more than a year since we had last travelled to Calais together, a trip that we had always enjoyed on many occasions, a little shopping around the French Hypermarkets and a good lunch in a French cafe, out in the fresh air, watching the world go by.
Before lunch we had walked down to the beach, watched people bungee jumping from the top of a crane and joined hundreds of others down at the waters edge. It is only when you are there that you realise just how many boats and highspeed ferries cross every hour.
Dennis & Linda had followed us back down from Lincoln on Friday and they had organised a sort of reunion lunch with some old friends from our Dover days. We all met up at the Botolph's Bridge Inn for Sunday lunch, 10 of us in total and as always a great deal of fun and laughter. It is days like this that make the whole trip worth while, a chance to meet up with old friends, some of whom have been to visit us already and others who have made plans for next year.
When we got back to Les & Jill's after lunch, out came the grandchildren's swimming pool. Les said that it was the best he could do and we would just have to make do until we went home again. Seems to have kept Joan amused anyway and it couldn't have been the wine, as she had been driving today.
Today we got the 9 a.m. ferry across the channel and drove up to our friends in Holland. Wow was it hot!
It had been 14 months since we last saw Co & Henny, so this is really catch up time on all the news from Holland. It was such a beautiful evening, that we all four went out on their boat for an evening around the lake. They have organised a five day trip, from Thursday to next week Monday, so weather permitting, expect some photos of Dutch canals and lakes.
When Joan and I lived in Holland, we watched our friend's son and daughter grow up, eventually get married and have children of their own and a total of 4 godchildren for us. One of these, Kitty's oldest son called Jordy, had together with 270 other village kids, from the age of 6 to 12, been building huts from old timber pallets with the aid of hammer and nails and not some little help from a team of willing volunteers. This "Timber Village" was completed tonight and parents etc. were allowed to visit and look at the work. Jordy and his two friends were very proud of their hut and tonight after a concert given by the children, they were all going to sleep over in their own huts. Lets all hope that it does not rain tonight.
Today we set off on the boat trip that we had been hoping for. We are so very lucky that Co and Henny still have this boat and enjoy using it as much as we always did, during our days in Holland. We had jointly planned a circular route which would take us north to Amsterdam around the beautiful Vecht canal, through the middle of Utrecht and then back via Gouda to the lake at Nieuwkoop.We set off around 10.30 a.m. and it wasn't long before we came to our first bridge and lock, here you have to pay for the service by giving clog money. We cruised very leisurely through some lovely waterways and I came across this traditional windmill, just had to include a picture, to prove to you all that we were really in Holland.Early afternoon we skirted the edge of Amsterdam and then tied up for the night in the village of Weesp.
Today we cruised the Vecht canal, in the direction of Utrecht. We stopped briefly in the village of Loenen for some shopping and then went through the locks to the lake at Loosdrecht, were we found a nice peaceful grass bank mooring for the night. Just the place for a few quiet beers and a BBQ. We can't believe that the weather is holding up so well, in what is traditionally a wet country.
We came back out through the lock this morning and continued down the Vecht canal until we reached the old town of Utrecht. Not for nothing do some people refer to Utrecht as the Venice of the north. The canal runs right through the middle of the told town, many bars and restaurants have been set up along the canal sides and some of the old houses have been preserved well to keep the traditional look, long may it stay that way, it really is so beautiful.
Once we had left Utrecht we found ourselves another delightful mooring for the night and then walked into Ijsellstein town in the evening for a really good meal in the town square restaurant.
In fact it turned out that our mooring was not quite so good. We were too near to the centre of town and when the local disco let everyone out at 1 a.m., we suffered from the traditional shouting that youngsters have to make on their way home. Oh well, maybe if we had been 40 years younger we might have joined in.
A very short cruise today, we were way ahead of schedule, so after only two hours we moored up again, this time in Oudewater a traditional village of canals and water side houses. We all walked into town and sat atop a canal bridge to sample the beers from a local terrace restaurant. This village has a tradition of being a witches village in olden times, there is even a museum in their honour, complete with dunking stool and traditional transport.
Last day on the boat today. We left Oudewater around 9.30 and had to go around Gouda as there were some works going on in the locks and we eventually made it back to the Nieuwkoop locks and to home harbour around 2.30 p.m. A most enjoyable trip and it may be some time before Joan and I get this chance again, so now we will have to live off the memories.
We just have one more day in Holland and then its back to the UK and Jill and Les for the last week of our holiday.
This weekend had been a UK bank holiday, Les and Jill had organised a Sunday BBQ with friends who wanted to get together before we left. I had been feeling a little under the weather, as the saying goes, since Friday evening, but enjoyed the afternoon and evening immensely. However early Monday morning, I had the most excruciating stomach ache and a very high temperature. By mid afternoon it was really bad and Joan called the emergency Doctor in. Result, I was in Kings B ward of the Ashford Hospital by early evening and there I was to remain for the next 8 days.
So now you know why this website has been a little backward in coming forward for the last few weeks, but all's well that ends well and after a little rescheduling, we were finally back home on 4th September.
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