Day 47 to 56

Day 47 to 56

Day 47: Saturday 6^th August

This morning we actually got a sleep in which was absolutely fabulous.

We met Vaughan’s girlfriend Amie, who is lovely and the four of us set of at about lunch time to a place called Chichester. Chi is a town about 10 minutes from Vaughan’s town, Bognor Regis and it’s town centre is much larger due to the fact that it has more shops. So, we spent the afternoon wondering around the town and window shopping. When it started to get cold and windy we headed home so we could get ready to go out!

After dinner, the four of us (being Vaughan, Amie, Katherine and myself) headed to a pub in a nearby town where we met a whole group of Vaughan’s friends. We spent the evening going on a pub crawl with them which consisted of going to three different pubs in the area. Katherine and I the whole evening were very taken by all the pubs as they were all very cute – basically they were typical old English pubs. At the second pub, Vaughan and Amie headed home and as his mates had convinced Katherine and I to continue out with them, we headed to the third pub. Well… the last pub wasn’t really a pub. It was a pub but then had a dance floor in the middle of it and yes of course Katherine and I danced for a couple of hours. Eventually Vaughan’s friends were lovely enough to walk Katherine and I all the way back to Vaughan’s.

Day 48: Sunday 7^th August

Today, Katherine and I wondered around the centre of Bognor Regis (Vaughan’s town) with Elliot who is the middle brother within Vaughan’s family (Vaughan is the eldest). He was being quite lovely by showing us all around the town, around the town fair and even took us food shopping before eventually leaving us to run his own errands. Katherine and I then just continued our exploration of Bognor and went and had a look at the fair (which to be honest, wasn’t that interesting). We also we down to the beach which was rather windy and as you can see (photo below) it was all rocky. It reminded us of the beach in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

That evening we had a really quiet evening. We just made pasta and watched the second Lord of the Rings.

Day 49: Monday 8^th August

Today was a quiet day as Katherine and I slept in until about lunch time and then eventually we did a big shop at Tescos (the local supermarket.. which is the coolest supermarket ever!).

When we got back Katherine and I made short bread from scratch (which was delicious) and started on dinner. We made chicken tortillas with cheese and fresh salad stuff – which was dearly appreciated by our bodies I am sure.

That night we went to the Southdown, which is one of the local pubs with some of Vaughan and Amie’s friends. The evening was really fun. We drank Pimms with lemonade (traditional English drink) and met some really nice people and show who not all would consider to be nice.

Amie’s photos of Katherine and I at the pub

We eventually walked home with Vaughan, Amie and some of their friends when the pub closed.

Day 50: Tuesday 9^th August

On this bright and sunny day, Katherine, Vaughan, Amie and I all went to Brighton. For those of you who don’t know, Brighton is one of the main cities on the south coast of England.

It was about an hours drive from lovely Bognor and we parked in the centre so we could walk to everything. We started on the main road where we went for a shop – I bought a pair of shorts and a dress and then we headed to a Pizza place where Vaughan could get an unlimited Pizza buffet. Finally, once he had finished stuffing himself with pizza, we went to the main pier. It was pretty cool as it went quite a way away over the water and all along it were food places and various shops. Finally, at the end of the pier there was a carnival. 

After discovering that Vaughan had a slight fear of rollercoasters, we decided that we all must go on one. It was not that big but it still had a loop d loop! It was most definitely worth the whole four pounds!

We ended up leaving Brighton early because there was a riot warning put up for the area. Apparently, there was plans (set up over facebook etc) for everyone to meet up at Brighton’s skate park which was just near where we had parked the car. So, as you can imagine… we left ASAP!

That night Katherine and I made honey and soy chicken and potato bake with a salad for dinner. We haven;’t really worked out how much food is actually required for two or four people… we always and I mean always make too much food. Luckily, Amie’s sister and her girlfriend were at Vaughan’s so we also fed them! It was a delicious meal and it terribly reminded me of home.

Day 51: Wednesday 10^th August

Unfortunately, I woke up rather sick this morning and so today was incredibly boring and hence I won’t bore you with all the details. I’ll sum it up for you! We watched movie after movie and Katherine baked blueberry muffins!

Day 52: Thursday 11^th August

Once again I was sick so I went to the doctor which was an interesting experience. I basically told the doctor what was wrong and then she asked me what I wanted to do to fix it… I thought it was rather bizarre.

I spent the afternoon sleeping instead of watching Troy (which was on the television) and then that evening after dinner we just watched movies which was really nice and meant that I could kind of recover.

Day 53: Friday 12^th August

Today I was still feeling pretty crook so we just hung around the area. We went to this windy hill to take the dog for a walk. The view was absolutely beautiful but it ended up raining. So, in the end we went back home and I napped.

That evening we went to the Fox (another cute local pub) to catch up with some of Vaughan’s mates. Eventually, Martin (Vaughan’s dad) picked us up pretty early and we went to bed.

Day 54: Saturday 13^th August

Today was our last full day in Bognor and luckily, I was feeling a little better.

At about lunch time we headed of to Portsmouth which is another major town in the South and as the name suggest it’s a Port Town! It is actually really pretty on the coast. It has these really old walls which lined the majority of the coast lines. The walls probably at one point were guarding the city from attack.

We spent the afternoon wondering up and down their harbour and looking in their main shops. We then went to the warship museum but instead of going inside, as it was ridiculously expensive, we wondered up and down the wharves and looked at the boats from the outside. It was pretty cool, as they had boats from the 1800’s and boats that had survived both World Wars.

Photo of the Boat from the 1800's

So, as we were flying down the motor way on the way home, suddenly, something from the bottom of the car dropped onto the road and was scraping the road whilst we were driving. We pulled over and Vaughan got out to have a look and reported that “the exhaust pipe had departed the vehicle”. Basically, all that could have gone wrong did. Vaughan did have road side assistance cover and so had to join over the phone which took forever. 200 metres behind us there was another accident (I promise you it had nothing to do with us!) with policemen and ambulances. So whilst we sat waiting for roadside assistance, the highway was closed twice and as well, there was an accident ahead of us which also resulted in the road being closed. Finally, the assistance came after we had been waiting for nearly an hour and fixed the exhaust and then we were off on our way!

That night, we went to the pub again with a lot of Vaughan’s mates. It was nice to say goodbye and have our last chat before we got picked up rather early and went to bed.

Day 55: Sunday 14^th August

So, we packed as soon as we got up which was exciting because it means that we were moving onto our next place but at the same time sad because we were leaving Vaughan and his friends and family.

After a yummy lunch of pasta and fresh cherry tomatos, we headed off to the train station to catch a train to Bath! The train took only two and a half hours and my goodness, Bath is absolutely gorgeous. It is just so picturesque.

Photos of Bath

  

Our hostel was right in the centre of the town and so it meant that we could walk to everything. After we checked in, we wondered around to have a quick look at the town and got incredibly lost which was kind of fun.

Eventually we went and got Thai for dinner which was lovely and then finished the evening off by trying (and failing) to organise the next part of our trip.

Day 56: Monday 15^th August

Today, we had our first big English breakfast this morning which was well overdue. It was huge with egg, bacon, sausages, toast and hash browns – delicious!!!  And then we went and had a look at the big department store nearby where Katherine bought a lovely jumper, which she calls a “Grandma Jumper”.

Photo of the Jumper

Then, at 11:30 we went and met Hugh Bortolotti at the station! It was really lovely to see Hugh – as most of you would know he has been working over in England in a boarding school… and yes… he does have a slight accent at times J!

Hugh’s Pretty Face

We spent the morning at the Roman Baths which were pretty cool. There isn’t really much to say about them except that they were built by the Romans (go figure) and that they were used by those who could afford them and kept by those who couldn’t. There are heaps of ruins there that show the structures of their ancient buildings and some of the baths still bubble as a result of volcanic activity.

Photo of the Baths

Photo of the Ruins

After the Roman Baths, we went for a wonder around the town. We got English fudge, which was unbelievably good and then we went to the Jane Austen Museum. As everyone would know, Katherine absolutely adores Jane Austen’s works and most works from that period, so Hugh and I being wonderful friends went to the museum with her.

It basically gave us an outline of her life, and had examples of costumes from the movies or clothes that would have been worn in the era. The reason the museum is in Bath is because Jane actually lived in Bath for five years after her father died, although they are said to be some of the unhappiest years of her life. She based two novel’s in Bath 1. Northanger Abbey and 2.Persuasion. The first was written earlier in her life and shows her  happy in Bath as she used to holiday there but the second shows how unhappy she was with the superficiality of Bath she discovered when she lived there.

Jane Austen Centre photo

That afternoon, we got incredibly lost (once again) wondering the streets of Bath. But we reckon that it was a good thing, because it meant that we got to see the outskirts of the centre where the locals generally hang out. Eventually, when we got back into town, Katherine and I had a tea with tea sandwiches and scones (very English) whilst Hugh had a steak sandwich (very manly!!!). We finished the afternoon by having a pitcher (jug) of pimms and lemonade at the pub before walking Hugh back to the station.

Katherine and I ate dinner out and then went to a quiet bar where we enjoyed the luxuries of cocktails before heading to bed back at the hostel.

Cheerio All!

I shall update with details about Edinburgh, Scotland and Dublin, Ireland!

Lots of Love

Cait and Katherine