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Back in the UK
Spending a month back in the United Kingdom saw a marked difference in my health. It wasn’t until I stopped to reflect on how much improved I felt physically when I was preparing to leave once again on 26 August compared to when I arrived exactly once month previously. Don’t get me wrong, in Asia at the time, I didn’t feel it was imperative that I return to the UK. When I left Singapore I was certainly off my food and fatigued very quickly. But nothing was that bad that I couldn’t manage if I had to continue traveling. I was just a bit fed dup with being on the move constantly, searching for cheap hotels and being hassled by touts and hawkers. To tell the truth I was just lazy with having to carry my grossly overweight pack. I now had the opportunity to shed all those useless items of clothing you pack but never need and all the presents and souvenirs I had accumulated.
I arrived in England at the height of the British summer. The days were long and for the most part, pleasantly warm. A welcome relief from the stifling hot Asia. Whilst there, however, there was one week when I felt the monsoon rains had followed me half way around the world. Heavy rains swept across the UK and on into Europe causing the infamous floods in its path (especially around the beautiful medieval city of Prague in the Czech Republic).
Carol was putting me up in her house in North London. When I arrived at my temporary home I emptied my backpack of its entire contents at the first opportunity. It was the first time in five months I had the chance to do this. Imagine finding 4-month old dirty underwear at the bottom if your pack – Phew! Everything got a much needed proper wash.
I was amazed how much junk I had collected, old guide books, souvenirs, gifts. Time for some drastic measures. This stuff plus some stuff that had remained in the UK from when I lived there last year, had to be packed up. It all filled three tea cartons and was shipped back to South Africa. I had to fork out some of my precious English pounds for the shipment.
I really enjoyed catching up with all my old friends back in London. I surprised my old work collogues by turning up at their favorite Friday lunch time watering hole in the city. Imagine their surprise at seeing me, none of them had any idea I was back in town. Too much beer on a Friday afternoon does not go down well when you’re not used to it. How did I manage regularly drinking with those guys last year?
I also looked up my old housemates. A good bunch of Kiwi travelers – with a few token Australians to make up the number. The aforementioned Southern Hemisphere Tri-Nations rugby tournament was showing every Saturday. So what better reason to get together catch up and watch some real sport. So much better than that World Cup soccer stuff, even if it meant getting up at the crack of dawn for the telecast of some games from Australia.
My Mum and Dad spend English summers in the UK – in winter they fly off to warmer climes in South Africa. They have a small business in the sea-side town of Hastings, of 1066 and Battle of fame. I caught the train down to the south coast and visited with them for a few days, very relaxing. I had a chance to thank my Dad in person for all his help during my Dengue Fever crisis.
My parents were also guinea pigs to my new found Thai culinary skills, willing or unwillingly I am not too sure, I didn’t bother to ask for fear of a negative response. I can now pronounce, in my opinion, that Thai Cooking classes taken in Thailand actually do work once you return home. It’s all a matter of having the correct ingredients and preparation. The big supermarket chains do stock a lot of the essential exotic ingredients and there are many Asian grocers, especially in North London. In no time I was whipping up Tom Yam soup, Panang Curries and chicken with cashew nuts. The western pallet is very sensitive to the copious amount of chili used in Thai food so I had to adjust for their tastes quite a bit.
A big added bonus was that at the same time I arrived in England my 8-year old daughter was holidaying from South Africa with the ex-wife. I got to hang out a lot with her down at the coast and in London. We had a lot of fun together. I am very lucky that although over the past year I have been away and not seen much of my kids I remain very close with them. This time Savannah and I spent together reminded me of this and I love Stephen-John and Savannah very much. So much so that my thoughts are now tending to a more settled life in Cape Town so I can spend more time with them.
On one glorious Saturday the sun was out in full force. We all spent the day in London’s largest open space, Hyde Park. This is a very English thing to do as the British weather can be very fickle. When it does play along the Poms head for their parks in droves. It was a very pleasant day. Many people were out enjoying the sunshine, jogging, horse riding or just sunbathing on the green lawns. In the middle of Hyde Park in the Serpentine Lake, the Lido is enclosed with buoys and you are able swim, a very welcome relief from the heat.
Always mindful about how quickly one can spend money in London, especially with no funds coming in, I neglected a lot of my old drinking haunts. I did, however, head on down to the Walkabout Inn in Shepherds Bush for a Tri-Nations match between South Africa and New Zealand. It was pouring with rain that day and this hopping between continents has confused me somewhat. I got the kick-off time in Durban completely wrong and missed the entire first half. The Springboks played well and held the All Blacks for much of the game but were beaten by a try scored in the last minute, no surprise there then. I don’t feel so bad because the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in much the same way the previous weekend.
So all too soon it came time to pack up the old rucksack, grab the airline tickets and head on out to Heathrow airport. Like I said I felt 100% improved and my pack was very much slimmed down. All the more space to put the next batch of souvenirs in.
The plan is to “do” Australia, with a quick side trip in Indonesia on the way. There is also New Zealand, Mexico and the States on the itinerary but my thoughts are already on returning home to South Africa and I am mindful of wanting to be there by Christmas.
Watch this space.
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