So long and thanks for all the fish

Reality is ultimately only a state of mind. I learnt a long time ago that your environment does not affect your reality- you are just you in a different place. But a different environment can help you to better appreciate your reality. I arrived in London in 2007 with a clear idea of who I was, after years of trying to figure that out. My ideas about other people and the world as a whole were not quite as developed, but I had some idea. The last last two years have helped to resolve this point. With that the whole big picture has zoomed into focus. Or at least that is how it seems. The goal now is to somehow mesh my reality with that of the rest of the world. I will think about that one while I am in Thailand. The thing that made London tolerable in the worst times was to always be myself. Not a revolutionary idea, you might think. The last few days have brought home to me the consequences of not being myself...
I have had a lovely few days with Dad, who arrived in London last Wednesday. We had days out to the British Museum and Greenwich. Dad also patiently helped with packing. And it was great catching up with Taylor and Ernie.
Ben gave me a spontaneous hug before I left. Zoe was more concerned to know where my lap top (and cbeebies games) had gone. In a container on a ship was not a satisfactory answer.
I am sitting on a Thai Airways plane (without personal monitors!), so I cannot pontificate any longer.

Caterham and London

I have been staying at Jane and Ian's place for two and a half weeks. I have spent quite a lot of time with Ben and Zoe and I have dropped then off and picked them up from school quite a few times. I am getting to know some of the mums, but I cannot say that I am in with the in crowd just yet. Ben and Zoe are cute and energetic as always. Over time I have gotten to know their routines and limits so that plaintive cries of "Mummy said that we can!" or "Mummy lets us do it!" are now met with a little bit more scepticism.

My main goal on returning from Wales had been to sell my car. I sold the car to the first person who answered my advertisement, which was a lot easier than I had expected.

I have caught up with a few friends. Mark and I tripped around London looking at a few of the less "touristy" sights. One was Ely Place in Holborn. Ely Place is a cul-de-sac and is not technically part of London but is an enclave of Cambridgeshire. The reality appears to be less interesting, with a notice for the Borough of Camden attached to one of the lamp posts in Ely place. We had a pint at the "Old Cheshire Cheese" one of the oldest pubs in London. It has an atmospherically gloomy interior.


I had a great night out with Jessie, James, Celia, Graeme, Nikki and Olly last Friday. On Saturday they and James' (and Graeme's) parents visited Buckingham Palace. For budgetary reasons, and because lavish decoration does start to pale after a while, I skipped the Palace and joined them later at the Royal Academy of the Arts, to be meet by a very long queue for the exhibition. On Sunday I caught up with Caroline who cooked me a lovely meal.


I had lunch with Manuela yesterday in Marylebone. It was all very nice until we went to leave and realised that Manuela's handbag had been stolen! Luckily she did not have much of value in it. However, her house had been burgled on Monday, so she was not having a good week. Manuela's mobile phone was found today, but not her handbag. Yesterday evening I had a long chat with Ernie over a few pints.

Jame's recently commented that he thought my blog was perhaps not "personal" enough. I agree that my thoughts and feelings are rarely expressed other than in a cursory manner. However, on the whole, I think that this blog is remarkably open, at least for me. Should I reveal more? Well, as OMC said, "Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights..."

Wales

I spent four nice days with Jane, Ian and the kids after returning from Europe. On Wednesday I drove to Snowdonia in Wales. I was caught in a massive traffic jam on the M25 for two hours trying to leave London, but it cleared just before I was about to give up and go home. I camped for three nights in Snowdonia in a camping ground that was at least half mud. On Thursday night there was a big storm but my tent held up well. My goal in Wales was to do a few of the things that I had not had a chance to do when I visited last Easter. Top of my list was to climb Mt Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. The day was not great but the climb was relatively easy. It was very crowded at the top, with a lot of people having come up on the narrow gauge railway that goes to the top of Mt Snowdon (the "cheats" route). Climbing Mt Snowdon meant that I had climbed the highest peak in each of England, Wales and Scotland (as well as the highest peak in Ireland). Climbing those peaks was not exactly the same as climbing Mt Everest without oxygen but it has been fun. On top of Snowdon-

On Friday I went on the narrow gauge railway from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog and back. The railway winds through a picturesqe route in the countryside. I also visited Portmeirion, a small Italianite village in Wales. It was built by an eccentric Englishman over 50 years from 1925. It is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time, as it was featured in the TV series "The Prisoner". I had watched repeats of "The Prisoner" in NZ in the 80s. Portmeirion village-

On Saturday morning I went on a tramp to Molwyn Bach, a "mountain" near Blaenau Ffestiniog I had visited last year, when it was covered in snow. So it was interesting to see it in the "summer" (top temperature about 18C with intermittent showers). On Saturday afternoon I drove to Liverpool, because it was relatively close and because I was curious about it. On the way I stopped on Bounday Road in Chester. As the picture shows it looks like an ordinary suburban street. Except that the houses on the left hand side are in England and those on the right are in Wales. It is the only urban area on the English/Welsh border where this happens (and as far as I am aware there is no equivalent place on the English/Scottish border). It would be fascinating to learn more about the place. For example, do people on the English side have English accents and those on the Welsh side Welsh accents? I could have knocked on a few doors to find out but I do not think that they would have welcomed my interest.

I cannot say that Liverpool is the nicest city I have visited but it was pleasant enough and the Scousers add atmosphere. On Sunday night I stayed with Nikki and Olly in Chippenham. Nikki's friend Jordan (a NZ guy) also stayed. On Sunday we visited Avebury (more standing stones) and the White Horse of Uffington (my third visit but still one of my favourite spots in England). I drove back to London in the afternoon with Jordan, who needed to catch a train from London.

Travelling to Wales completed the itinerary I had put together in April for my travels with my car. So my next goal is to sell the Focus and to then prepare for my trip to Thailand and my return to NZ.