Sunny England

Here we are in Plymouth, Cornwall which hasn't changed in 30 years. Last time it was Bank Holiday in August and it rained and rained. Since we got here it has been misty, grey and wet. We gave in and bought waterproof gear, but still came back damp. NB June - dont depend just on an umbrella. Tell Edwin & Frances you need serious wet weather gear, unless the weather takes a dramatic turn for the better.But somehow the greyness is part of the charm. In the background the gulls are making that special cry you hear in every English film about the sea. Everything is such a lush green. the roads are overhung with vegetation. The sides of the railway lines are covered in buddelia and evening primrose.

Plymouth has lots of connection to Australia, although I suppose that applies to all the places England was colonising . Drake sailed around the world nearly 200 years from Plymouth before Captain Cook sailed from here. Yesterday we battled up the Hoe, where Frances Drake played his game of bowls before his Amada defeated the Spanish and made England King of The Waves, the umbrellas were blowing inside out and really the only thing to do was retreat into a pub., appropriately named of course, the Admiral McBride just opposite the Mayflower Steps where the Pilgrim Fathers left for America.

We went up the Tamar Valley on a train ride today, to a small village that had pubs and not much else, so guess what we did? This train ride is famous for passing over the Tamar River on a very long viaduct, but from the train it didnt seem nearly as dramatic.

We also went over another famous bridge -the Royal Albert which is the subject of a really interesting exhibition at the City Museum and Art Gallery. We spent quite a bit of time there because it was warm and dry. The exhibition was also about the Eddystone Light as well, which was a remarkable engineering feat, when built in the 1700's about 14 miles off shore. The rock it was built on started to crack, and they dismantled it and brought it back to Plymouth (and became Smeaton Tower), after the replacement had been built nearby. I hope the Gabo Lighthouse is on solid foundations. This Museum had the best kids' program I have ever seen. There were stacks of kids playing with lego and train sets making things, and they even had wooden blocks showing how the lighthouse was fitted together, so kids could build up a lighthouse.

On our way back to our B&B, we walked through a very new shopping centre which wasn't a patch on the one we were staying near in Kuala Lumpur. I think the English might be the last to notice. Eddie still has a shocking cough, and had a very miserable plane trip. Our plan to get the train straight to Plymouth worked fine, although the train was so crowded we couldn't sit together for part of the way, but I knew where he was sitting because of his cough. Conversations invariably swing to swine flu whenever he is in the vicinity. Katrina's friend Jan who used to fill in at Maytone was on our flight from Mebourne with another friend of Katrina's on their way to Bali before they go on to Guernsey for the wedding. Also Kate White and Peter Dunne from Hepburn Springs were going through to London . Kate was planning to have a significant birthday in Paris.