The UK & Food:

This month we signed up to an online shopping service called Ocado. Have always meant to try out the whole online food shopping thing, but somehow never got around to it (mostly because it seemed like more, not less, of a pain than going to the shops). Nath sent me an invitation (complete with a complimentary gift voucher), and this was enough for me to decide to give it a crack. Free 20 pounds. Not to be sniffed at – that’s a solid discount ($40 AUD, I’d not put that in the bin). Especially when food in the UK is so pricey. So, turns out it takes me several lifetimes longer to do the shopping (possibly because I don’t know any of the products or the brands, also possibly because when also presented with product reviews ordering becomes a little less at face value). However, it meant that food turned up right to our front door, and didn’t require Murray to make a trip to the shops. I believe it was totally worth the additional effort, if mostly to avoid supermarket related crankiness from the Mr. Plus our meals were better considered, as the food for the week was essentially pre-planned. Free next day delivery, too. I imagine that this sort of service could be a real money saver once you got into the swing of things. Might even make the effort to give Woolies or Coles a go when we return home. Maybe.

We only ended up going into an actual supermarket a couple of times, so I wasn’t sure if it just was the online shopping, but it definitely appears that almost all food products come pre-packaged. All neatly wrapped in plastic packs. You name it, it’s probably sold pre-packed. You can even buy a single hardboiled egg (pre-packed). I’d heard that the UK was quite the fan of packaging things, but I wasn’t quite ready for just how much. Quite a contrast to some of the other places we have been (e.g. Croatia & Bosnia amongst others) where almost nothing fresh is packaged. On top of that, most of the packaging was of the non-recyclable variety (or is recyclable, but the council won’t accept it for recycling). Poor effort, UK. So much waste! On the upside, on our forays into the supermarket there were gooseberries – both the green and the red ones for sale (pre-packaged, of course). Ahh, the childhood memories. So I have now also officially eaten my fill of super-tart gooseberry deliciousness to last me a while. Makes my teeth zing just thinking about it.

Cost of Living:

It’s unfortunate that the Australian dollar performs so poorly against the pound. Everything is at least twice the price of at home. It sucks. Makes even the little things ridiculously expensive. Over the course of the month it definitely gave me a case of eye twitch to rival any other country we have yet stayed in. Would have loved to have dined out more and shopped etc, but it is cringeworthy knowing the price you see (which generally looks just like the price you are used to paying at home, but with a pound sign in front of it) equates to more than double. The internal monologue when comparing prices usually goes “Hey, that isn’t badly priced vs Australia…” closely followed by “Dammit. Yes, it is.”. Certainly couldn’t live here unless you were getting paid in pounds. Or a tonne of other money. Cost of living is off the charts. Thank goodness we are off to Romania next. Maybe, just maybe, our collective wallet will recover.

Beer in the UK:

If it wasn’t so ridiculously expensive, the UK seems like a wonderful place to live. And I’d be happy to stay there for an extended period, if it wasn’t for the cask ales. Maybe it grows on you. As an Australian, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t handle beer that isn’t ice cold. It’s wrong. It’s a crime against beer. They (the UK) have a wonderful range of craft beer, but it’s almost all cask. Even thought about asking for some ice, to see if it might improve things. But alas, watery (but cold) beer is no good either.

Having said that, the UK certainly hasn’t had the best beer. That award definitely goes to Belgium, hands down. And after that, I’d say the US. But it has certainly been interesting seeing all the different beers here in comparison to other places we have been. Many, many beverages never before seen. Some even worth repeating. For me, this month it was more about the cider. They have a lot of cider. Unfortunately, chances are, it is also cask. Fortunately, cider fares better when not ice cold compared to beer (and people won’t look at you like you’ve sprouted horns if you ask for ice).

 

The Weather:

Was initially amazing, with sunny, warm and clear days all in a row (cold nights, though). Closely followed by a whole lot of rain. The sort that is on and off all day. Sometimes very heavy, to the point that there was localised flooding of roads and streams. Fairly sure that wasn’t the norm. We even had enough rain that our apartment leaked when the gutters overflowed. I thought it was meant to just drizzle in the UK? Still, we managed to take advantage of the good weather when we had it. Just wished there was more of it.

Can’t help but feel we short-changed ourselves on summer by coming to the UK. There is nothing weirder in summer than having to bust out a jumper because it’s too cold. Unfortunately, with the whole Schengen situation, we had to go. Retrospectively, probably should have used this opportunity to go to Montenegro instead, and make the most of the remaining summer. By the time we go to visit there, it will be too cold for swimming (and likely wet). Very sad. However, can’t be helped. Stupid Schengen, making life more difficult. There’s still so many more places we would like to visit. But it won’t happen. At least, not this trip.

Other places we visited:

Trip to Cornwall:

So, visiting Cornwall was also a given. There isn’t a whole lot that I know about the UK, but Cornwall is definitely one of the areas that I’d recognise as being worthy of a visit. This was intended to be a bigger road trip, since although not all that far away, was definitely likely to suck up a lot of time navigating the narrow roads and low speed limits.

On the way out to Cornwall, we saw Stonehenge. Albeit, mostly by accident. I had no idea it was parked so close to the side of the road. Drove straight past it. Even had a great view, since we were on a hill and traveling at a slow crawl. (Plenty of rubbernecking going on.) We had previously decided not to bother going out to see Stonehenge, since you can no longer closely approach the stone circle (sad fact of life, most things historical also come equipped with a fence). Besides, we have seen other stone circles repeatedly and unless you’re a real buff, it’s not all that super exciting. A documentary is a more interesting way to go. (And will save on mucky shoes.) Didn’t manage to get any great photos, but certainly did get to see it in more than enough detail. Didn’t even have to get out of the car.

Exmoor AONB:

To get to Cornwall we decided to go via the Exmoor AONB. I had read about this drive through Exmoor called “Little Switzerland”. There wasn’t a whole lot on it when trying to find information on the Internet. A gpx file would have been nice. Instead, all we had to go off was a dodgy JPEG depicting the 21 mile figure 8 route through the countryside, conveniently minus such important items such as road names or mile markers. Made things a bit more exotic than they might have otherwise been. Kind of like those dodgy treasure maps intended for kids which aren’t to scale and feature local points of interest. But we made it. Even picked up a local hitchhiker – it’s interesting talking to the locals – can’t believe people can get away without having a car out in the countryside. Seems terribly inconvenient. Apparently our hitchhiker hikes on foot into town to do the shopping and then hitchhikes back home. Good grief.

The roads were very cool. Narrow and winding with no shoulder to speak of. Very green and lush and quite often, also a bit muddy. Google took us down some roads that I’m hesitant to say are actually intended for vehicles of the 4 wheeled variety. More than once did we end up on a road so narrow that the car was consistently pushing the encroaching blackberry bramble on both sides of the car. Utterly nuts. Thank goodness the paint job on the car remained unscathed (somehow).

At any rate, it was a long day, but it was a nice drive through the park. We ended up staying in Lynton, in the Exmoor AONB. Lovely town to visit. Cute B&B. Can’t possibly understand how people could live there. Internet was terrible (or nonexistent). Cell signal, terrible (or nonexistent). Food at the Spanish tapas restaurant very good. As usual, rounded out the day by hobnobbing with the locals at the pub.

Cornwall:

Not quite the trip we were expecting. Consulted the weather forecast at length to try and maximise the likelihood of good, clear weather. It’s a long way to drive, and, it turned out to be rather foggy once we got there (understatement). Ended up taking 3 days instead of 2, since the drive there and back proved to be rather epic (and epically fog-shrouded). Definitely didn’t see the lovely Cornwall I was expecting. Mostly saw vast quantities of fog, despite taking the extra day (hoping in vain for less fog). It seems the weather man is not to be trusted. The natives had warned us of this. Now it’s confirmed: UK weather is a fickle creature, and any predictions largely a farce. I had always thought that rain was the worst when traveling. Nope. Fog is worse. It’s like…Well. No metaphor required. It’s like traveling in a fog. Negates the whole purpose of going on a scenic drive, really.

We made it to Tintagel, at least (before the fog rolled in to stay). Explored the supposed birthplace of King Arthur and the remains of the castle. Beautiful coastline, although very rugged. It’s a pity it’s not more accessible. Certainly nothing like in Ireland, where the roads hug the coastline along the whole west coast. Made the mistake of not paying the parking meter enough, and we had a rather rushed visit (it was a much bigger walk there and back than anticipated). Made it back to the parking lot with 1 minute to spare. Retrospectively, should have paid more. Could have wandered around there for a considerably longer period, or even bought a local pastie (huge line at the pastie shop). But alas, no time.

Retrospectively, we should have stayed in Tintagel longer, since as as soon as we left the fog came in (and that was the end of seeing anything noteworthy). Due to ridiculous fog conditions, we bailed on trying to see any more of Cornwall and retired to our accommodation above a local pub in St Keverne. Ate possibly (no, definitely) the best lemon sole I have ever come across. Hobnobbed with the locals here, too. Drank fireball for the first time. Turns out it is surprisingly tasty. Nothing quite like being invited to drink (free) shots with the locals (publican included). What a friendly bunch.

Dartmoor AONB:

Passed through here on the way home. Why not? The trend has been that driving for longer taking the backroads is far more interesting than taking the main roads. Turned out to be worth it. Beautiful park, with cute little villages and an assortment of animals roaming free. Nothing quite like having to stop repeatedly because there is a cow/horse/sheep/other furred beast blocking the road unconcernedly cropping grass.

 Next stop: Brasov, Romania.

Once again, our time has come and gone. Retrospectively, 4 weeks in a single location is not enough. Will have to keep that in mind for future reference. When not travelling for the sole purpose of holidaying, 4 weeks isn’t all that much time for exploration. Besides, if we did, we would be ridiculously broke.