16 April 2011
We awoke this morning to clear blue skies. Although it was cool it warmed up quick and it was t-shirt and shorts weather yet again. We’ve been extremely lucky this holiday. Even though it’s spring and UK
It seems I packed well. I packed for a NZ spring and brought a padded winter jacket and it’s worked out perfectly. The Brits we have talked to have said we’ve been exceptionally lucky to have so much good weather. It really has been summery 50% of the time so yes I think we have been lucky.
We sat outside this morning and had breakfast and coffee and it was very pleasant with the sun shining down on us.
We decided to drive through the Cotswalds today. We set off from Stratford
All of the animals are rescued, most of them from the most appalling conditions and occasionally extreme cruelty and they are all taken to 1 of their 3 rescue centres. The Oxhill centre is enormous and these animals now all live in absolute luxury, getting as much food, care and medical treatment as they need to heal.
Quite a few of the animals will live the rest of their lives at the centre but the younger, rehabilitated ones will be found new homes. The great thing is that the centre retains lifelong ownership in all the animals that come through their centre, so even if adopted out to new owners, they keep in contact to ensure the animal has a good life.
They do have interactive displays with some of the animals but these were later in the day. We were fine with that. Several of the donkeys and horses came up to us for a good scratch and there are information boards everywhere to educate visitors on all aspects equine.
There was also a huge display of before and after photos and the associated stories about their most abused rescued animals. It was, as Aaron put it “Pretty rough”. Seeing the after pictures of some of them was amazing. It was enough to turn the stomach to see the abuse some of these poor animals have been through.
Overall it was a wonderful place to visit though and it really makes you feel good to know there are places out there like this that will let these animals find out just what a good life can be like.
From there we meandered our way to Shipston-on-Stour. I think I can honestly say that the area within a 20-mile radius of Stratford
We stopped at Shipston to buy bread rolls for lunch. Although not huge the place was absolutely bustling. Their streets are so small it was a pain to get in and out but needs must. The only supermarket they have is The Co-operative and I have to say I do not like this chain. It’s all own-brand food and quite frankly it’s what I call non-food food, Highly processed and full of man-made ingredients. Sometimes that’s all there is though so that’s all you get.
The idea from there was to meander our way to Cheltenham . We found a little country lane with a stunning view and stopped for lunch and then we carried on.
We passed through an absolutely stunning town called Chipping Campden in The Cotswalds and it was packed with people, a lot of them in hiking gear. Had it not been so busy we probably would have stopped for a wander. Instead we drove straight through.
We took a couple of left turns and then found ourselves at an intersection, with one sign pointing to a hamlet called Ford. There was no option really but to drive there so Aaron could get a photo standing next to the village sign. Unbelievably we arrived to find their sign missing! We drove out the other side of the Hamlet and that sign was still there so there was still a photo opportunity. Whew!
I suggested we stop at the pub the Plough Inn so Aaron could say he had a drink at Ford. The pub was hugely popular and there were lots of expensive cars parked in the carpark. Our kind of place really! Although we only called in for a drink it turns out it had been named pub of the year so no wonder it was popular.
From there we drove a few kms until I saw what looked like a picturesque walk. We parked the car on the side of the road and then started our walk. 5 minutes into it Aaron put his hands in his pockets.
“Where’s the car key?!”
“How should I know?”
“No seriously, I can’t find the car key” he checked all his pockets again and again. “Check your bag”
“Honey you didn’t give the key to me. I don’t have it”
“I must have left it in the car. I don’t think I’ve locked the car” and so we walked back up the hill and got to the car to find it completely locked up and no key to be seen. We’d already scanned the footpath and verge on the way back and seen nothing.
“We’ll call the AA” I said. Then I discovered that the AA phone number isn’t displayed on the pouch on the windscreen like in NZ. “Oh great, we can’t call the AA unless we can get in the car to get the number. How dumb is that?”
We searched the grass around the car.
Aaron looked inside my bag but as I predicted there was no key there.
We walked back down the road and down the path we had walked. Part way down Aaron had jumped off the path into an ankle deep pile of dried leaves so he could have a pee.
“You peed there. I’m not looking” I said unhelpfully. So Aaron got down into the large pile of leaves and sifted through them all. The key wasn’t there.
We walked back up to the car. Fortunately it was a sunny day. We sat by the car as Aaron cursed our bad luck and I text Alex and Tristan to see if they could text me the AA number.
“Damn, they’ve gone on holiday haven’t they?” I then text Val, completely forgetting she too had gone on holiday. We sat there waiting for a reply and then Aaron asked for my bag. He unzipped a small pocket at the front and pulled out the key.
“What the?”
“Don’t ask me”
“I didn’t put it there”
Aaron didn’t think he had either.
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t put it there”
“It doesn’t matter. Get in the car while we still have the key”
And so we did and we left, not getting our walk but by then we were both so relieved we didn’t much care.
We drove off, admiring the stunning scenery as we drove to Cheltenham . Cheltenham proved to be another big, very blah looking town and so we carried on to Cirencester. There was a cheapish campground, Mayfield Park in the AA guide book and it had laundry facilities and that’s what we needed.
It was only 3ish when we arrived at the campground and we debated whether to book a site and then go for a trip into Cirencester. In the end laziness won out. It was a sunny afternoon, perfect for bringing out the table and chairs, the alcohol and our books.
I had a shower and then did the washing and then we kicked back for the rest of the afternoon.
A family in the caravan next to us provided our entertainment for the afternoon. The father came outside to kick a couple of balls around with his 4(?) year old daughter. Presumably mum was inside making dinner. They had great fun as dad kicked a ball up the hill and the little girl in pink gumboots and purple dress went running up the hill to kick it down again. Meanwhile dad kicked the next ball up the hill and she’d go running after it. She was all smiles and giggles.
“You wait, it’ll end in tears” I said
“No it won’t. She’s playing with dad”
5 minutes later the sibling appeared; An older brother by perhaps a year. Sure enough things went sour. Despite there being 2 balls the arrival of big brother was not appreciated. The little girl threw herself on the ground, wailing and sobbing until daddy went up to her and suggested she could still play ball.
Quick as a flash she was up and giggling and running after a ball. Then big brother shot past her in pursuit of the other ball. Down she went again in howls of despair. The drama was first class and we were laughing ourselves silly. Over and over the scene repeated itself as the wee girl sought desperately to eject her brother from the scene. Alas it was not to be. Dad, bless him was extremely tolerant and neither ignored nor pandered to the drama queen in front of him.
“That’ll be Troy
We had our usual pasta for dinner. It tasted really good for something so simple. Maybe it was the alcohol we were drinking? I have to say though that with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, a bottle of apple cider vinegar and a tin on tomatoes any pasta dish can taste amazing.
We stayed outside until the sun disappeared behind clouds and the heat vanished from the day. It was after 8pm though so all in all a thoroughly pleasant day weather-wise.
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