One last stint in Mother England

Our final stint in Mother England was spent traipsing over the countryside to both Wells-next-the-sea and the Cotswolds, using chez Witheford in Cambridge as a handy base yet again.

The gorgeous niece in fine form

First up was a weekend of family fun with both of my UK-based sisters Chloe and Chazz, their blokes; Aidan and Simon and the sprog; Izzie. Wells-next-the-sea, so I’m told is a summer retreat for the well-heeled locals, but visiting in late November sun was in short supply. Undeterred, we focused our energies on sampling the local fish n chips and learning the difference between a roast pork and gammon.

Is it Roast Pork or Surprise Roast Gammon?

Family fun time - who is the random?

Pheasants!

Izzie plots her escape

Beach shacks in Wells

Next was another reunion with pommy pals, Jared and Marie whom we met on a big boat in the depths of Chile’s fjords back in March ‘13. Eager to pretend that they too, were still on their excessively long holiday, they chucked us in the car and took us on a tour of England’s famed Cotswolds.

The Cotswolds are characterised by rolling green hills, ‘quaint’ on steroids, a smattering of dodgy masonry and an excess supply of scones (if that were possible). It’s also the go-to for filmmakers to get that legit ‘old-England’ backdrop – think Bridget Jones, Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice and Downton Abbey.

The famous Arlington Row in Bibury

Bourton on the water

How about those undulating green hills?

Shakespeare grew up here, Stratford-upon-avon

Moo

Jared and Marie did a top job in playing tour guides in the Cotswolds, giving us an intrinsically English experience. This namely involved utilising their innate abilities to hunt down a stellar scone or top-notch pub. Bravo guys, bravo.

Here is a little time-lapse of one zealous Brit dressing his Xmas tree (I think records will show Jared's was the first erected in Britain for 2013).

Before we knew it, we were back in London doing some strategic packing (for almost the last time) and about to head back home to Aoeteroa for a heavy-hitting schedule of five weddings in one month – a true test of endurance partying. Were we up to the task? Hopefully you won’t have to wait 3 months for the tardy blog post to appear so you can find out!

Dinner with London-based pals

The Jackson girls reunite with surrogate sis, Philippa

Turrah Mother England, Kia Ora Aoeteroa!

But before we go - a vid of the UK travels: