3, 4 august

3 & 4 August.
A little bit late on these days, been having too much fun!. Friday morning we relaxed at home, and tried to sort all our belongingsso that we would be ready to leave Staines early on Saturday for the drive up north to Newcastle.
We went out for lunch with aunty Joan, her daughter Marie and son in law Andrew, plus their two lovely girls. The place we went to was called spurs, and had an american theme, with nice spicy food. It was an early celebration of Andrews birthday, and was nice to hang out with them all as a family group :). As we chatted I discovered that the speed limit on the motorway here is 70 miles per hour, not 100 miles per hour.... hahaha i think i had just replaced km with miles and thought it would be fine. Luckily i hadnt been on the motorway yet. (My first time driving was Thursday when we went to Kempton Park - I was a bit nervous, not only was I driving a people mover, instead of my little car, but the roads here are way skinnier than in New Zealand).
Josh and Dillon got on well with Andrew - I think that they were chatting about computer and x-box games.
After lunch we all went into the local shopping centre, trying to find josh and dillon suits for the wedding. Whata mission that was, it was really hot, and the shops didnt have air conditioning. After what seemed like forever - and with the help of Marie- Josh and Dillon, each had a suit jacket, matching pants, shirt and tie each. ching ching at the checkout - that will be150 pounds please...aka $300 . They were happy though. We then made our way back to Joans.
When we got back my aunty angie was there. She had come up again for the olympics where she is volunteering. So for the rest of the day we hung out.  I went with her to my nan and grandads grave in Sunbury - my nan had bee alive when i left England.  It was interesting - they are in a double grave, but my nan died second and her name was never put on the headstone- instead my aunty angie had bought a little plaque and stuck it to the headstone. I asked her how come Nans name wasnt on there, and she said that all the brothers and sisters were sposed to chip in for it - but never did. I was a bit amused, as i recall when i first went to nz meeting a family who whenerver they ot drunk, would argue about the family headstone and putting the second persons  name on it, but never actually do it. i used to be horrified by them not doing it...and here i am ...my family might not be drunk.... but otherwise its no different lol....funny how things happen in life.
Whilst we were still there at the headstone, Aunty angie began telling me that they (bug extended whanau) came and gathered at the graveside, when we were holding my brother Ross'  funeral in Auckland. That made me a little bit sentimental, as i dont remembe them doing that . As i looked to the sky though there was a clear cross in it, like the two jetstreams of planes had crossed horizontally and vertically. Cool to remember that God is always with us.

4 August
Despite sorting out all of our things yesterday, it still took way longer to get things sorted this morning.  Aunty Joan bless her socks loaded us up with spoils for the trip, drinks, buns, tea, chippies, penguin bars - she has been so lovely to us.  We got Dillon and /dominiques passport applications signed, and then took them to the post shop to have them checked and sent in. They have taken dillon and dominiques birth certificates and nz passports, hopefully we will get them back soon, as we kind of need them to continue our travels :).
We loaded up the van, and hit the road, with a tom tom in hand and paper directions that joan had printed as back up. The tom tom was volume was low, so whilst we were driving Dillon checked online to see how to adjust the volume, and then we were fine. I just didnt quite know what all the different sounds were. We hit the M25 which seems to rain with speed cameras everywhere - i dont know why though - there was so much traffic we couldnt even get near the speed limit.  The motorways are a little confusing in that they have variable speed limits, so its not one limit on the same motorway but all sorts. The tom tom also confused me - it would ring when we hit the limit. Sometimes i would be doing 70mph in what was a 70 zone, and then it would ring and flash 50, so i would slow right down, but nobody else was. Eventually after about 90 minutes of driving, i realised it was doing that when either a 50mph road was going above the motorway, or the motorway was going above a 50mph road! Twice the tom tom "mooed" at me like a cow, i think i had just gone over the speed limit by a couple of miles - but dont worry uncle nobby i quickly slowed - didnt like being growled at by a cow :o). As we drove i found myself thinking that out of the cities, England isnt too different from NZ. Theres loads of trees and fields, different kinds of trees, but still trees.
Once we had been on the road for a few hours, I entered my auncle arthurs postcode into the Tomtom. As we were only 42miles from him, we detoured over to his place. I havent seen or heard from him since i was in england in 1990 for a visit.
We arrived at what had been his address years ago- according to another family member - and knocked on the door cautiously. I heard a big dog barking in the background, and was like oh my i really hope this is the right place. A man came to the door, and i thought he kind of looked l;oike uncle arthur but wasnt sure. conversation went something like this:
Me - Hello  :)
him- Hello?
Me- Umm are you arthur?
him- yes
me- do you recognise me?
him- no - do you want Sue? - he pointed to another room in the house
Me- no - i want you- your my uncle arthur!
him- looking really really puzzled by now.
Me- I am youe niece! i have changed heaps- and i am 40 now
him- still looking really really puzzled
Me- Its me! MIchelle!
him - oh Michelle! come on in !
haha it was so funny, he had no idea who i was- but then again i wouldnt have recognised him on the street either. I went out to the van and got josh dillon and dominiqe to come in. It was great to see them. So funny josh and dillon reckoned he looked like the bum of the family, one of them said he looked like a westie! His wife Sue was a honey, she sounded like someone off of Coronation Street. We stayed for a coffee and had a chat then moved on to Newcastle.
As we drove into Newcastle we saw the Angel of the North. Funny i knew it was a cast iron structure, but i think i expected something like a big giant christmas tree angel - which it wasnt. josh and dillon described it as a plane with no propellor standing on its tail facing up! I will try to get a picture of it before we leave newcastle. After the long drive we couldnt be bothered last night :o)
 
After diner we all went for a walk with the dog to their local pub. Its nice having a drink (i had cider) who are drinking to just socialise and hang out - not to get drunk. When we got back home, the Wii ame out, and the competition heated up :0)
 Newcastle is different again to Staines. I am loving being in England, couldnt live here again, but its so good seeing family- I love it!