Wyverstone & Cambridge

3rd May 2019

After hours of driving (it was meant to be a two-hour trip), we finally arrived with Dave & Julie in Wyverstone! I won’t bore you with the details of our journey getting there but let’s just say, I thought Auckland traffic was bad!! Jeez, I’ve never seen Auckland come to a standstill for 1.5 hours to the point we turned the car off & watched Netflix!! 

Anyway, it was SO wonderful to be with Dave & Julie again. We hadn’t seen them for 6 years so we had a lot of catching up to do! We finally met the boys, Tom & Sam that evening too! It is so bizarre to think that we had family on the other side of the world who I’ve known about for a long time but had never actually met. Julie had made a lovely home cooked meal and later we moved into the living room where we all settled onto the couch in front of a roaring fire. It was bliss.

4th May 2019

Our first full day with Dave & Ju.  Julie had put together a yummy assortment of cereals & toast. The UK definitely has better cereal options than NZ so over the next few mornings Morgan and I tired a little bit of each cereal! My favorite thing about their kitchen is the beautiful Agar. It heats the whole room to the perfect temperature and gives the room that real cozy feel. 

After brekkie, we rugged up warm and Dave & Ju showed us around their lovely property. Dave showed us through the new house he is building that they will move into later this year. Dave also gave us a tour of his shed or as Bamps likes to call it, “Dave’s Shit”.. so Dave also refers to it as his shit! “Dave’s Shit” did come in handy though as he kitted us out with extra pots & pans, a chair and another single burner for our van!! So there we go, shit does come in handy!!  Around lunchtime Laura, Jamie & their two sweet kiddies Rubi & Ivy popped round. It was so great to finally meet them!! Mum & Dad have always said Laura and I are so similar in looks & personality and I have to agree!! It was like meeting my long lost sister. We hit it off and spent the rest of the day chatting and catching up! 

and of course.. Morgan managed to fit in a few Zzzzz.

 

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Later that evening we went to Ipswich for dinner which is where we met Dave’s brother Terry & his wife Scarlett. While at the local pub, there was a large group of Leeds United fans that were getting pumped up for the game the next day. They were standing on pool tables, chairs and were on each other shoulders chanting “PAABBBLLOOOO HERNAANNDEEZZZ!” over and over until the Police arrive in their paddy wagons! I knew the English were football mad but I didn’t realize just how mad they were! For those wondering who the heck Pablo Hernandez is (like I was), he is one of their star midfielders! 

5th May 2019

I had previously told Dave & Ju that I wanted to try proper English Fish & Chips or Pie & Mash so we set off on the hunt for some good old British food. On the way to Clacton-on-Sea, we stopped off at a bridge to recreate a photo that Mum & Dad had previously taken of Dave & Julie some years ago. The photo of Dave & Ju actually hangs on our wall at home and it is the first photo Mum ever showed me of Dave & Ju – our family that living a million miles away in England.  I mean, minus the motorbike, I think we did ok?! 

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We arrived in Clacton-on-Sea and unfortunately, after checking out a few spots, the Pie & Mash was closed. I guess those jellied eels will have to wait a little longer (sorry, Bamps!). Instead, we had some seriously tasty Fish & Chips with mushy peas. How British does that sound?! Morgan and I ate nearly our weight in Fish & Chips but that didn’t deter us from getting a hot donut on the pier. It was certainly a day of eating! 

Later that afternoon, Laura and her two girls came round for some nibbles & prosecco. It was great to catch up with them one last time before we head back to London. Rubi is a sweetheart and so intelligent! Ivy is a character & full of personality!! I look forward to seeing them again over the Christmas period this year!

6th May 2019

We set off on the next part of our journey north today. We were making our way to Burwell to see Morgan’s Grandparents. Before we set off, Tom took us to see the luxury cars he sells for work. Wow. They were luxurious alright. Rolls Royce, Ferrari’s, Bently, Mercedes.. anything you could think of. It was seriously impressive!! 

Over the past few days with Dave & Ju, they took us to multiple places to show us where Bamps’s family was from. We saw where Bamps’s Father & Mother we’re laid to rest, we saw where his parents got into a car accident when they were hit by a drunk driver which tragically claimed his Father’s life. We even saw Bamps’s Father & Mother’s home. It was really interesting to see more of my family history that was so far before my time. 

We had a wonderful weekend with The Wholmes Family! It was fab to get to know Tom, Sam, Laura, Jamie & the kiddies. We look forward to spending some more time with them this year. Thank you SO much, Dave & Ju. We love you! 

We arrived in Burwell at midday and I finally got to meet Morgan’s Grandparents (Morag’s Mum & dad). Meeting them was wonderful! I felt like I already knew them, but it was so lovely to give Gran & Grandpa a big hug! We had a cup of tea and sandwiches while we all caught up and then made our way to Ross (Morag’s brother, Morgan’s Uncle) & Lara’s house for an early dinner. It was my first time meeting Ross, Lara & their daughter Christina. We had a lovely evening, a few G&T’s & a beautiful roast beef dinner – our first roast since leaving NZ! It was so lovely to have finally met all of Morgan’s family (even if it is 8 years later!). As the evening went on, Ross mentioned he and Lara were going to watch GoT (Game of Thrones for all you non-watchers) that night so after Morgan and I took Gran and Grandpa home, we whizzed back to Ross & Lara’s and settled in on the couch for the epic 4th episode of GoT.

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7th May 2019

We had a lovely breakfast with Gran & Grandpa. We showed them photos of our engagement and the engagement party and spoke about the details of our upcoming travels through Europe!

At about 11ish, Morgan and I head out for an afternoon in Cambridge. We absolutely loved Cambridge! There is so much character & vibe to the city. We walked around, soaking in the sights & smells of the local market. We then booked ourselves on a punting tour. I didn’t really know what this was until I reached Cambridge but I would highly recommend it! Our tour guide was lovely and gave us so much information about the history of Cambridge & the Universities. While cruising down the river, I couldn’t help but think the architecture of our universities really doesn’t compare to the different Universities of Cambridge! A few in particular that were my favorite were Kings College & St Johns College. Interestingly enough, back in the day, St John’s College had to be symmetrical. So if a window was opened down one wing, the same window in the opposite wing must be opened to achieve symmetry!! Nowadays it’s more relaxed! Another fun fact, David Attenborough studied at the University of Cambridge, as did Prince Charles.

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We made our way back to Burwell in the early evening where Gran & Grandpa had a glass of champagne waiting for us. Gran made a lovely toast celebrating our engagement! It was very special to be able to celebrate our engagement with them. That evening we had another beautiful roast by Gran! Two roasts in two days, what a luxury!! We spent the rest of the evening chatting & enjoying a few beers. 

8th May 2019

Today we made our way back to London. We said our goodbyes to Gran & Grandpa. We had a lovely few days with them. It was great to spend some quality time with them. 

The journey home wasn’t nearly as eventful as it was a few days prior! We reached our “London home” and head straight off to bed. We needed to recharge our batteries for the next week ahead in London. We had a lot to see in the coming days before we head off to Europe!