No!!!!! The holiday has come to an end…and we had to say goodbye to Daniel and Marysia early in the morning. They had to go to work in London, and we had to leave for the airport at 5pm. With our bags all packed and the beds stripped and towels in the wash, we venture off again in Marysia’s little car. Teresa is beginning to get quite the expert I must say.
We venture to the nearby town of Windsor. After the nerve wracking experience of finding a petrol station, we find a carpark and off we go and explore Windsor on foot. The Windsor Castle dominates the town so it is very easy to find your way around. The gates of Windsor are at the end of the Windsor Great Park. Last year when Judy, Len, Robin and I came over we walked the great walk with Dan, Marysia and Glenda. It was fantastic. The whole grounds are owned by the queen and yet the public can wander through, ride bikes, horses, or just have family picnics and outings there. The deer even roam around in the park. We didn’t have time to do the walk this time but it was great to be able to show Teresa what it was like. I have put a photo up of the gate with a rusty old padlock on it. The story behind it is that when king Albert died, his wife Victoria was so sad she had the gate padlocked and it hasn’t been opened since then. He used to go out that gate every morning on his horse for a ride and Victoria couldn’t bare to be reminded of it…she loved and missed him so much…Awwww Outside Windsor Castle, there is a rather enigmatic Royal Air Force blue post box standing side-by-side with a red pillar box. The blue post boxes were introduced to important sites in England (such as Windsor Castle) between 1930 and 1938 to receive air mail post for Europe. They only lasted eight years because of the rapid expansion of air travel in that period, and also the RAF in the build up to the Second World War, but a few of them can still be seen today. A much wider and longer-lasting legacy of the brief blue boxes can be seen on the airmail stickers used today by Royal Mail, which are still Air Force blue to match their old post boxes. And as you can see by the photos below..we found the blue post box!
While at Windsor, we did a little shopping, had a nice lunch and just explored the Windsor town. Very soon it was time to get back to Dan and Marysias and get ready for our taxi pick up.
All went smoothly and we were at Heathrow airport before we knew it. Our flight was leaving at 10pm. We had a meal shortly after take off and then we all slept until nearly at Singapore. The Singapore stopover was a little easier than on the way over as it wasn’t as long, but the flight from Singapore to Auckland was painfully long! Because we had slept on the first flight we were only able to manage a couple of hours sleep on the second flight. We arrived in Auckland at approximately eleven am. And we had an arrival party. Merv (Teresa’s husband) and the four children were there to meet us. Jessica arrived shortly afterwards and we all enjoyed a fabulous reunion lunch together. Judy and I then had a three hour wait for our flight to New Plymouth. And I couldn’t stay awake! I had to lie down on an available seat, most uncomfortably, and with my backpack as a pillow….and sleep.
For the next three days I was asleep at 7.30 and awake at 5am. I do not cope with jetlag at all. But, I would put up with it anytime to have another amazing holiday like the one I just had. I am happy to say that this time I am home and feeling settled. After my last holiday I just couldn’t settle in to normal life…I fought it every day! But, I have felt strongly about getting this holiday all posted on my blog, and then I can move on to my next venture…more about that in my next blog post. Until then….no more holiday posts for me. The holiday has ended…thanks for reading. I hope you feel encouraged to travel yourself. Insight Vacations do amazing tours to lots of different destinations. I would easily go on another tour….want to join me?