28 to 30 July - Arriving in England and Aunty Veronicas in Somerset

Hello guys,

28 July - Travel Alpe d'Huez to England

This morning we woke up and we got ready and we jumped in the car to go to the airport. We drove from Alpe' d Huez to Lyon Airport. About a 2 1/2 hour drive. It was great driving down the mountain and through the lovely valleys in the Alps.

We got to Lyon airport and we dropped our bags off, then went through customs. We then sat down and had something to eat before we went on the plane. We met a nice British family who we sat next to. They helped us with the gate numbers as the numbers kept on changing. We hopped on the plane heading for London England! As we were flying we flew over Paris, then we could see the French coastline, then the English Channel then the English coastline. Exciting.

After about an hour and a half we landed in Stansted airport on the north outskirts of London! We went straight to collect our luggage and then we got our hire car. We packed the car and set off! We passed signs to all different places that we had heard of including London City, but we were skirting around the edge of London heading for south west England to stay with Aunty Veronica.

It was a long drive but we stopped a few times for dinner and coffee and drink (and cake) breaks. We eventually got there without getting lost. The last 20 miles of the drive from Bridgewater to Minehead was along narrow roads with tall vertical hedges along both sides. We drove through some lovely little villages. Then we arrived at Tobias Cottage, Old Alcombe, Minehead, in Somerset, the place where Auntie Veronica and Rod live.

Minehead is on the north coast of Somerset on the Bristol Channel. We can see Wales across the bay on a good day (about 10 miles away). The town is a typical English town with narrow streets and buildings right to the street in some places. It is surrounded by large hills, many forest covered, with farms dotted all over the hills. It borders on the Exmoor National Park. It is right next to Dunster which is an old medieval village with an old famous castle.

Veronica's house is actually several hundred years old and she has recently purchased and renovated it. It is lovely and cosy and really old but new in many ways if you know what we mean. Not much is square in the house and the ceilings are low and the walls are mainly white and the furniture traditional English which makes for lots of old English character. There is a little cottage garden out back.

We had a bit of a talk, shared some stories and then we met the animals. Veronica has 5 cats and 1 dog. Their names are Hamish, Scooter, Millie, Lottie, Catkin ( the 5 cats) and Flossy (the dog).

 

We said goodnight to everyone and then we went to bed. Holly and Erin shared a room and Elodie had a room to herself. Mum and dad were in their room. The bedrooms were upstairs. We had a good night sleep. Veronica and Rod actually have moved out for a few days to leave the house to us. That was great of them. They are staying each night in Minehead at Rod's apartment but will otherwise be home with us.

29 July - Old Alscombe, Minehead

This morning we woke up and gave all the cats and Flossy their food. Then we took Flossy for a walk in the mountains and a play at the park. Mum took Flossy for a run while the three of us swung on the birds nest (a big swing that looks like a birds nest but actually isn't). We then walked down to a friend of Veronicas. Her name is Jenny. Jenny feeds wild badgers and she is a very lovely lady. We asked if we could come around one night to watch her feed the badgers.

 
We went to the Lions Inn pub in Timberscombe for lunch. We had roast beef, pork, veg, english pudding, soups and lovely deserts.

We then went for a drive around some narrow hedge lined lanes (most one lane wide only) and through little medieval villages including Dunster, Timberscombe and Wootton Courtney. We drove to Dunkery Beacon a rocky mountain top where we had fabulous views of the countryside and all the farms and villages around. We climbed the rock mountain top and took some pics.

We drove around some more and then we went home. We had dinner and then we went to bed.

We had a fabulous day.

30 July - Old Alscombe, Minehead

This morning we woke up early because Veronica had a hair appointment. We went down into Minehead town with her and we had a quick guided tour and then we left Veronica at the hairdressers and we went to have a look around. We bought some books and some clothes and then we met Veronica at a cafe. We had morning tea there. Elodie had a caramel crumble and a white hot chocolate, Holly had a sticky bikkie and a hot chocolate and Mum and Erin had a lemon drizzle and a chocolate milkshake.

We walked home and had a nice sit down and read our books and played with the pets.

Dad went for a run around the countryside trails including through parts of Exmoor national park.

We had dinner and went to bed. We had an awesome day. We are loving just relaxing and being with family and we love the animals. Each of us has our favourite pet.

The weather for the first couple of days has been typical english weather. Some sun, some showers, some wind - but it really has been a treat to have some cooler weather. Not for long though!

Bye for now,

From the Creber Girls :)