Surrey and Sussex

Today was a day of travel. I had hoped that things would be a bit more straighforward, but in truth, I found today quite challenging.

Right now, I am relaxed after dinner, a lager and a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, sitting in the lounge of a 1640 dairy, now a 4.5 star guesthouse in West Sussex called Random Hall. Our host Richard, who has been to Newcastle NSW, is a most convivial fellow who made us feel very welcome. Now is good, but getting here, well that was not so easy.

We said goodbye to London and our apartment in Vauxhall this morning, quite sad to be leaving. Our homw away from home kind of did become our home and we both found it emotionally difficult to leave. London worked itself into our bloodstream, so it was a sad farewell.

The trip into Heathrow to pick up our car rental was uneventful, the Vicotria line to Green Park, then the Picadilly line to Heathrow, a fifty minute journey. We had coffee, organised our car and set off. Well at least, that was the grand plan.

The car was upgraded from a small vehicle to a, SUV Citroen, a very nice car. We set the GPS to Shere in Surrey and a very British accent began to regale us with directions that were so complex and torturous that my stress levels were through the roof within the first five minutes. I always knew that getting our of Heathrow would be challenging, but my goodness, half an hour later, we were still stuck going around and around in various circles and slip roads. Dreadful!

Chris hit upon the idea of disconnecting her and connecting up our Australian girl though his phone. Fabulous result. She told us clearly where to go, which lane to be in, and when you were going make a turn. Still, I had to drive through torrential rain in a car I did not know, on a road system I had never driven before. Sheesh!

Arriving in Surrey, we drove through Shere, the origin area of the Edsers, to drive down the Ewhurst road to find our lodgings, High Edser. Unfortunately, when we arrrived, our hostess was at a funeral and not answering her phone. She had left nothing for us to enter, and despite the efforts of two fabulous gardeners to assist us, we were left to our own devices.

So, we drove into Cranleigh, there to enter the local pub, the Richard Onslow, to have a a drink, a wee, eat something and work out what we were going to do. I photographed Chris in the pub in the manner of a Vermeer painting.

Not having paid anything to High Edser, we decided to give the hostess till 4.30pm to get back to us before we would look for something else. The weather was turning cold, it was raining lightly, and the sky was losing its daylight brightness. 4.30 came and by the magic of the internet, we found Random Hall in West Sussex and promtly drove there, to be warmly welcomed and helped by our host Richard.

I am sorry we could not stay at High Edser. Our hostess did get back to us later via one of the gardeners but by then, we had already booked here at Random Hall. Oh well. You have to roll with the punches when you're travelling. There is no choice.

We have had a glorious meal in the restaurant here, more settled and are happily ensconced in the lounge writing. Tomorrow brings some exciting developments.Read more