Stereotypical England

The last full day of my trip.
I'm flying out of Gatwick and had to return the car here at 4pm so a leisurely drive, view some iconic attractions, clean the car and check in to the hotel by 4:30pm.

Simple!

I started with the Cerce giant. It was only a short distance from where I was staying and I found it easily. Two problems: it needs rechalking so is much harder to make out than the photos I've seen and it was a foggy morning so that made it even more difficult.

Next stop was Stonehenge, but on the way I stopped at a walled garden. It was gorgeous with vegetables and autumn flowers. I spent some time walking around but had to keep moving as the tickets for Stonehenge are timed.

If Stonehenge hadn't been on the way and free (I bought an English Heritage membership at my first Castle which gave me free entry into all their sites) and on the way I don't know if I would have gone.

It is one of those places full of selfie sticks and their annoying users. I downloaded the audio guide last night so could use headphones instead of having to hold the device to my ear.

I think the reason I wasn't really impressed is I couldn't sense the history as I have been able to in so many of the other places I visited. I'm not sure if that's because so little is known, the setting or that I couldn't get up close. I'm afraid it's a "been there, done that, don't need to go again" place for me.

I left Stonehenge at 1:30, it would take me a bit over an hour and a half to get to Gatwick, leaving me time to clean the car.

I thought I'd stop in Basingstoke to clean the car but do you think I could find a car wash? Google maps let me down as none of the petrol stations it directed me to had car washes.

So I kept going to Gatwick, at some point I got on the M25. I don't know how many crashes there were. I saw the aftermath of one, I don't know if that just had a massive knock on effect or whether there were others. It took me an hour to travel 2 miles. I wish I was exaggerating but I had 10 miles until the turn off and I watched those .1 of a mile change very very slowly in the gps. I gave up hope of returning the car by 4pm, especially since I was still inching along at 5pm. It did clear just after that and I made it to Gatwick by 5:30. By the time I filled up, found some very efficient blokes to wash the car (I had given up on DIY by then) and found the rental place on the third try (sometimes you need to ignore the GPS and follow the signs) and checked into the hotel it was 6:45pm.

My room is large so I'll have plenty of room to spread stuff out to repackage it all and hopefully get a good night's sleep.

Photos
Cerne giant - I can't see him either
Three types of kale and beans
Autumn flowers
Heel stone at Stonehenge
Stonehenge
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