I Meet an Old Friend

Wednesday October 26th
In Which I Meet an Old Friend

Apart from the famous exploits of Francis Drake, Plymouth is also indelibly etched into history by an event that took place in 1620. The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth Hoe with 102 pilgrims in search of a new life in the New World. In fact Plymouth's story has always been based around the splendid natural harbour and wharf facilities. Modern Plymouth is home to the HMNB Devonport, one of three operating bases for the Royal Navy.

Our train to London was not due to leave until 12.56 so we had a couple of hours of free time in the morning to further explore the area near our hotel.Since we had loved the waterfront region, that is where we headed. We were somewhat surprised to find the large open spaces almost deserted, apart from a small number of people walking their dogs. As we gazed out over the inlet, Maggie called me over with excitement in her voice.

"Have a look at this, quick", she called.

It did not take long to see why she was so excited. Making its way out of the harbour was a large, partly submerged submarine, escorted by three tug boats. It did not take long to see that the function of the surrounding boats was to keep curious boat owners from getting too close.

Only a couple of days earlier I had read in the local newspapers that the UK was in the process of building a new, state of the art, submarine for the cost of 31 billion pounds. It seemed too high a cost to possibly be correct, but apparently it was. I could not help but think of what an incredible waste of money it was.

We watched the submarine for some time as it was not a sight that we see in Australia. It slowly moved out of the harbour before diving below the waves. After completing a circuit of the waterfront we returned to the hotel, collected our bags and caught a taxi to the station.

Soon we were seated on a train owned by the Great Western Railroad and on our way to London.

It was hard to believe that after so many weeks of travel and so many dozens of hotels, this would be our final stop before flying back to Melbourne. The other thought on my mind was my missing VISA card. I was relying on the efficiency of the Royal Mail to get the card to London before we leave next Sunday afternoon.

The journey itself took around three and a half hours. Most of it was completed at speeds between 100 and 160 kph, but I was surprised to find that the driver had saved his highest speed for the final 25 km of the trip into Paddington Station. It was a little unnerving to be racing through London's suburbs at 210 kph ! Fortunately he found the brakes in time and we safely pulled into Paddington Station a little after 4.30 pm.

You cannot pass through Paddington Station without looking for some evidence of the famous Paddington Bear and we were excited to find a statue of that loveable bear right in the station foyer.A short taxi ride then took us to our hotel near Hyde Park. I had stayed in thiis area several times in the past and knew that Maggie would love it here.

When we walked into the lobby of the hotel, the first question I asked was "Do you have any mail for me?" The receptionist put her hand under the counter and retrieved an envelope with my name on it.

To say that I was relieved would be a huge understatement. My faith in the Royal Mail was greatly strengthened. If the same thing had happened in Australia, I suspect that I could still have been waiting a couple of weeks later.

With that stress no longer hanging over my head I felt that we really were on the final furlong of what had been an epic adventure. It did not matter that our hotel room was about the same size as the postage stamp on the envelope, it was clean and relatively comfortable and, more importantly it was our FINAL hotel.

The next bed we would be in would be our own.Read more