Swanley Kent

 Good Morning, it's 6am here in Swanley, I've had a great nights sleep,  and I'm ready for day 2 of my pilgrimage.

So, where do I start?  Well, the trip went without a hitch, the Qantas staff were super friendly and efficient, but I  have to say some of the business class dining left a little to be desired, the Neil Perry menu was heavy on the chilli, which you all know I'm not a fan of. 

Getting through UK passport control was easy, straight through the egate and no customs. The concierge at the taxi rank got me a cab straight away to take me to pick up the hire car, lovely lady driver (no Simon and Garfunkle pun intended) who even assisted me with my suitcase.  The team at the rental counter were great and in short order I was driving out of London in a Vauxhall Crossman, I had asked for a Peugeot 2008, but got the 'or similar' vehicle, so apart from having to Youtube how to use the cruise control,  my Android auto connects straight to the display screen so Spotify and google maps work so all is good.  

Traffic is huge and there are so many speed cameras, that you dare not  I repeat DARE NOT speed, very hard for one whose right foot is heavier than their left, for those of you unaware of this condition its medically known as right sided metatarsalmegaly.  So people, please don't complain about our speed cameras.

As I couldn't check in to the airbnb until after 2pm, I headed to Farnborough and went for a walk around  the village, I met a lovely chap with a Springer Spaniel and an English Staffie who had lived in the area his whole life and we had a great chat about Farnborough in the 60's,dogs and life in general.

After my doggie fix (yes missing the boys and Midgie) I  headed across the road to the Change of Horses (can't keep me out of the village pub!!) for lunch, I had a ploughmans and a pint of the local ale and was so fortified for the next item on my Farnborough agenda - a trip to St Giles.

So I parked the car and walked into the churchyard to spend some time with my family. My grandparents grave is definitely in a state of disrepair, but the family have done what they can, within the heritage listing and diocese draconian rules and regulations to put it back together. So I picked some wild bluebells and cow parsley and spent some time catching up with grandma and grandad.

After quietly communing with the rest of the departed family I headed down to the church for some quiet contemplation, only to find the door locked, I couldn't believe it, my parish church not open to its parishioners, is this what the Church of England has come to, can't change a grave and can't go into the church to pray unless there's a service on.  Well stuff that, I'm scattering dads ashes in the church meadows and putting some on his parents grave, I  don't give a hoot about their rules and bloody regulations now, yes Lesley was royally pissed!!

Anyway I drove to Swanley and  checked in to my accommodation, Sarah and Frank are really nice people and the room is lovely.  Mick and Sue phoned,they had arrived and are staying at the premier inn, so I organised to have dinner with them.  

So after a long hot shower and feeling human again, I set off to meet them. We spent a wonderful evening catching up before I headed home for bed.

Now today is a new day and I'm going to do some shopping and then go for a long walk.

The burning question,  do I want to come back to Kent to live??  The answer is NO, but more of that later. I'm off for breakfast.