An uneventful flight landed us at Heathrow, picking up a rental car and heading to our overnight stop in Salisbury. This historic town had much to offer and we enjoyed wandering the streets, heading out to explore Old Sarum before pointing our noses south towards Southampton, enjoying a couple of National Trust adventures on the way. Once again, we had joined the Heritage NZ site that gave us reciprocal free access to National Trust and English Heritage properties. Even though we only had two weeks iin the UK, we made sure to get our money’s worth – some lovely places to visit and enjoy.

Our ultimate destination was to care for two delightful doggie companions in Hedge End while their parents enjoyed a well deserved break overseas. Arthur (Schneagle) and Dexter (Poogle) were welcoming and great company over the 6 days we were with them. Each had their own personality, Dexter being very keen to enjoy his walks, Arthur less so, definitely dragging his heels over the last km or so. But they were lovely boys and we felt very accepted by them. One time out walking, I had to visit a shop, so told Chris to carry on with the dogs and I’d catch up. No way were they continuing on without both of us, they sat and refused to move until I returned. We had set routes they knew well, especially the places to stop for treats! We were able to get out a few times to explore the local area, driving through the New Forest one day, down to Buckler’s Hard Village and a short river cruise on the Beaulieu River, hearing some of the history of the the area, particularly during WW2. This was a pretty area, and a nice place to explore briefly.

All to soon, it was time to move on – dropping our car back at Heathrow and enjoying a couple of days enjoying the sights of Windsor. The temperatures were rising to the mid-30’s in England too, thankfully not the extremes or France, but still unpleasantly hot in our accommodation. We made sure that we got out early to avoid the worst of the heat, and found shelter where we could. We gasped at the entry fee to visit Windsor Castle (£36.00 each) but decided we were probably never going to have the opportunity again so headed there for the 10am opening time, joining the mid-week crowds wandering the rooms, courtyards and displays. We did enjoy seeing the history so well displayed and explained. There was a lot to see, and felt justified in the splurge on the tickets. As is often the case in historical buildings, photos were not permitted to be taken inside – we are rule followers, but many are not.

We left the confines of the castle to grab some outside views of the Estate – stopping at a traditional pub for a cold drink but turning down an expensive lunch (supermarket sandwiches did the trick!) and deciding that photos of the “Long Walk” on a hot day were better than doing it! We still had a lot more walking to do, so in the afternoon we crossed the river to wander through Eton village as far as the College before another cold drink on the riverside.

Leaving Windsor by train, we headed to Wimbledon for our next housesit. The local train was packed with tennis goers as finals weekend was getting started. We felt underdressed in our travel clothes, lugging our full bags on and off the train and avoiding all these well heeled, beautifully dressed tennis fans. Awaiting us was the delightful Frank, a very laid back cockerpoo who welcomed us to our weekend stopover just 2 minutes from the heart of Wimbledon Village. We enjoyed an introductory wander of the suburb, spotting the complex of flats where our son lives (but he was out of the country this weekend) and then past Court One and Centre Court, packed with people enjoying this spectacle. It gave us a good feel for the area our son resides in and the buzz of the Wimbledon season. This was a very short housesit, but we were able to take Frank out to the Common both days. He was a very good walker and no trouble at all for the time we looked after him. It’s always good to have wonderful canine companions and enjoy home comfort cooking and laundry facilities after so long travelling.

After a couple of very uncomfortable accommodation experiences in France and England, we realised that we had to ensure onward travel choices included air-conditioning as the heat was making life very uncomfortable, especially trying to sleep in hot stuffy rooms. Thankfully, our pre-booked hotel in Kensington gave us space and a cool environment, in a great location. 10 Minutes from Earls Court station, we enjoyed our 4 night stay as a good base to explore the local area and well connected for further afield travels. I’d recommend the basement rooms to anyone looking for space and convenience. Our son was back from his travels/work and we were able to spend a day exploring parts of London with him, covering a lot of ground via walking and public transport. We started off at the British Museum, thankfully accessing the back entrance which was a lot less crowded, enjoyed lunch in Seven Dials, wandered the Thames embankment finding hidden places such as Temple Arch that I’d spotted on Instagram posts, taking in a great vista of the city from the free viewing platform at Horizon 22, £5 spritzes from a quirky bar in Soho, and finally dinner in Covent Garden … 22,000 steps later we stumbled back to our hotel, promising ourselves a lighter day the next.

Our lighter day started with a wander towards Kensington Palace and then on through to Hyde Park, then to Harrods – which we had visited very briefly 3 years previously and I was keen to visit their food court again, This time it didn’t seem quite as impressive (especially after visiting similar types in Tokyo which seemed far more extensive!) We stopped off in Kensington High Street to explore the shops and I wandered into UniQlo (again not a patch on the Japanese originals) – Chris climbed the stairs to the men’s and, unimpressed, headed down again, but halfway down suffered a very painful and unexpected calf muscle tear. He was able to take a seat and incapacitated, we decided we must call our Travel Insurance first to get an idea of what to do now. There was a doctor 2 minutes away we were able to get into; he prescribed some painkillers and gave a referral for a scan to be done. We ubered back to the hotel where Chris hobbled in with assistance, finding an ice pack and resting on the bed trying to process what was happening. This threw a huge spanner in our plans – if he was mobility impaired, it would make things very difficult. We found a local NHS Emergency Department the following morning, expecting that would take up most of the rest of the day. Thankfully, he was seen by a triage nurse, and then a doctor within 3-4 hours, prescribed further medications and given a pair of crutches, and assured that our onward travel starting the following day was fine to continue with. While Chris got himself back to the hotel, I was able to head to my planned activity, Camden Markets. Again, for a weekday, the place was very busy but I was able to enjoy wandering the stalls, getting lots of free food samples (didn’t need to buy lunch!) and taking in the vibe. It was interesting but not that exciting – but good that I was still able to get out rather than sit in ED all day.

It was sad to end our time in England on such a low note, but we felt taken care of by the NHS and our insurance company, and thankful we could continue onwards to Germany for our final couple of weeks in Europe.