15 May Eastbourne to London

The conference finished around midday. I had given my two papers and done all the things that people do at conferences, including drinking too much coffee. Although I was offered a ride to the station with some friends, I decided to walk and enjoy the fresh Eastbourne air, in preparation for breathing London air later. I travelled with Erwin, who pointed out his old school as the train went past. We said goodbye at Clapham Junction, and I recited my favourite Clapham Junction poem for him. “If all the trains at Clapham Junction were suddenly to cease to function, all the people at the station would fail to reach their destination”. Perfectly true, if somewhat self-evident. I changed trains and got myself to Barnes Bridge, but when I got there I found the phone reception was just like in Stroud, so I couldn’t text Anna to meet me at the station. Nor could I pick up my email to her explaining the route I was going to take. In fact all I could get was GPS, so I used this to circumnavigate Barnes Bridge twice before I managed to run into her not far from where I originally started from. Perhaps my GPS thought I needed to walk off the desserts I had been eating at Eastbourne.

Anna had Bella Lonsdale Hayes with her, who is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen (nearly as cute as mine were at that age), so we chatted happily as we walked back to their house. I had seen it in its earlier incarnation as a building site, so it was great to see how it had emerged as a fully fledged house. Bella and I had quite a bit of catching up to do, as I hadn’t seen her since I was in Otaki, so we chatted for a while, and I told her about my trip, as she was too young to read my blog. Either that, or Anna and Kieran wouldn’t let her. It started raining towards end of the day time, and poor Kieran arrived home soaking wet, but he scooped up Bella and flung her into a bath and somehow disposed of her for the evening. Kieran is my absolutely favourite tall cousin-in-law living in London.

Anna had cooked up something delicious (I love visiting them – they will never get rid of me now) and Kieran poured me something delicious and somehow the evening disappeared into a pleasant miasma of wine and good food. I slept on the sofa bed and sunk into the kind of feather delight that I dreamed of when I checked into the London hotel in Stroud. I actually wondered if I would need scuba gear, the descent was so pleasant.

I hope you like the photo of Kieran showing us his guns.

13 and 14 May Eastbourne

Things nearly got ugly today. The taxi was booked for 6.30 so I stood outside the hotel from 6.20 just in case it came early, which it didn’t. Actually by 6.45 it seemed to me it wouldn’t come at all, and I was in a panic, as the train was leaving at 6.56. Fortunately a knight rode past on a white steed just at that moment, and asked if everything was okay. I explained my problem, hoping he would put me on his steed and take me to the railway station, but instead, he told me to call 118118 and ask for help. What amazing services modern knights have at their disposal – I was asked what I needed, and before I could think of all the life-saving events I could request (such as a holiday in Paris), I told them I needed a taxi to the station, and to cut a long story extremely short, a taxi arrived within a few minutes, I paid the driver and walked to the ticket office, purchased a ticket, walked on to the train, and the doors closed. Phew. I looked for the lady selling coffees and croissants but she didn’t appear, so I caught up on my emails and learned how to play Sudoku in case it came in handy. It didn’t.

The Cavendish Hotel was everything I expected it to be, so I ironed my clothes, checked the programme (my first paper was at 2.30 that day), and had a cup of tea. My room had a stunning view of the sea and a verandah for sniffing at the sea air and taking photos from. Phew.

The next morning I walked along the foreshore before breakfast, but I wasn’t allowed on the pier. Apparently there weren’t enough staff to catch me if I fell.