Ein kleine background information

Eastbourne September 2009

Ok, so this isn't really "our" travels as there was no Richard present, but the journal helped him visualise what the holiday was like. Over to the journal...

So it begins...

Jaine is going to Eastbourne with her parents and brother. They are travelling down by coach and are staying full board at the Queens Hotel on the prom! There will be excursions!! Jaine and her mother are to be "roomies"!!!

It will be an interesting trip...

The day before the trip

Jaine arrived back "at base" after a lovely few days, with Richard, housesitting for Janet and Andy in Chorley. All she had to do now was to pack - she had a weight limit of 33lbs and was, quite unbelievably, under her allowance by the time everything was packed.

She had to get to her parents by 08:45 the next day, so an early-ish night was in order!

It's a long way to Eastbourne

The journey down took about seven hours all told, including breaks for food and "comfort". Luckily, Jaine had her iPod and so a lot of the time passed quickly, or else she read her book.

Jaine was sharing with her mother, and her brother was in with Dad in another room somewhere else in the hotel. The rooms were ok: function over style but they were clean, and the beds were comfy.

Both Jaine and Michael thought the Hotel smelled of wee as they'd arrived. The rooms/beds didn't though, so all was well.

After a very nice dinner, the four of them went for a walk along the pier and listened to the 1812 Overture with a firework display backdrop. Once over, they went back to the Hotel for a nightcap then off to bed. Jaine and her mum sat up drinking hot chocolate and chatting. Jaine was surprised to hear that her parents had not had a honeymoon. Hmmm, it would be nice to give them one now, even if they had been married for almost 45 years!

Tomorrow was an excursion!

Leonardslee, Lewes, Horsham and Battle 

Jaine reflected on the past couple of days as she sat under an old oak tree, eating a packed lunch, in the grounds of Pashley Manor.

The day before had been spent "at leisure" in Eastbourne. Jaine and Michael had gone to find an internet cafe in the morning and met up with their folks later, for a Sussex Cream Tea and a walk along the pier. It was very blowy, despite it being September and the sun being hot, and the Camera Obscura was closed.

The previous day's excursion was to Leonardslee Gardens, via Lewes, a lovely little olde-worlde town they hadn't stopped in, and then a trip to Horsham, which was, by no stretch of the imagination, lovely, little or olde-worlde!

The gardens were fabulous, especially the doll's house exhibition depicting a Victorian scene. House, school, shops - there was everything there all perfectly scaled down and with the most finite detail. They also had wallabies, deer, lakes and lovely flowers in the gardens, not in the dolls house though!

So...today's excursion had been to Battle and Pashley Manor. Battle was a lovely little town, but they were unable to stop long enough to see the battlefield or the Abbey. Jaine and the family visited the museum, however, which was very good as well as Benji's cafe. Jaine bought her mum a fridge magnet.

Pashley Manor was stunning. The house could not be visited due to it being a private residence but a very pleasant few hours were spent exploring the 20-some acres of gardens, lakes and impressive sculptures.

The end dawneth

A very early start for our Eastbourne Massive - brekky at 07:30, ready to depart at 08:30. They arrived back home at 16:15. Another long day. (A plus point for Jaine was stopping off at Oxford Services - a nice services which reminded her of her days at Orbis when she would stop here on the way to the Head Office).

A few reflections

Eastbourne itself is not to Jaine's liking. There is nothing to do, it's quite run-down in the main town area, and there are few pubs, just hotels. They didn't even have the usual seaside tat on the pier, but you can buy a snazzy twinset or glass sculpture figurine.

Michael said that the Camera Obscura was rubbish on the pier, and the telescope was broken.

The beach was vast and must have stretched to about 3 miles or so. No sand, just stones and shingle but popular and the water seemed clear.

Mike and Dad had a seagull visit them every morning. They named it Steven in honour of one of mum's actor crushes (think about it).

Mike has a cutting sense of humour. The rather dire evening entertainer asked the hotel patrons (average age 87) "So, how long have you been here?" to which Mike replied, under his breath, "about a million years". The next question received Mike's quiet response, "Not a moment too soon" (he asked when someone was going home). Not, Jaine was quick to point out, a slur against their parents!

Mike doesn't like wasps! The lunch stop on the way home was fraught with waspy woes. Michael was given a tray by his mother with which to whack the pesky blighters. Strangely, she soon regretted this as she was almost knocked off her chair when Mike took up the attack.

Hmmm, would we see our dynamic duo travelling again soon? Will the whole family go away again? Will Mike ever get over his fear of wasps...for answers to all these questions, and more, tune in to the next blog (with the exception of the last question: of course he won't!!)