Tim and Gem's Honeymoon Adventure: Back to the motherland, UK December 8-26

So the time finally came for us to return to our second home, the UK. We had been excited about this part of the trip as it felt like we were returning home. Before settling in London for a couple of weeks, we decided that we would do a little road trip and see some more of the UK as we didn’t see near as much as we wanted to when we lived there.

We landed and headed straight to the rental car counter and an hour later, and after being bombarded with upgrade options (upgrades that were more expensive for a day then our car was for a week) we finally had our keys and were in our little, weird black car that resembled the love child of a smart car and a van.

After finally realizing the GPS was set on route for walking (after it telling us to perform u-turns over medium strips) we had it set correct and were on the motorway south to Dover.

It didn’t take too long and we were at Dover, famous for its white cliffs and its port. We arrived though and it was dark, so the cliffs would have to wait until the following day, so instead we checked in (luckily there was room as I booked the wrong night) and headed to a cute little pub just across the road for a Sunday roast and a few pints before retiring for the night.

We were only staying in Dover for a night, so the following morning we rose early, had breakfast and a good chat with the family that ran the B&B and then went for a wander around town and down by the seaside.

For a town that cops a bit of slack about being a nothing town, it was actually a really cute little seaside town. With some nice beaches and lovely little seaside buildings. I think it cops a bit of a bad wrap, but in saying that, I wouldn’t want to live there as I think it would be a little too quiet.

We loaded up the car and headed to the famous white cliffs of Dover. A short 5 minute walk from the car park of a café and we were greeted with beautiful views green fields, blue oceans and then the white cliffs, which provided a vibrant contrast against the blues of the sky and the ocean.

We walked along the cliffs for a while, tried to get down to the skeleton of a ship, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible due to rocks falling and destroying the path, and took in the views of the stunning, very high cliffs. The path along here would be one of the most amazing places for morning runs!

After exploring for a while, we recharged with a tea and some scones and then were on our way to the Cotswolds.

A rather long and boring drive, we eventually made it to the Cotswolds and found our home, a beautiful 400 year old home that has been kept in the one family for 200 years.

A lovely Bulgarian lady and her English husband own the house now, and share it with the ladies Bulgarian grandmother, and their two very cute little girls.
We arrived kind of late, so after a tea and a good chat with Constantine, we headed to the local pub for a delicious feed and a couple of locally brewed ales.

The next day we had a long list of neighbouring towns to check out, each with their own charms and unique characteristics. We spent the day driving around, checking out the beautiful old towns and braving the roads of the Cotswolds which are just stupid (one and a half lanes, no lights and no room to pass, so if another car or truck comes, you’re in trouble).

The Cotwolds are known for their beautiful stone buildings, tiny town and green fields, and they definitely didn’t disappoint, even with the crappy English weather we got.

So our few days in the Cotswold passed and it was time for another long day driving on the motorways (which unfortunately aren’t as fun or as enjoyable as the autobahn) from the Cotswolds to Camelot Castle on England’s west coast.

We had to navigate some more terrible, thin roads but we eventually arrived at our next home for a few days, Camelot Castle. Yep we got to stay in a castle overlooking the sea and it was pretty cool!

We arrived before the sun had gone down, so we went for a bit of a trek out to the headlands near the castle and up to a church high up on the hill, which turned out being a great spot to see the sun go down. As soon as the sun went down, so did the temperature, so we retreated back to the hotel, had some bangers and mash for dinner and retired to our bed in a castle.

In all our time in the UK previously, we never made it over to the west coast, even though it was high on my list, so since we were here, I wanted to see an English surf beach, so we spent the day down in Newquay.
Unfortunately the elements were against us and the weather was crap, and there was no surf. It didn’t matter though; we explored the town, played some skill tester, ate some calamari and chips and wandered around the seaside town. It was pretty quiet, but in the summer, I could tell that this place would go off!

After another good nights sleep we had a short drive this time north to Clevedon just for a night. Gem relaxed and I headed down to the pier that the town is famous for and spent a couple of hours at sunset there taking photos. I found myself just across the road a couple of hours later smashing down an extremely good home made pie and refreshing pale ale.

As soon as the road trip had started, it was finishing and the following morning we were on our way back to London to spend a couple of weeks there.

We arrived in good time and made our way to central London, found our flat for the two weeks and in no time were back out the door on the way to the football with Seeds. Another thing I wanted to make sure I did while I was back, as not going to enough football games was another thing I regretted while living in London.
The atmosphere of a football game in England is like no other sporting event I have been to, everyone is so passionate and the chants and taunts are brilliant. Unfortunately though it wasn’t West Hams finest performance, and they drew 0-0 with the bottom of the table Stoke.

We were in London for two weeks, so I’m not going to go in to detail about our time there as it was spent eating, shopping, catching up with friends, drinking and just feeling at home. Unfortunately Gem was sick practically the whole time in London so it limited her activities.

We were there for Christmas and we spent it with a crew from back home who still lived in London. Deuchar and Georgia cooked up a mean feast for the 10 of us. They were so prepared and had a turkey (which they had to get up at 6am to start cooking), ham and pork, as well as a million tasty starters. We literally spent 6 hours grazing, continually eating more even though we all complained about how full we were. It was one of the tastiest Christmas lunches I have had!

After our feast, the party continued at Seed’s place where his roommates had some friends over, and by the time we arrived the party was already in full swing. We made some new friends, drank a lot and had a jolly Christmas night.

Boxing day was our last day, and luckily we pulled up alright after the early morning finish. We finalized our bags, and before we knew it we were at Heathrow, boarding our flight to Thailand, the last stop on our epic honeymoon adventure.