Sun, 06 Apr 2003

author Tim	location Cricklewood, Greater London, England
posted 08:22 BST 08/04/03	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/Essex and East Anglia ( all photos )

A Day at the Races ( 42 photos )
The breakfast was good, as we discovered upon waking on Sunday. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, but eating in the conservatory at the back of the house was still very pleasant, munching on home-made bread covered in peach jam. The franting ringing of the massive church tower just across the road somehow seemed to make it a great Sunday.
Again we loaded Percy, and were waved of by the land-lady with words of "make sure you tell your friends about us" and a genuine smile. So, we travelled onwards, destination this time Norwich.

Since I keep getting it confused, let me explan that Norwich is the main city in the county of Norfolk. The city itself seemed that it could be explored in one of two ways - either (as we did) rather quickly, taking in the two main tourist sites - the Castle and the imposing Anglican Cathedral, or very slowly over two days or so. This latter approach would leave you time to see through the many interesting several hundered year old buildings which are dotted around.
But were were in a hurry, so we noted that the castle was closed until 1pm, and used it instead as a vantage point over the city, allowing us to spot and then walk to the cathedral. Arriving there, we noted that a service was underway (it being a Sunday and all), so had a look around the grounds before returning to the car, locked deep in an under-ground parking vault.

Next stop was the aim of the weekend's travels - Snetterton circuit, twenty miles south-west of Norwich.
Neither Liz or I were prepared for just how much fun we were going to have here - I'm a self-confessed "it's just a bunch of cars driving around in a circle" kind of person, but this was something different entirely.
As we arrived, some mini-formula 1 cars (presumably formula 3 or 4 or something) were screaming around the track, and we were able to wander across the pit lane to see them driving down the back straight at 100mph about two metres away from us. The signs "hearing protection must be worn" seemed like good advice, but nobody was following them.
After these cars came a Ferrari race - plenty of horsepower, not much grace, as was evident by the which caught on fire driving down the back straight (that's going to be expensive), and the one which failed to make it out of a turn properly, plummeting straight through a tire barrier and causing the race to be cancelled.
Friend Greg from work was busy tinkering with his car while these other races were going on, but eventually it was his turn (note the Aussie flag proudly displayed next to his surname Clough!). His car had three drivers who did fourty-minute stints throughout the four hour race.
The length of time went amazingly quickly, as Liz and wandered around the inside of the track, trying to find the vantage which offered a good view combined with protection from the biting wind. Plenty could offer the former, but none the latter.
At one stage, Greg offered me the keys to his newly-purchased motor scooter, which I happily accepted. Never having ridden anything more powerful than an eighteen-speed mountain bike, this was an interesting challenge to me. I was just coming back from a few loops around the carpark to pick up Liz when it stalled. Out of fuel apparently. Either that or someone up in the sky was warning me that motorised two-wheeled transport is not for me. So, we handed the keys back, but Liz has already decided that she wants one.
Despite starting in third-last place (the positions were drawn out of a hat), by the end of Greg's fourty minutes he was in first position, even after taking a knock from another driver and finding himself spinning in the rough. The other driver was out for half an hour or so as they bolted bits of his car back on.
At the end of the race, Greg's team was almost a whole lap clear of second place, Greg had set the lap record, and the team quite rightfully held their trophies proudly (Greg on right).
Liz and I are now both keen to get to Bathurst when we next make it home, in keeping with the tradition we have never quite managed to take part in.
Liz decided that the cold was too much, so we piled back in the car as I drove us home. I was secretly glad that she wasn't driving, after being just a little too excited about the fast cars all day!

We headed back to London.

author Tim	location Cricklewood, Greater London, England
posted 08:22 BST 08/04/03	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/Essex and East Anglia ( all photos )

Out to Norfolk ( 16 photos )
Awaking Saturday morning, we had a great breakfast and chatted about all sorts of things, including how they thought that I look like Dad (no way!), and of course how they remember when I was born. It's always great to visit distant family friends and somehow feel like you are home.
We took some photos around the place, Les commandered me to fix a couple of things on his computer, before we said our goodbyes, loaded up Percy and traveled ever onwards.
Opting to really just drive straight up the coast towards our destination, we looked around a few small villages and enjoyed driving on the back roads of England once again. Stopped for lunch at a great sea-side pub where we had one of the best pub meals yet, and finally made it to our B&B at Winterton-on-Sea.

This great little place came complete with house-cat, home-made preserves and very friendly land-lady, making it a very relaxing weekend away from the hussle and bussle of London.
We walked down to the sea, where we struggled down the steep sand banks to the beach, before performing the now obligatory stick-your-hand-in-the-sea-to-find-out-how-much-colder-than-Cronulla-it-is trick. It was plenty colder.
Walking back through the one-shop, one-pub village, we noticed a road called "The Lane", which sounds even smaller than the signs we had noticed in two other villages for "The Street". Small-town England at it's best.
That night, we walked up to The Pub and found that everyone from 50 miles around must have decided this was a good pub. No seats, and a couple of old ladies also looking for tables that we would have had to push out of the way to get one when one became available. This, coupled with the fact this was 7:30 and The Pub was only going to be open until 11pm anyway, meant that we decided to just get a couple of bottles of wine at The Shop and head back to the B&B.
Our stomachs were saved by the Les-and-Pearl provided care package, comprising sausage rolls and apples, which proved to be more than enough after our massive lunch. Besides, we had a full English Breakfast awaiting us in the morning.

author Tim	location Cricklewood, Greater London, England
posted 08:22 BST 08/04/03	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/Essex and East Anglia ( all photos )

Hi Les and Pearl ( No photos )
(Continued from Working in London 1)
Friday night Liz succeeded in driving in to pick me up from work - much better than last time! We drove onwards, juggling between maps to work out how to get to Les and Pearl's place. A few wrong turns later, we arrived at 24 Hayburn Way, at the end of a dead-end in Hornchurch.
By the time we arrived, Pearl buried us in food, and that was about all our bodies could take, crashing to bed relatively early. It was strange to think that this was probably the same bed that Mum and Dad slept in way back when they were over here.

(customised)