Southend and Surrounds with the Smiths

Monday dawned grey and overcast.  I woke about 5.00 and went for a walk to Shoeburyness which is at the far end of the front as Southend.  I had to find out what all the sticks I could see in the distance were. 
Turned out that they were Yacht masts - the yachts being stored out of the water in the middle of an avenue.

 

Jean drove Billy and his Dad to the Premier Inn and then went on with Bill to park close to the pier and Billy Brian and I walked up to meet them.  Jean, Bill and I went down the longest pier in the world on the train and Billy and Brian walked.  We meet up at the terminus of the train and wandered around for a while, took some photos and explored the only shop - the Lifeboats -  but it was pretty cold with a strong wind.  Took some photos and agreed with Billy and Jean that the building on the end of the pier is a monstrosity and that someone with a bit of vision needs to take over the business management of this important site.  Bill and Jean trained it back and the three of us walked.  We met up for coffee in the Royals Shopping centre, then went across to an old family establishment for lunch.  By this time it was raining and it didn't stop until we were leaving Southend.

We adjourned for coffee at the Clifton Pavilion which now houses a theatre.  Would be lovely on a sunny day!

Tuesday was consequently an 'indoor' activity day.  First port of call was the Museum.  I was impressed by the standard of the displays and loved the one which talked about the fishing industry.  Came across a letter written by Disralie which took my fancy:

Your oysters were worthy of Roman Emperors and I have little doubt that it was these very green primed natives that impelled them to invade Britain and I fear conquer Essex.  They are delicious and I am ashamed to add I devoured most of them myself.  Your oblig.servt., Disralie.

Lunch was in another great restaurant which Billy and Jean have frequented over the years they have lived in Southend.  Nothing like local knowledge to help you discover the good places to eat!

Then off to the Prittlewell Priory which dates from the 12th century.  It was built for the Cluniac Monks, destroyed by Henry VIII and became a country estate for a Victorian family.  Was finally given to Southend Community by a wealthy businessman.  The dinning hall has been restored to its original character, and the remainder as part of the country house.  It has some beautiful timber and is very impressive.  It is set in a beautiful park with fantastic walled gardens which are now coming into bloom with spring flowers.  Jean took a photo of me under the Laburnum arch.  Don't like me, but love the Laburnum!  Also saw some beautiful peonies.




 






















Wednesday, we had breakfast at Chez Smith.  Breakfast at the Premier Inn was not the best.  Scrambled eggs with lots of runny milk floating on top - yuk!  Then after saying goodbye to Billy and Jean - the most fantastic hosts - we headed of to Wivenhoe with Bill.  Drove down to the village and had lunch at a delightful pub, dropped him off and headed for our boutique hotel - Le Bouchon in Maldon - very salubrious to these hardened old youth hostel type backpackers!

 

The Joys of Long Haul Flights

Well we made it through the two long haul flights with only general exhaustion as the major negative. We had a small hitch at Sydney airport security when Customs and Border Protection confiscated a 250 ml container of mouth wash and a 250g of moisturising cream. Poor planning on my part because the international regulations stipulate no more than 100ml and 100g. I am at a loss to understand that if a some dangerous device can be constructed with 250ml or 250g then what is the impediment to constructing a similar device with only 100ml or 100g. In fact it beggars the imagination that any device could be made up using mouth wash and moisturising cream but perhaps some chemist reading this might enlighten me, although I would still be puzzled as to how a lesser quantity (ie < 100ml or 100g) couldn’t be used as the same recipe with pro rata consequences. The nice man from border protection told us these were government regulations and they were only doing their job – I think this is known as the Nuremberg Defence.

We had a good recovery phase at the hotel in Incheon. On this occasion it was not the Hyatt but the Songdo Park Hotel some 30 minutes by bus from the terminal. There were few lay over guests from the Australian flight but the hotel seemed reasonably busy with guests from other sources.

Our second leg from Seoul to London went well and despite lots of turbulence made good time by getting us there 30 minutes earlier although this gain was eaten up by a long trip across the Heathrow tarmacs seeking a suitable bay to off load its valuable but exhausted cargo. In the immigration hall as European citizens we were two of about a dozen arrivals and processed electronically by a passport reading and photographic device. After that we sailed through customs (nothing to declare) gate and twenty minutes later we were on our way to our hotel for our final recovery phase which was more than welcome. The next day the Hertz man, obviously believing that we had just flown in from Australia, was sufficiently surprised to comment how fresh we looked after our voyage. We couldn’t have been that fresh or alert because he managed to sell us an upgrade from a Vauxhall Corsa to an almost new Nissan ‘Note’ hatchback complete with factory installed GPS system. We then had a pleasant Sunday drive from Heathrow to Southend despite it being a long week end (Whitsun I believe). Weather dry but with temperatures about the same as Canberra.

Therese picked us up about 12.00 on Thursday and dropped us at the Jolimont centre in time to board the bus which departed at 1.00 pm.  The journey was good until we hit the peak hour traffic jam on the M5 near the airport tunnel.

As this was the start of our ‘white sheet’ holiday, I found the Rydges Hotel at Sydney airport very comfortable.  Janiece and Pat Jacobs joined us for a farewell dinner which was the early bird special.  It was delicious and reasonably priced.

Next morning we decided to leave breakfast until after we had checked in.  Things went well until Brian’s run in with Customs and Border Protection. 

I’ll skip details of the flights but want to add that the change of hotel was a bit of a surprise – the Hyatt at Incheon has been where we have stayed in the past but there is nothing to divert you there other than the hotel.  This time we were taken to what was labelled the Incheon Free Economic Zone IFEZ on all the signs.  It is obviously a new city/suburb with some fantastic shaped buildings and loads of Hong Kong style apartment buildings.  Opposite the Hotel was “Central Park”

and we explored it after breakfast which while not as fantastic as the one at the Hyatt was very good.  Brian says it was less hectic than the one at the Hyatt, but I still prefer the former.  Getting back to the park; it is quite large and is in the classic Asian style very similar to the Chinese Garden in Darling Harbour.  There are classic Asian pavilions placed at strategic points –two over the water in the middle of the garden and two on the high points at the top of some hills. The plantings are Azaleas and conifers and there are rocks in various places similar to the ones in New York’s Central Park.    About half way round we came across a plaque giving details of the ‘Eric Stanley’ Bridge.  The plaque stated that he had been extremely important to the establishment of the IFEZ – and I couldn’t help wondering if he had been in Korea during the war and had gone back to help after or whether he was part of an American Government project to help keep the communists out of South Korea.  My guess is that it would have been the former because there was no mention of USA Government and as we all know, Government funded programs always demand

recognition of their contributions.

The Aurora Hotel was very nice, but the air-conditioning was set too high at 24 degrees and neither of us slept very well.  No doubt part of that was due to the jet lag as well.

Collected the car on Saturday morning.  It is a pillar box red Nissan – small but very comfortable AND it has a Navman installed which was a boon for us when we travelled down to Southend on Sea on Sunday.  We came via the M25 and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic until we got close to Southend.

We arrived too early to get into our room, so walked along the promenade and dropped into The Britannia Hotel for a bacon sandwich and a beer.  Then back to the Premier Inn to settle in before going around to Billy and Jean’s house.  We had a lovely surprise to see that Billy had been up to collect Bill from Wivenhoe.  Billy and Jean fed us very well and then Jean drove us back to the Hotel where we had the best night’s sleep since leaving home.  Woke up at 4.30am rather than  1.00 or 2.00 am in London.