Blimey, it's March already

How did that happen? It was only Christmas last week. But the sun is out, the leaves are beginning to show, and spring looks like its on way. Or not too far around the corner anyway.

So in the last week, I've been about a bit. Gordon and I went away last weekend for a short break down to the Cotswolds, staying in Stow on the Wold and poking around nearby Bourton on the Water.

Really nice little places, but I ate too much.

Came back on Tuesday, then it was Nadine's birthday on Wednesday.

Ate too much again in a rather excellent tapas restaurant in Purley, although I did resume my swimming campaign in the morning in anticipation that I would probably stuff my face. So the 1km in the water probably meant that I felt marginally less bloated than I would have done, had I not gone.

And I dragged her up onto Box Hill in the afternoon so that she got some fresh air into her lungs. Left to her own devices, she would have stayed in bed.

Thursday was physio day. Twice, and both hurt but it is definitely making a difference to my leg and my wrist.

Iain turned up on Thursday afternoon. He's a mate from a motorcycle ride across Africa last year, and later across Europe and Asia. Whilst Nadine, Gordon and I rode small bikes, he and Debz ( his girlfriend) rode in a sidecar, which they shipped back from Miami. It arrived at Chatham docks last week, so Iain (who lives way up north) stayed with us overnight, then he and I drove over to Chatham to retrieve it on Friday. it was so cold down there on the estuary.

Its was surprisingly easy to get out of the freight yard, and it started without any trouble which was great news.

And in the warehouse there were several interesting imported vehicles, like this Delorean ( very ugly steel car, made in Northern Ireland and underwritten by the British government in an attempt to kick start and industry there and create jobs back in the 1980s.)

The only cool thing about that car were the gull wings, which were shut on this model.But this little three wheeled Messerschmidt made up for all of that; it was mint.

Its been years since I went to Chatham Dockyard. I was taken there as a small child to see the ships on an open day when  it was still a working shipyard, but now it is more of a freighting dock dealing with scrap metal and industrial hardware. and its huge. There has been a dockyard here for about 500 years and many of the famous fighting ships of the Royal Navy were either built or repaired here, including HMS Victory and HMS Trafalgar, and ships used in voyages of discovery, all with great names, like HMS Rattlesnake and HMS Flying Fish.

Bits of the Victorian docks are still visible too.

There are also WW2 relics, reminders of its former strategic importance.

Saturday was Nadine's birthday cook up. We were going to BBQ but it was too cold and the barbies wouldn't play ball, so we ate inside instead. The food was great, as was the company. Sue and Mike (more biker mates) and Chrissy ( arch travelling mate of Nad's) as well as Iain and us lot. A really good day, and an excellent way to round off a busy week.

 Iain

 Chrissy

 Sue

 Gordon and Mike

 Birthday girl

Wilf, pulling a face as usual

And because she's Australian and so very easy to wind up, we made Nadine a special birthday cake, based on a picture a kiwi had sent me. Look closely at the West island of New Zealand......

And finally, on Sunday, Nadine and I talked to a motorcycle club in Hampshire about our ride to Mongolia last summer. They were nice people, and very generous, and the money we collected                                 (including a speaker fee which they insisted on paying us although we said we didn't want it) has been donated to a charity helping street kids in Ulan Bataar. The nearby pub was right on the Hampshire /West Sussex border, literally; the line goes through the actual building.

And it Monday again now......time for another week of stuff.