Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

A few more things have been ordered and delivered to make life comfortable here in our flat. We now have a washing machine, TV and PVR (so we don’t get locked into a timetable). Some smaller items (like drying stands, bathroom cabinets, etc.) are also in and installed. In amongst all this we’ve had the pleasure of Bao’s company for a couple of days. A lot less gets done when she’s around but that doesn’t matter at all. We have a few pics and video but we’ll put them together next week once she heads off to Australia. We also were visited by another of Helen’s sisters which was a pleasure.

I’ve had a couple of visits to the local GPs. One was to have my bite looked at. I was definitely infected. Good old penicillin was prescribed and it’s done a lot of good. The doctor also accepted the referral from the specialist in South Africa for my shoulder ‘impingement’ and agreed to arrange a physio. This morning, Helen and I had an extended visit with our assigned GP to fill him in on the past year, the arrangements we’ve already made here in the UK, and other issues (like my knees which are beginning to cause trouble). He agreed the approach we’d take to get on Prof. Linch’s books and ordered a referral letter which will connect them up and get the communications going. He also ordered X-Rays for my knees to see if anything is developing. Progress of a sorts. I think establishing the lines of communication was the biggest result as that can only help later on.

Helen and I also met up with the local ‘chapter’ of the Lymphoma Association at a nearby garden center restaurant. We met a number of carers and patients at various stages of experience from wait and see, to pre-chemo, to many year post remission. As ever, amongst our little group of fellow experiencees (my new word) the get together was jovial and upbeat and we met some interesting people. We didn’t get to spend time with nearly everyone and are looking forward to meeting the group again.

We are marching through the admin. Whole rafts of organisations being contacted to register our change of domicality / address / phone numbers, etc. Particularly with the financial institutions, each has a different way to accomplish this so it’s a bit of a chore tracking all the various streams of activity. A little way into this I realized we’ll be doing it all again by year end so I back tracked and started making detailed records of everything I was doing so it will be a lot easier next time. One thing we’ve learned, and got pretty annoyed about, is the shift towards premium rate phone numbers for all customer support here in the guise of free phone numbers. It seems everyone is doing it. After spending years in so many different countries, we’ve arrived back to what seems to be a rip off culture. Maybe it’s just a part of land life that’s evolved in our absence that we’re just going to learn how to accommodate. And don’t get me onto how we’ve been scammed by the car hire company.

Looking ahead. More family visits. Bao again tomorrow and the last of Helen’s sisters to meet. Nephew Simon is flying down from Edinburgh to help us buy a car. Next Monday is a big day as it is our first appointment with Prof. Linch to continue my Lymphoma care and, more importantly, begin to advance our understanding of prospects which in turn will feed into our other streams of thought.

We have not yet looked at other houses but while out and about we’ve been taking side trips to get superficial looks at some of the nearby towns and villages. Immediate settlement and family have taken priority for the last week and continue to do so. I’m guessing that sometime next week we’ll be in a position to begin looking at individual houses and looking at towns in detail.

On Thursday we headed off to Borough Market (near London Bridge) as Ben was on a mission to pick up some exotic and very expensive beer for a friend of his. Borough Market is an exotic food and beverage market and it was quite interesting to see the various items on offer. Ben did find the beers he was after so the mission was a success.

Around the corner was the Golden Hind (Francis Drake’s old ship) which I had hoped to visit. I private tour was going on at the time so we could only walk around the outside and take pictures.

From there we walked along the south bank over to Tower Bridge. On the far side we visited Katherine’s Dock. While we have no aspirations to sail to England and up the Thames we know one or two who might so it was nice to see the last stop up the river for sail boats.

We ate lunch there, most having fish and chips. Ben also wanted to visit the London office of company he works for. That was just around the corner to where Helen and I worked together meeting for the first time. We popped by there to show the kids this little piece of family history.

Ben visited his London office and the rest of us headed back to Camden where we relaxed for the rest of the day. In the evening John brought Bao round so we could all have some last contact time.

Yesterday, Friday, we had a few visitors. Before any of them arrived the five of us took a walk along the canal covering a good distance towards King’s Cross before turning back. Amy’s friend, Alison, was the first to arrive having flown over from Ireland where she currently works. Next to join was Helen’s travel companion from long ago, Geraldine. We all headed to Camden Market for lunch. There John joined us as did the kid’s cousin Adrian. We ended up in the pub for most of the afternoon.

In the evening the kids all went off to a club in London returning at around 5am this morning.

So it’s now Saturday. Helen and my last day in the Uk for some time. We’ll wake the kids around 10am (on prior agreement), sort ourselves out and vacate the place we’ve rented. We’ll have a brunch somewhere before parting ways. They have a hostel booked in London for their last two days. Helen and I will return to her sister’s place where the rest of our luggage sits. Betty will take us to the airport this afternoon. We fly out around 8pm.

We’ll arrive in New Zealand (horribly tired no doubt) Monday morning. The boat parts are still in customs awaiting our arrival in order to sign off for them. As we make our way from the airport to Whangarei I hope to get this all sorted out over the phone. Somehow I have a mountain of paperwork stacked up to sort out when we arrive. Yach.

On Saturday morning I headed off to the airport to pick up Ben, Sam and Amy. Overnight Chesham, where we are staying, had a record low temperature. By the time I set off it had warmed to a balmy -13C. There was some trouble on the motorway but I took an alternative route to the airport and made it with plenty of time to spare as the plan was a bit late too.

It was obviously great to see Ben and Sam again and to meet Amy for the first time.

Back at Betty’s we had some time together before family started tickling in to meet up. John, Ella and Bao all arrived too so it was a great get together.

The kids were keen to occupy their time so yesterday we took a trip over to Bletchley Park where all the WWII decryption of the Enigma traffic took place. They now have a working replica of the Bombe machine that was used to hunt down the Enigma keys. Fascinating piece of electromechanical wizardry.

Today we’re off to Hampton Court to have a look at that piece of British history.