Spent the first week in the UK finding a home, getting settled in and meeting the staff at my new uni, University of Bradford. Then I had four weeks to catch up with family, friends and do some sightseeing in my new home! Yay!
Family & Friends
My son came all the way from Brisbane to visit me!! This was a great way to start off my time in England.
Also got to meet my mum’s best friend of 69 years, and mum’s cousin as well as many relatives and friends of my husband. So many cups of tea, pub dinners, and glasses of wine!
The real highlight was meeting family that until last year I did not know existed!! Two older brothers and a sister; and nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews from my father’s previous marriage in England. My father’s family had not heard from him since he left for Australia in 1960. Photos, memories, filling in the pieces, history coming together. The family tree expanding, and expanding. And an invite to Christmas lunch with my English family!!
Sightseeing
What an amazing four weeks. I travelled from Darlington in the North, to Maidstone, Liverpool, Wirral and Crawley in the South, and over the border to Wales, through the South Lakes and Peaks Districts, and many small historic villages in-between.
Through city and country, farming, lakes and seaside villages, mountain views and dense English forests, single-lane rock-wall lanes (scary), windy roads and fast moving motorways. Historic buildings, castles, churches, grave yards, and canals. All of it amazing and beautiful!! All so very very green and lush.
Jumped on a Monarch plane and visited bustling busy Barcelona for 5 nights where my daughter is living at the moment. Stayed in the Gotic area; where the architecture seems to change from building to building, very detailed, ornate, beautiful and full of history. Country Horsecamp Qld is certainly a world away from the narrow streets and the dense population of Barcelona. It’s great to have cities like these only a short plane journey away.
What an experience. What an opportunity studying abroad has given me.
