Hello :)
As I travel up the motorway back to Bolton with Mum and Dad I thought I would write the last blog of my travels. I'm currently lay on the bed at the back of the motorhome, it's 3:51pm and we're just north of London. If you're reading this congratulations as you have now reached the end! Unfortunately you cannot collect a bookmark from your local library for all your reading efforts over the summer holidays but I hope you've enjoyed it all the same :)
We arrived in England on Friday morning after an event free crossing at the Channel Tunnel. We were fortunate not to see any immigrants and didn't get stuck in any delays. We then drove to Brighton where almost like we had planned it Lucy and Craig hopped off a train just as we arrived in the town centre. The 5 of us then set up camp at the local campsite for the weekend :)
That afternoon we walked down to the marina which in all honesty has seen better days. After a hunt through a dodgy smelling car park we managed to reach the front and were able to walk down to Brighton town centre and pier. Surely it had to get better!
The town centre of Brighton is actually very nice in parts. The Lanes, lovely little shopping streets, are particularly nice and we had to have a drink in a bar before getting the bus back. We had a BBQ and enjoyed being together in the evening.
On Saturday we ventured into the town centre on the bus and went straight for the pier. The sun was shining and it was rather busy for an English seaside resort. The visiting clientele was somewhat diverse and colourful shall we say :) We walked along the pier encountering the obligatory floating man, psychic, hen/stag party and group of chavs. Once we made it through we found the pretty amazing theme park at the end and were able to look back at the coastline which was bustling with sun searchers! I was actually very impressed with the pier and took a number of pictures of the sign. We also all enjoyed posing in the wooden frame thingamabobs!
We made our way back down the pier to the town centre and went to meet one of mum's uni friends for lunch. We then walked around the small streets in the centre, where I purchased my last magnet of the trip, before having a piece of cake and a cuppa :)
It was then back to the site for a power nap before we got spruced up and went for a lovely meal in town. Pity the lady, or should I say fog horn, on the table next to us insisted on including us in her conversation all night. However, it did get quite entertaining when I started responding with suitable comments :)
This morning mum cooked up a great breakfast before we packed up and went to a little village called Ditchling. Lucy managed to pluck an hours walking route from thin air and after this we had lunch before dropping her and Craig off at the station. We're now about an hour and half from home where all hell will let loose as I pack up my life into two cases with a combined weight of 30kg in 5 days.
My 3 week adventure has been just what I needed after a very emotional goodbye at The Oaks. I now feel ready to move, ready to go and ready to meet new people and learn new things.
The Scenic Scandi Tour was a great experience and I throughly enjoyed my time with the group. The Norwegian Coast was breathtaking at times and is well worth a visit. Although freezing cold and wet at times I had a great laugh with the many friends I made and the buzz of chatting and meeting new people lasted the whole 2 weeks. Highlights included the bobsled, glacier hike and the whole fact I visited the Arctic Circle/North Cape of Europe. Finland wasn't that thrilling as we mainly drove through the country in two days dodging reindeer and it appeared just to be country full of forests. However, meeting Father Christmas was fab yet a little confusing and the whole thumbing a lift day was a good laugh :) When we arrived in Helsinki and then Tallinn the tour picked up again. We had a few great nights out and I absolutely loved exploring Tallinn, it's definitely on my revisit list! My day in Latvia allowed me to tick it off the list but to be honest it was a little disappointing. France was as fabulous as ever and spending the last few days with the family has been great! All in all its been a great few weeks!
A real highlight of my trip has been how many people have read and enjoyed my blog. I only write these blogs for myself so I can remember what I've done in the years to come and for my Grandma. However, at the moment she seems to be getting around and exploring just as much as me! Thank you for all your messages along the way which at times kept me going!
I wasn't joking before when I said I have 5 days to pack my life up as next Saturday I am on the 2pm flight from Manchester to Dubai. I have just made a packing list a mile long but please feel free to message me anything you think might be handy or that I might have forgotten, this is a serious request :)
I'm really looking forward to my leaving party on Friday, which now seems to have turned into a mega party, and look forward to seeing everyone there!
For now though it's time to close the blog and end my latest travelling adventure having now visited 11% of the world and 31% of Europe.
I'll be back in the future because, 'If I don't go, I'll never know.'
Tom x
Blog ended - 6:20pm - Sunday 16th August 2015
Word Count - 12,699