Middle Farm

So . . we move out of our AirBnB tomorrow and into our little apartment in the centre of Wallingford. It's an unknown quantity but we're optimistic. From old friends, we have arranged to borrow beds, some furniture and various pots and pans etc. And the loan of a wheelbarrow to transport it to our apartment. 

It's been a good experience at the AirBnB. The barn where we've been stayig dates from the 1500s. It uses beams salvaged from ships at Portsmouth in the construction. A lot of these beams are curved -- they would have been parts of a ship's hull or some other nautical part that needed curved beams. 

We've gotten used to the 45 minute walk to Wallingford, it's a pleasant if slightly muddy journey across the fields. From tomorrow it'll be a walk of less than 100 yards to get to the shops. 

So, I've had time to reflect on our version of the tourist experience. It's more of a challenge, an exercise in uncertainty, to set up a life in another country. It's more complicated than just booking hotels and transport. But I like the adventure aspect, and it's worth the uncertainty and effort. Although at four o'clock in the morning for the past couple of months, as I lie awake and ponder on the things that need to be done and the things that could go wrong if we're not careful . . .

So far it's been nice to slip back into Wallingford life. The relationship with our friends doesn't seem to have suffered from our time away. I'm not sure if it's just our particular group of friends here, but the English way of relating suits me in lots of ways. It's good to see that Kathy and Peter are keen to ease us back into the rich cultural life that is available on this side of the planet. We turned down the offer of a trip to Amsterdam to see a Vermeer exhibition last week, there's too many uncertaintanties at the moment. 

Establishing a beachhead

The first thing you have to do when starting out life in a new country is sort out the basics of everyday life -- a roof over your head and reliable access to funds. Specifically, a place to live and a bank account. The bank account proved to be surprisingly easy since it turns out that Barclays bank hadn't closed our old account despite me asking them to many years ago, and the account still had fourteen quid in it. So it was simply a matter of organising a new debit card and transferring some funds from Australia. 

The place to live seems to be in hand too, although it's dependent on us passing stringent ID and credit checks. It's a little apartment above the House of Cards shop on a walkway near the Wallingford town square. No parking spots, but Wallingford has good bus connections so we shouldn't need a car. The current plan providing we pass the test, is to move in on March 20.

We spent the first week here with old friends, then booked an AirBnB for a fortnight. It's a comfortable little barn conversion, bed-sit style, in the village of Brightwell cum Sotwell, a delightful little village full of thatched cottages and random winding streets. And the standard labrynthine network of footpaths. I liked this village when we lived in Wallingford and it was a destination of one of my standard weekend walks. The name intrigued me at first and I loved the idea that it commemerates the fallen Brightwell angel, who acquired a serious cyder habit and became the Sotwell ex-angel. But the reality is that the centre of the village as delineated by the Red Lion pub, is where Brightwell street becomes Sotwell street.

There is a good half hourly bus connection to Wallingford, otherwise it's roughly 45 minutes' walk, first via footpaths across fields, then via Wallingford's labrynthine footpath network. After a few trips, I have finally worked out a route  that avoids walking alongside the main road. A good thing about this country is that walking is treated as a serious means of getting from A to B and there are many footpath options for crossing farms without the risk of being shot for a trespasser. 

Back in the USSR

 When we lived in the UK in the noughties, I often thought of the Beatles song when we were returning from trips abroad or returning from Australia. I expect the song will make an appearance on my internal playlist as we approach Heathrow airport in less than two weeks. Yes, we're returning to the UK on a semi-permanent basis after leaving on a semi-permanent basis around 12 years ago. What began as an embryonic snowball of an idea a couple of months ago has now turned into concrete arangements. Long story short, we fly out on Feb 28, 2023. One by one, the pre-departure problems that needed solving have been solved.  

We both have fond memories of life in the UK, and we want to experience what contemporary UK life is like. No doubt there will be big changes as there have been in Australia.