18 months seems like a long time, yet at the same time it passes in a blink of an eye - 18 months is how long I have lived and worked on the Turks & Caicos and also the last time I was in the UK, and the last time I saw some of my family and most of my old friends.
I took advantage of the direct overnight BA flight from TCI to the UK (no Miami airport nightmare or stopovers - hurrah !).
Arriving at 11am in the UK, I was greeted by traditional British summer weather - grey skies and drizzle, luggage retrieved I met up with my Dad who was collecting me. Although it had been a year since we last saw each other, it was if I had not been away, as we chatted away over a Starbucks. The journey home was an experience, its been a while since I had been faster than 40 miles a hour in a car, let alone seen such volumes of traffic. The real thing that I realised was how much I had missed 'greenery', even the motorway verges were lush, with trees galore and rolling fields and countryside, hedgerows and just so much 'green' ! As planned a stop at a country pub was a must and I savered my first of what I intended to be many, pints of Guinness. I also enjoyed some traditional UK food - sausages, mash, gravy and English mustard Mmmmmmmm.
I arrived back at my parents and caught up with my mum, had a cup of tea and then waded through 18 months of mail ! My sister arrived for a reunion, then off to a pub (a theme will develop), for steak & Guinness pie, followed by cheese & biscuits, all of course washed down with Guinness. I certainly slept well that night.
The following morning involved a Morrisons breakfast with my dad - proper sausages and bacon, fried bread, mushrooms, beans, eggs and toast. I then headed to catch up with an old work colleague and friend Pete for a couple of hours - plans always collide and he and Gelda (his wife) were off to Romania the following day for 10 days. Pete had set up and maintained a website for a Romanian orphanage for a number of years and they were both travelling to stay there and see all the children that they had seen grow up on the net.
Wednesday saw my dad heading off to South Africa on business, leaving me to keep an eye on my mum and be forced to drive around in his BMW Z3 ( a little different respect levels were required as I am used to driving a 1987 jeep wrangler !). I started to take advantage of being in the UK with comprehensive shopping at the £ shop !!! Lots of cheap goodies which normally cost an arm and leg in TCI, as well as a jacket for the hurricane season, books and various replacement diving gear parts so that I can get my scuba gear serviced when I return. A trip to the dentist and opticians was fitted in, giving me a clean bill of health for the next 18 months. The evening was rounded off in another traditional English pub, with gammon, egg & chips and you guessed it - Guinness.
Thursday was spent with my mum during the day, a invigorating walk in the countryside, tea at the Buddhist retreat and then in the evening a chance to catch up with one of my best mates, Grant, over Guinness and then a good old British tradition - Curry. If there is one thing other than family that would tempt me home, then it is curry. I have had a couple in the Bahamas in the last 18 months, but you can't beat a curry in the UK. Kingfisher lager, poppadoms with lime chutney, samosas, lamb dansak and mushroom rice - manna from heaven.
Friday was spent clearing out - when we left the UK we stored a lot of things in a lockup garage in case things did not work out as we didn't want to have to replace alot of basic items. I had sent out an email before I came back with a list of things for sale, so first they went, then a trip to the tip to bin a lot of crap and finally about 20 trips to the charity shops saw the remaining items from our old life dwindle away. I spent the evening catching up with an old friend Baz who I had not seen in about 5 years. We shared a place during our time at University and then kept in regular touch for a number of years before loosing touch (he got married, has kids etc).He travelled down to see me and we spent a few hours chatting over Guinness, it was great to catch up again and hopefully it won't be another 5 years before we meet up again.
Saturday was lunch at the Picturedrome - All day breakfast and Guinness. I caught up with alot of old faces - Blonde, Glenn, Grant & Sue, Rev Andy, Greg, Rocket & Ruth, and Cath. It was a great few hours and a chance to find out what had been happening in Northampton.
Sunday meant only one thing - Sunday Lunch in a pub - Guiness, roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, gravy & horseraddish sauce, followed by rhubarb & raseberry crumble with icecream and custard. That evening I caught up with my old business partner and his family - Martyn, Carol and their lads Sam & Matthew. We had a good meal, and I caught up on their diving escapades of late.
Monday was lunch with my sister - All day breakfast and Guinness in a pub and then in the evening a farewell curry with Grant, John, Greg, Glenn, Cath, Rocket & Ruth. Dad returned to the UK during the day, and so Tuesday we had a pub lunch - fish & chips before I headed back to Heathrow to spend a evening close to the airport - a final pub meal of sausage & mash, washed down with Guinness before bed.
The flight to Miami was painless and I caught up with Sarah & Eric (2 friends from TCI who happened to be flying back at the same time) for a couple of beers. Eric had been in Canada for the last 2 weeks and like me the time away had reminded him that life on Turks & Caicos is good.
This trip has basically focused on the few things that I really miss about being away - Family, Friends and English food & drink - that said I would not change what I do for the world.
