Lauren's Space "Shenonkablonk."

Train Ride to Sallys

July 5th and 6th, Saturday and Sunday, and Monday the 7th

I haven’t been on the internet since we are at Sallys, so I’m typing these in Microsoft and then I will upload them either later on with her computer or when I arrive in Belgium (which will be 4:30am Friday morning) On Saturday, we got up and had our usual breakfast at the hotel (cornflakes and two pieces of toast), and then went back to our room to pack since we had to be out by 11am. That was when I uploaded my last journal entry for the Friday, and my photos. Parci is having some trouble with his memory card and we aren’t able to upload any of his photos until it gets fixed. Sadly, it included the good photo of me with the squirrel. Anyway, we ran late packing, and we got a knock on the door from a French backpacker who was working there telling us to check out and we had five minutes to leave. Wht I found odd though was that she already had people with suitcases waiting to come into our room. Why is this odd? Because we were not allowed to check in any earlier than 2pm and we had arrived at 9am. It was also odd because our room was a mess and the beds were unmade and there was rubbish still lying around. But they were letting people check straight into the room. If they never clean the rooms then it probably explains part of the reason why there were bedbugs.

After we left, we went to Gloucester Station and had to figure out how to get to Petersfield. We had to first go to Green Park, then change lines, to go to Waterloo, then change there and go on the Portsmouth line to go to Petersfield. It took a long time to figure this out. And all our money was gone because it cost us £23 each! It’s so expensive to travel by train here. Just to go to the next station it costs at least £4 per adult. In Australia, I can buy an adult day ticket for all trains and buses for just $8.10, which if you convert it, is just £4. There were some troubles on the line so we got off and then were told that the line we were changing to was no longer running so we had to get back on the old line and then go to another station to change onto the Victoria Line to get to Waterloo. We got to Waterloo and it was like walking into an airport. Confusing and busy. Aftedr a long time we got our tickets and grabbed something to eat with £5 that Parci found in a change machine. There was some confusion with the train. The screen said to go to Platform 13 and we got on and then a notice in it said it was not in service so we asked a guard and he said to go on platform 14. eventually, we got to Petersfield and found Sally, Iona, and Isla. They live in a lovely area called West Meon. When we got to Sallys, we had something to eat and then went out horseriding. My horse got bitten by a fly and then started jumping around and I was inches from death. Not really but I had to get off and let Iona ride the horse instead, which I was fine with because it kept on jumping and trying to knock her into the nettles. We got back and then went out to a pub called the Roebuck for dinner. It was SO nice. I got lamb in red wine sauce and mashed buttersquash or something. but it was so goooooooood.

Then on Sunday it was raining and we stayed inside until about 2pm when Sally took us out to see Stonehenge. We spent a while there and had audio guides to take around with us. Very interesting and I got lots of photos. It poured with rain for a few minutes but apart from that it was fine. Then we bought some drinks and rock cakes and fed some to the little birds outside the car. Got some photos of them too :D they were very cute and fought over the food and would fly into the air so they could catch it. then we went through Salisbury and the medieval village. It was so nice there and there were stone houses and flowers everywhere and historical things like market square crosses and the old church which was 750years old. by this time it was after 7pm so we drove home, had dinner quickly and then we went to see Narnia: Prince Caspian. It was really good, the first one was ok but this one was a lot better. I fell asleep in the car on the way back and then went to bed when we got home after midnight.

And today is now Monday the 7th of July and so far I have had breakfast, made hot chocolate, and typed this up. Parci and I alsojust made our characters on the Wii. That was interesting. OH and yesterday, we drove past what we hope will be Sally’s new house. It’s a lovely house in Rockeby (I think that was the suburbs name) and it is on the way to Stonehenge. The towns here are very small and only have one shop and this house we are in at the moment is a bit of a walk to the local shop. Doesn’t bother us though because we have no money. On Thursday we will be leaving to go to Belgium, as Sally booked us tickets to go to on a coach there. This was the cheapest option, since the trains as pretty pricey and none of the pages would properly load enough for us to book. It is going to be a long journey but we don’t mind. We have each other for company and it’s all part of the adventure. Our coach leaves Winchester at 3pm and then we drive to London and have a 3 hour wait there before we get back on at 8pm to drive to Belgium. This coach was not only the cheapest option but it is also the only thing that actually goes straight through Ghent fairly close to where we will be staying. It arrives there at 4:30am so it is a 7.5hour trip from London to Ghent. We are going to get a taxi back to his house. In total for us t get the coach, it only costs £110, so its £55 each.

I’m off now to go explore the backyard.
Lauren xoxox