Today Sam had to take her car for a service prior to driving through Europe next week and after we had dropped her car off at the mechanic's it was a little too late to go to Oxford. We decided instead to go to Cadbury World, about 45 minutes drive away, near Birmingham. Unfortunately there was an enormous number of schoolchildren lining up for a tour of the factory so we made do with the shop and wholesale area and will do the tour at a later date. We had never realised how many things were made by Cadbury and it was good fun looking at everything (and buying things, of course!). We also had lunch in their cafeteria, which is very well set up. Sam had done the tour a while back and said it is nothng like Willy Wonka's (sadly!).
After we had picked up Sam's car we dropped her at home and went for a walk along the tow path which runs alongside the canal (which runs through her apartment complex). We found it really relaxing to amble along the path(interrupted at intervals by cyclists) which was full of ducks and ducklings and on either side of which was lovely counryside, all very peaceful and pretty. There were very many Narrow Boats (barges) tied up along both sides of the canal and they are so intereting to look at, many of them being decorated with folk art and each one different from the other. Most of them seemed to be empty but some had people on them - it would be such a peaceful way to spend a holiday, just "barging" slowly along the waterways which criss-cross the counry. We eventually reached the outskirts of Warwick and decided we had better turn around before we ended up goodness knows where. After dinner, Sam and Stacey (her new flatmate from Melbourne - a friend of Nicole's) went out and we settled back with the TV.
One thing I haven't mentioned before - we have been very impressed with the trolleys in the supermarkets. Sounds strange to talk about such mundane things but what impressed us were the ones that fit around a wheelchair with the trolley part immediately in front of the person sitting in the wheelchair. There are also trolleys with an adult seat for people with walking difficulties - not like the child seats, just a seat a little lower than the trolley, attached to the front and which is pushed by another adult. The third type has one of those plastic pedal cars attached to the front so the child can pedal whilst the parent pushes! All very civilised. You can also buy a special token that attaches to a keyring and which is used for those trolleys requiring a coin - it would be good to introduce these to Australia! Mind you, one thing I haven't been able to find in any supermarket is tomato paste!
Hopefully we'll get to Oxford tomorrow!
