It took us 4.5hr to drive there (with a break thrown in). Surprisingly, Adrian drove the entire journey when he doesn't like to drive much. The original plan was for him to drive the 1st half of the journey which he said the map would be easier for me to comprehend and then we'd switch when it gets more complicating. Perhaps he realised I could read map pretty well so he left me to it. We passed by Stonehenge along the way but we didn't stop. It was very near to the main road and we could see it well.
Our host, Gilly, is really hospitable and friendly. She's a vicar and her house is newly built - a bungalow (single-storey detached house). She prepared 3 rooms for us but we told her the girls sleep together in one room so we only took up 2 rooms. Adrian commented that it's better than staying in a hotel.
The beach is 5min's walk from her place and as the weather was good, she brought us there and Louisa was so excited (she's only been to Pasir Ris beach once before). Lavigne, on the other hand, was frightened of the sand and waves. She refused to get off the stroller while Louisa went about picking shells and rocks happily. We didn't get to spend much time there as we had to head back for dinner for Ronald, an old friend from uni, was going to join us for the meal.
Talking about Ronald. The last time we saw him was in October 2001. 1.5 weeks ago, I was looking at the photograhps of a common friend of ours at Frienster. Then I came across his photo. There he was, our friend who lost more than half of his body weight. Though I've heard he'd lost a lot of weight, I still couldn't believe what I saw. Anyway, I sent him a message and within minutes, he replied. Then we chatted on MSN messenger and I found out he's not only working in UK but at Paignton, Devon, the town we are going to. As he was flying to Dallas the day after we arrived, Gilly kindly invited him for dinner so we could meet up. And! His workplace is just a few minutes' drive away from where Gilly lives. I thought such things only happen in movies.
Anyway, that kind friend of mine went out to get me some cold medicine after learning that I wasn't feeling well. I was so touched! After drinking 2 sachets, my cold cleared and I was able to enjoy the rest of my stay in Devon.
The following morning, we walked to the beach while Gilly went to church to conduct a short service. She then took us on a steam train ride and then boat trip to Dartmouth, a nearby town. The weather couldn't be better and we had such a wonderful day there.
On our last day, we went for a service at her church in the morning and then it was back to her house to get our things packed and loaded into the car. Gilly brought us to this beautiful garden. Soon, it was time for us to begin our drive home which took us 5.5 hr as the traffic was bad. There's so many places to visit but we simply didn't have the time. A weekend's stay at Devon is definitely too short and I hope we can go there again sometime next year.
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