This will probably be my final entry from England before I fly out to Peru on Wednesday. Peru! I can hardly believe it, even now. I've really enjoyed my time in England and honestly don't want to leave. There is still so much I want to see, and so many people I didn't get to catch up with. And I miss Jubilee Weekend! Gutted! I'm in London now, back at Dereck's flat. I had to vacate early today as the landlord was coming around to pick up the rent money, and they're not allowed to have people staying. So I was out of the house at around 8am. I'm pretty tired! I met up with Dereck at his work last night and we went for dinner in Chinatown. It's great to see him again, although it's sad too, as it means this part of my trip is almost over.

My final week in Bournemouth was a good one. I spent Tuesday doing not too much at all. The previous few days were very busy, spent out and about in Bristol, Glastonbury and Wells, as well as my travel back to Bournemouth, so I was stuffed! I spent part of Tuesday in a hammock drinking Pimm's, went for a walk and generally didn't do much. Even though it was hot and sunny out, I would have been quite happy spending the day inside watching tv! I just wanted a bit of relaxation. I can't even remember what I did on Wednesday and Thursday. I think there was also a lot of walking going on. The weather last week was amazing - sunny and well into the 20s. There were some times I really wanted some refreshing Wellington wind, as it was getting just a tad too hot for me! I don't have much in the way of summer clothes, as I'm heading to colder climes (hopefully, given I'm taking several thermals with me!). Luckily I bought my bright pink tunic and some capri leggings, which are great for this weather. So great I wore them about four days in a row! (They did get washed!)

On Friday I met up again with Helen and we drove over to a place called Chapman's Pool, which is in the Purbecks. It's not really that far from Bournemouth, but you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. We had a bit of a trek down a goat track to get to it. Helen came to pick me up and suggested I wear some slightly sturdier shoes than I had on. I went inside to get a towel and decided to have a complete change of clothes and changed to an even less sturdy pair of shoes for some reason!

Once walking down, I realised why Helen suggested a better pair of shoes. A few times I thought I'd come a cropper, but somehow the el cheapo slip-ons didn't let me down. When we came to the part where we had to walk in-between stinging nettle bushes, I wished that I'd kept my jeans on instead of changing into my calf-length leggings. I tried to avoid the stuff, but I got stung for the first time by stinging nettle that day! It's not really painful as such, but it is a bit itchy.

We finally got to the beach. There were only a handful of other people there. It's a bit of a mission to get there, so maybe that's why. We had to eat our M&S 'superfoods' salads with our fingers as we forgot forks! Helen went for a swim in the water, and I had a paddle, but the water was quite cold and it looked like there was a bit of a drop too, and I didn't really want to go too deep, so I went and had a lie down in the sun, pretty much fully covered! The sun here isn't as intense as back home, so you don't get red as quickly. My nose and chest got a little colour, but not much. If I'd been in NZ, I'd probably have been bright red after about 20 minutes!

We eventually headed back up the hill. There was a mud puddle I successfully negotiated on the way down but got a bit stuck at on the way back up. Luckily a man ahead of us must have heard me laughing (or going "oh no!") and came back to ask if I needed a hand. At that point I was on the side of the mud, stuck to some thorns! Someone had put a plastic box and a plastic lid on top of the mud. I'd stepped off the box to the side and even though the lid was there, could only see myself heading straight into the mud. The man gave me hand and he pulled me while I jumped. Helen seemed to float from box to lid to land without a dot of mud on her, and with no help!

After we eventually made it back to the car, we drove through a pretty little village and headed for the local pub. Helen had a locally brewed cider, but it was a bit too strong for me, so I settled for a lemonade and some local ice cream - mmmmm!

There is a museum of sorts in the pub, started by the owner's father. This part of England is on the 'Jurassic Coast', so there are lots of fossils to be found. It's quite a neat little collection, and in fact, we even saw fossils down at the beach!

We sat outside and admired the view. Quirky fact - the cellphone coverage there comes from France, and not England! The English coverage doesn't reach there for some reason!

Then it was back to Helen's parents' house to collect stuff for the bbq we were having at her parents' beach hut at Branksome Chine.

Beach huts are a big thing down here. There are lots of them too, stretching all the way along the beach (about 7 miles of golden sands!). I don't know exactly how much they cost, but they are pricey, but worth it I imagine. There is a bit of an issue with them at present, as the council (?) wants them to only be leased out for a certain number of years, not indefinately. There is a waiting list for them, so you have to wait until someone doesn't want theirs anymore, or can no longer afford to lease them. (Helen, if you're reading this, you might be able to tell me if this is correct!)

Helen's parents' one is what I prefer to call a 'beach apartment' rather than a beach hut, as it's in a block of them, rather than a stand alone one. We were on the second (top) storey. It gave us a great view.

We were joined by Helen's mum and one of Helen's friends, Jax (sp?).

The bbq was unfortunately rather smokey and with the way the wind was blowing, all the smoke went right down to the only other beach apartment that was being used. I think we smoked them out in the end!

We ended up having a delicious bbq and left a few hours later. We drove home via Branksome Park. I've not really spent any time there before, probably cos it's really expensive and has ENORMOUS houses! There are some pretty nice areas in the Bournemouth-Poole area. Sandbanks has some of the most expensive real estate in the world, and Branksome Park must be up there too - definitely into seven figures. Ooh, I also saw a fox!

The following morning (Saturday), I was up bright and early to meet with Janell and Craig, my South African friends. I met them when I was kind of seeing someone when I lived in Bournemouth. I met up with him for dinner one night, thinking it would just be the two of us, and he informed me we were going to his friends' place for dinner, and, oh yeah, I'm moving to London next week... So my friendship with Janell and Craig has long outlasted the other one!

J&C took me to a neat cafe called Boscanova in Boscombe, which isn't far from where I used to live in East Cliff. I remember I would walk up there sometimes on a Saturday morning to get fruit and veg at the markets. Anyway, Boscanova reminds me very much of some of the cafes you get in Welly (and South Africa too, apparently). England, from what I've seen in my various trips here, doesn't really have the cafe culture that we have in NZ, especially in Welly. I miss the cafes, but you do get great pubs! They are much better than back home, especially the more traditional ones.

I'd be hoping to buy something English-y and Jubilee related if possible, and Janell took care of that for me! She presented me with a cute patchwork Union Jack make up bag with some goodies inside, including a London bus tin complete with Union Jack choccies - yum! That's my emergency chocolate while in SA. I've already had one!

They dropped me back at Mels and Simon's later in the morning. It was so great to see them again. I missed seeing them on my previous trip here, so the last time I saw them was in South Africa in 2003, when I went over for their wedding. Hopefully we won't leave it so long next time. I think they both need to come over to NZ for a look around and I'll take them to Westpac Stadium for a rugby game. (When I was in Cape Town, Craig made sure that I got to Newlands, their rugby stadium!)

By the time I got back to my home away from home, Simon had left for his cricket game. Mel and I left mid-afternoon, via Tescos for food and trashy mags (for me. Mels was working on assignment/exam stuff), and drove through the countryside and New Forest to get to his match.

The New Forest doesn't look like a typical forest in a lot of places. We drove through a lot of scrubby healthland. I personally don't find it that attractive. They have animals grazing on it, and also burn parts back so it doesn't overgrow.

There are some lovely villages and towns in the New Forest though. A lot of the place is very attractive. And there is lots to do there if you are into the outdoors.

We drove past several cricket games and eventually came to Simon's. It was such a nice way to spend a few hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon. And how English too! I had Pimm's (of course. Am getting right into my RTD Pimm's!), we shared a glass of wine to go (it had a foil lid on it, so you can take it anywhere and it won't spill - genius!), some amazing poppadom crisps, sarnies etc. Simon's team won - yay!

We got back later that evening and I was pretty exhausted so slept well that night.

The next day I have no idea at all what we did during the day, but that afternoon we went to Tescos to get some bbq supplies. After mulling over what sort of bbq they should buy, Mels, Simon and I made it back to prepare for my goodbye dinner at the beach. Tomorrow I would be heading back to London!

We walked down through Alum Chine (or maybe Durley Chine?) to the beach in the late afternoon. It was still warm and sunny and there were lots of people around. Towards the Bournemouth Pier area, there were so many people they looked like 100s & 100s from a distance!

It was still nice enough to go for a swim. I don't own togs, so made do with bra, singlet, knickers and sarong! I haven't swum in the sea for many years and it was so nice to be back in it! The water was refreshing, shall we say! It had its warm spots, but was generally on the cool side, but was still really nice. I had a great time splashing about and jumping in the waves. I felt like an excited puppy at times! I will be going into the water far more often I think - wobbly thighs and all!

Simon and Mels got out earlier than me to try and start the bbq up. It took a wee while for things to get going, and it went out several times because of the wind. In additional making vege kebabs, I'd bought some salmon fish cakes at Tesco. Luckily Mels cooked them at home first, otherwise I might not have got to eat them at the beach! The first two kebabs that went on basically got blackened through smoke, but weren't actually cooked, although we did all try just to check! It did end up getting more successful though, and I reckon we ate well in the end.

As I did at the beach apartment bbq the other night, tonight I spent a bit of time looking wistfully at Bournemouth and at the large apartment block in the distance, which was at the end of my old street. I kept thinking that if this was 2002, I could just walk back along the promenade, up the zig-zag and be back at my Derby Road flat with my awesome flatties.

But before I knew it, it was time to head off back up the chine and back home for my last night in Bournemouth for a while - stink! After saying goodbye to Simon (who would leave for work before I got up the next morning), I went to bed and woke up the next morning not raring to go at all! Mels had to leave early for her final exam, so it was just me and Jasmine the kitty cat for a little while, until it was my turn to leave too.

I somehow got the very heavy backpack on my back, a pack on my front and waddled down the road as fast as I could. My National Express coach was due to leave Bournemouth station at 11.15am, and at just after 11am, I was still waiting for a bus that would take me to the station, about 17 minutes away according to the bus stop timetable. I even saw my coach drive past me - eek! Eventually the bus came and all the annoying things happened when you are running late - the bus stopping at all the stops, annoying people getting on holding things up. Argh - just hurry the eff up people! I did manage to get there just in time though and two-and-a-bit hours later I was in London. The bus took the scenic route to Victoria this time, and it even went past the Earl's Court hostel I stayed in when I first came here 12 years ago. I feel like an entirely different person from then, and despite all the tough times at the beginning, I would do the whole thing all over again. It was a magical time for me!

But so are the next few months...