Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

A three-hour drive east brought us to the outskirts of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The owners welcomed us and introduced us to the animals we were to look after over the next 3 weeks. It seems we have our work cut out as the pets include 8 ducks, 6 Alpacas, 3 chickens, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a partridge in a... No! The house is of an 'oast' design that incorporates cylindrical sections, used many years ago to dry hops for beer brewing. A fire was lit in the lower central area and heat travelled up and was released from the flue at the apex of the 'cone'. The flue has a wind vane that swings around to chase wind direction. Royal Tunbridge Wells has many dwellings that incorporate oasts. The view from the back. The oast ground floor sections comprise of (L to R) Dining room, Bedroom 4, and Music room. The upper floors are Bedrooms 1 to 3. One of the first-floor bedrooms situated in an oast 'cone' The pets have been wonderful. Stanley is 4 years old and followed me everywhe...

We had a night to fill between sits and booked a room in Salisbury to break up the trip to Shaftesbury. There was a couple from Sweden staying in the same house with whom we got on with very well. So much so that we all went out for dinner that night and the chatter never stopped. What becomes obvious is that most people in Australia have a command of one language whereas Europeans have 2 or 3 languages under their belt if not more. The next morning we made the 1 hour trip to Shaftesbury which was the first sit we've done on a working farm. greeted by the lovely young farming family, we became aware that it's so quiet. Normally we hear a freeway in the distance no matter how rural we think we are, but here it's serene. Tilly  Allan's Farmhouse, run by John and his wife. The Cornfields. They farm beef cattle and sheep and grow corn and barley using the rotating crop method.   The farmhouse from the back. Our daily egg supply. How wonderful! One of many curious animals Vi...

The owners came home at 2am on the morning we were to leave Grangecon at 5.30am. At one Paul rolled over and out bed, landing hard on the floor. (They were downstairs and would have wondered what the heck was going on.) It's weird leaving a place, knowing the family sleeps as we tiptoe out without saying goodbye. Of course, we debriefed later that day.  All was well, though Tilly was apparently a little lost and looking depressed for a couple of days! We arrived at Rosslare at 7am and caught the ferry back to Fishguard, Wales. Our next sit was in Burgess Hill on the following day so we stayed a night near Bournemouth, a lovely room where the bathroom was bigger than the rest of the space. We met a guy called Flat Earth Dave that night.  The next day, we caught up with another Paul from the Sunshine Coast, an English guy who lives in the New Forest area. We had a pleasant lunch with him and his two children and then ventured on to Burgess Hill to meet the owners of another 'Arc...