A trip through the England countryside was like a trip down memory lane with Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
We leave Palestine Grove at 7. Sharp. We take the M25 northbound. “This is the biggest parking lot in Europe,” Chris explains. The highway takes a circular route around the whole of London and catches cars fast in the tar. Then our route takes us north along the A1(M).
The landscape offers up a verdant carpet, rolled out along the horizon, stretching from corner to corner. Dips and valleys are blooming with evergreen trees, darkening the vista like shadows.
The mist-rain is the main form of precipitation in the UK. The morning started as overcast and the famous light rain ensued. But later it ventured to pour like a Cape Town cold front. The windscreen wipers beat relentlessly the whole three and a half hour trip up to Yorkshire.
The wallpaper of gentle green hills made famous by Windows must have been shot in the UK. Credit: Slate.
It was hard to believe that the day before it was 28 Celsius.
Towards the end of our voyage, we pass along Sherwood Forest, famous for being home to outlaw Robin Hood. What was displayed as a large green forest in all the movies is now reduced and fragmented to small pockets of trees that we can see along the highway.
The trees still stand tall and daunting. I can see why it is the number one green space in Britain. Within the forest, there is an ancient tree called the Major Oak which is the rumoured abode of Robin Hood. The tree has been standing between 800 and 1 000 years! The forest itself dates back to the end of the Last Ice Age, but today stands only as a snippet of its former glory.
The Major Oak is a National Monument in Sherwood Forest. Credit: Major Oak.
They even host an annual week long Robin Hood Festival in August – filled with jousters and jesters and musicians.
Anyone remember this scene from the Robin Hood: Men in Tights comedy?
The hamlets and houses along the way were quaint and my typical impression of “English” style. They transported me back in time and I longed to stop and study the houses in detail. But the road took us on.
Our scheduled road trip was to collect a new member of our hosts family: Chewie, a Cavapoo (a Toy French Poodle cross Cavalier King Spaniel). We had rented a car for the day to collect the package.
The trip back saw a swift change in the weather as we headed south to a warm and sunny London. Chris was right – the M25 is the largest parking lot in Europe.
The local Sainsbury store is like our Pick ‘n Pay in South Africa. Only slightly larger. But stocks in a similar way. The difference to note is that this store has a SELF CHECKOUT. Customers scan their own groceries and place them in bags that get weighed to ensure no foul play. No attendants needed. I cannot even comprehend the trust it takes for such an operation. Today was also the first day I witnessed self-service at a fuel station.
Dinner was a simple pizza, but the entertainment was special. Chris got his guitar off the wall and started the evening with some Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Fokofpolisiekar. Ruan soon took over to take us to some local South African bands followed by Blink 182.
