You can only try to go back to sleep for so long. Right. Let’s get this done! Finally, flight home was booked. Not the ideal date, but I really wasn’t in the ideal negotiating position. The airlines were always going to have the upper hand.

Next it was time to head down to Surrey to find birthday girl Yoli. Yoli had just become the new owner of a camper van, and the plan was to drive down south to play with the new purchase. A change of plan meant that instead we drove to the camper van shop to sort out the essential kit and then onto nearby Frensham for a walk in the country. If you wanted a foreigner who had never been to England to experience what would be a stereotypical English countryside setting, Surrey would be the place to send them. Picture perfect. No recession here either! We stumbled upon a gorgeous old church built in 1219 and as fortune would have it, there was an organ recital on at 19:30. Yoli learnt the organ at school and nostalgia dictated that we must surely stay for the performance. It was 19:00, and not having eaten for hours, two charming old ladies drove us to a local cafe, food was bought and scoffed and the performance enjoyed.

Our walk back to the van afterwards was like a scene from an eerie horror movie, with mists descending on wooded pathways, the yellow eyes of foxes watching our passage. But, you’ll be glad to know we made it in one piece and even had the fortune of seeing a little hedgehog waddle off to a favourite hiding place. They’re not a common sight.

XXX