PenmanFest - otherwise known as the Helen World Tour

Read the latest from Helen Hardegen's travels...

Week 1 Part 1

Tuesday 20 August

I started writing my journal while sitting on the plane on the way to Singapore. I was half watching Spiderman movie and reading Alexei Panshin's 'The Thurb Revolution' which is travelling further around the world since it was sent to me from Mary Ann/Ip in Colorado.

My plane (767) took off from Perth on time at 3.45pm. There was pretty scenery for the first half of the flight as the plane tracked up the West Australian coastline then it changed to sea, sea and more sea.

A five hour flight then only an hour or so waiting in Singapore airport. Back onto a Jumbo for the long flight to UK leaving about midnight local time. I watched the new version of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' which was entertaining then listened to some Tangerine Dream for a while before getting a couple of hours sleep.

It felt funny to set my watch back seven hours and miss out on my normal chat and email time over breakfast. After breakfast on the plane I settled down listening to favourite songs on my MP3 player staring out the window into the dark.

Eleven and a half hours into the flight and only half an hour until arrival at Heathrow. Weather there is 16 deg C but expecting to be changeable later. The only thing I have forgotten to bring is my umbrella which is sitting at home in the car!

We flew over Berlin, Hanover and Amsterdam on the way into Heathrow but it was all cloudy. I waved out the window to Elisa and Monika as I flew past.

Crossing the North Sea the clouds cleared and south-west England appeared as a mass of fairy lights.

21 August

Touched down at 5.03am. We must have been one of the first planes in to land after the 5am curfew.

Heathrow Airport Immigration is still painfully slow and not a computer screen in sight. It took about 45 mins in the queue. Fortunately they let some of the people with little kids through quickly. There is a sign up saying you can't take photos - I wonder if they don't want everyone to know how hopeless they are. (I'm writing this one-handed and drinking Earl Grey tea in Mark & Sarah's backyard at the same time!)

Customs was easy. Only one person working there so almost everyone just walked through. Totally different to Australian customs.

I caught the Underground to Hammersmith and changed to District Line - easy but too much luggage. Then into Victoria and awful steps up to the station! Thank goodness for helpful people - a smile and an Aussie accent seemed to gather support. Must remember to have koalas at the ready next time.

Arrived at St Mary Cray and followed Sarah's instructions. Reached there about 9am to find Mark kindly waiting to welcome me. He settled me in and went off to work leaving me to shower, (really must have a shower at Singapore on the way through next time!) have some breakfast and tackle the notebook computer/mobile phone problem. No luck by lunchtime and I was too tired to think it through so off for a nap after phoning home.

Now it's mid afternoon and I'm sitting out in brilliant sunshine with bare feet in M & S's lovely back garden and settling in for some reading time. (NB: the garden has pansies, hollyhocks and lavender - looks like a perfect English garden.)

(Note to self: watch comments about sunshine - five minutes after writing the above, clouds have come: fluffy ones but darkish!)

Had a lovely time at my distant cousin, Jane Goatcher's place for dinner. She and James were very entertaining to talk to and their boys, Simon (14) and Mark (12) are lovely. Mark created chocolate icecream in their inherited icecream maker (from Josie, Jane's Mum). Jane's grandmother and my grandfather were siblings.

Mark and Sarah came over to Jane's after work and we all had dinner outside next to the pool. I had a swim with the boys earlier so have proven that it is warm enough to swim in England.

I have Jane's brother's address in Newtown, Wales to stay if I get a chance.

22 August

Had some good sleep but my stomach still thinks it should be breakfast time in the middle of the night so I spent some hours awake. Useful though as I thought of searching for Nokia files on the notebook, found some troubleshooter help, reloaded the software for the mobile/modem and IT WORKS so I can get online again!

Then it was off on the train to the city, getting off at Blackfriars, walking along part of the Embankment and up towards Trafalgar Square. A quick stop at a mobile phone shop discovered that my phone won't work with One2One's network so I had to get a BT SIM card for it instead. Dammit!!!

But at least I have some means of contact now although the cost is 25p/min for the first 3mins each day then 10p/min.

I wandered along Charing Cross Road for a bit, not at all like I expected. Not many bookshops really. Found Murder One - checked out the secondhand and SF sections.

Must remember to tell Diana that I had a bagel & lox in London to check out for comparison purposes with LA ones.

Sitting writing this in the café at the Museum of London to the sight and sound of building construction, but at least it hasn't rained yet - must buy an umbrella as there are quite a few black clouds although it is hot and muggy.

My shoulders are really sore and I've picked up a few good bruises from carrying suitcases.

Walked through the Barbican Centre - strange place but with some interesting old Roman Wall parts. Then took the Underground again down to London Bridge, walked along the Thames at Southwark to the Globe to pick up our tickets for Twelfth Night.

Found interesting things on the way like the ruins of Winchester Palace, Southwark Cathedral and the Golden Hind.

Then found "The Horniman at Hay" pub following Sarah's excellent instructions once again and sat down to wait for the others with a Guinness Extra Cold pint. This tastes a bit different from home, maybe a lighter version but nice and cold.

Mark & Sarah found me with no problems but finding food in the tourist precinct of Southwark Thames Walk was more tricky. We settled to picnic packs at the play and really enjoyed seeing Twelfth Night. I was still so tired that I had to snooze in parts though. The seating, though authentic, was not truly conducive to sleep. We sat in the Upper Gallery and had good views.

We were much later finishing than expected and although we rushed to Blackfriars for the train we still didn't get home unitl nearly 12.30am and were late for the special midnight chat with Penman listsibs. But when we logged on they were still there so we chatted and ate toast and vegemite in style.

I caught up on piffle briefly too and finalised plans for Saturday.

23 August

Yeah!! Slept Well at last and feel more alive!!

Had a lazy morning catching up with emails, did some washing etc. Nice to listen to some music on my computer - the little speakers work well.

Now I'm on the train into Blackfriars and off to find the British Museum to meet author Susan/Elizabeth Chadwick.

Met Susan successfully using mobile phones and we checked out the Medieval Section of the the Museum plus the rest of the top floor. It is a superb place and almost overwhelming in parts. I like the new section with stairs going up around the Reading Room.

Then Susan and I waited for M&S to get off work early and swapped gifts.

We walked up to the British Library as it was on the way to Susan's train at St Pancras Station. The library is a modern red brick building but St Pancras is much too exciting to be a railway station and I took lots of photos.

We all met Tracy-Anne near the station just in time for her to meet Susan before Susan's train to Nottingham left. Then Tracy-Anne, Mark, Sarah and I had coffee in Starbucks and a great chat.

Home again on the Underground and Train for an early night, we still weren't hungry after the huge meals at lunch. Sarah was starting to despair that we were never going to eat the chicken she had bought before I arrived. Sarah showed me the photos from their recent Scotland trip - great to whet my appetite.

24 August

I was awake early (surprise!) and went off to London again - this time for a Pifflefest. I met a Piffle friend at Murder One bookshop and we shopped some of the Charing Cross Rd shops before wandering off to Covent Garden. I bought a cute owl there.

More bookshops as we headed back to Oxford Street to find the Green Man pub where we were meeting other Pifflers. Pifflers are generally lovers of Dorothy Sayers books and renowned emailers and chatters.

Susan and her friend Pam arrived, closely followed by Gillian, then Caz to her first Pifflefest. Eleanor was next to arrive and we all had drinks and food while they played with the Australian toys. TimTams and Cherry Ripes went down well, though Vegemite caused more consternation and I'm not sure if anyone was convinced it was a good idea.

Some many pints of Guinness later, the Pifflefest came to an end. In the middle Susan, Pam and Eleanor had been to see 'The Lieutenant of Inishmore' a play on just down the road. (Most plays are on just down the road in London!)

Most of us headed toward Victoria with me and Bevis helped me to find the right train to Dover Priory before heading home to Oxford.

I arrived home and tried to log on to chat but BT threw me off six times in a row so I gave up and went to sleep for a few hours, waking up very early.

25 August

I was awake by 6am and it was time to pack up. I can't understand why I haven't got less stuff than I started with as I must have given away several kilos by now. No headache - amazing!

Mark and Sarah drove halfway across the country to drop me off at Heathrow which was incredibly kind of them - they are just like that!

Then it was time for Goodbyes and hoping that we will get a chance to meet again, maybe they will come out to Australia for a holiday sometime soon.

Now I'm on the plane about to take off for the quick flight to Edinburgh.

Week 1 Part 2

Arrived in Edinburgh and found my hire car after waiting half an hour for it to be cleaned ready for me. It's a nice car with CD player and air conditioning. Both of which they said I wouldn't get so I can't use the car cassette kit to connect up my MP3 walkman.

I headed off towards Edinburgh and missed the turnoff for the ring road. Turned and came around from the other side and it was easy. The ring road is signposted North & West or South & East and since I wanted to go southwest it was a bit tricky to choose.

It took a while to get used to driving the new car, Ford Focus, but it handled well and I made it to Kirkcudbright in about three hours with a stop at Biggar for a cooldrink and to use the ATM - phew! That worked fine.

Milburn House, my B&B in Kirkcudbright is just perfect. Don and Pam made me feel very welcome which was great as I'd been feeling a bit overwhelmed since leaving London.

I took a long evening walk around the town checking out the sights, taking loads of photos and had fish & chips in the park by the River Dee (not the big River Dee of course).

Home to my B&B and I managed to get onto chat with Erica, MaryAnn, Alec, Barbara and Susan even if only briefly. Weekend phone rates are better.

26 August

Another warm sunny day and Kirkcudbright looks lovely. When in Scotland, eat like the Scots, so porridge, smoked haddock and poached eggs for breakfast. So much food I could hardly walk.

I took another stroll around K. taking more photos with the light now on a different side. The Tolbooth Museum was very interesting and the bell was tolled while I was there. Just a single bell though - not a peal!

I found a supermarket and bought fruit, yoghurt, milk and fruit scones for lunch and snacks while driving.

Back to the new car and I drove to Gatehouse of Fleet to take more photos. I picked and ate two wild raspberries from bushes growing on the side of the road. Wow!

Then to Threave Castle and my first chance to use my Great British Heritage Pass. This is a proper Norman keep castle and appears in Lymond books. The prison cell from which "our hero" escapes is really there. A walled-in stone cell with the only access through a trapdoor. Threave is a very atmospheric place. There is a walk of about a mile from the carpark to the castle which is on an island. A small boat takes you across.

The main street was closed for the Tattoo and everyone from K. and aroundabouts was there to be entertained by Irish Dancers, a group called Mac Umbi (which played bagpipes with congo drums and a calypso rhythm).