John Linton We had a second enjoyable day of our holiday which was made better by sleeping for ten hours to dispel most of the jet lag effects. We spent the morning at one of the RSPB's sanctuaries (1,500 acres of sale marsh and reed beds) and saw a wide range of water birds - some of them the first time I have seen them (Avocets and Spoonbills) as well as some familiar species and other unknown species I didn't recognise. The whole set up was very impressive and I am continually amazed at how much dedication (and how much money) is deluged into protecting the flora, fora and avia of England - if only we could do 100th as much in Australia. We didn't derive very far today (the sanctuary was only ten miles or so from our hotel but the countryside, even in a county as featureless as Suffolk (almost as flat as Norfolk) is very pretty and the small towns are full of very different 'character'.
We also 'explored the small town we are staying in for a couple of days and had a fish and chip lunch at their tiny
'port' facilities before watching England play Slovenia in their final world cup match. We had planned to watch the game in one of the many pubs close to our hotel but having stuck our head in to three we decided we give up the 'atmosphere' and watch the game in our hotel room. I'm all for fierce support for your local sporting side but life/or death 'enthusiasm' fueled with alcohol was a little too 'atmospheric' for us. One thing I did notice that Martin Tyler (a peerless commentator of soccer games) made a stark contrast to Australian sporting commentators at international events - there was another side on the park and his anxiety for an English victory was restrained and not inappropriate. Apparently it isn't vital to be a jingoistic dope to provide a useful commentary on an international sporting event in which the country of your birth is participating.
We will leave Suffolk to go to Norfolk for three days tomorrow to visit two other bird sanctuaries and to take in some of the local 'historical' sites. In the mean time we have been doing all the other vital things a holiday offers the opportunity to do - absolutely nothing related to work.....with the exception of making time twice a day to deal with email and call the 'children' to assure them of our continuing existence. Annette also calls Exetel's Financial Controller once a day "just because". As with most jetlagged people we eat at peculiar times - far outside any sensible restaurants catering hours - which gives a great excuse to buy all sorts of interesting things from the 'home made' sections of the local provenders as well as buckets of English strawberries and raspberries that are picked from the plant fresh and have had a zero association with refrigeration - they taste out of this world and have no relation to what we are able to buy in Sydney.
Apart from a couple of half pints of the local best bitter jet lag has made it both unwise and impractical (and because of driving during the day impossible) to drink any alcohol so the plethora of single malts in the hotel's well stocked bar have remained unopened as far as I can detect. However we will be staying at a hotel over the weekend that is renowned for its wine
cellar and its owners even better know love of single malts of the most esoteric kind and I'm sure jet lag will be a thing of the past by then. Fortunately the hotel we are currently staying in has an easily refusable wine list so jet lag has some advantage in such circumstances.
As usual we find the English very pleasant and friendly and helpful beyond the call of duty whenever we have occasion to ask for help, directions or any other sort of information. We find the help offered not always as useful as we would hope but it is always delivered in the most courteous way and in absolutely complete detail. Without wishing to 'tar' myself as a 'racist' it is also noticeable that the small towns of Sussex we have visited remain totally 'English' in the racial, but hopefully not 'racist' sense of that word. It is a stark contrast to Sydney and, based on visits over the past few year, to London. I am not saying that is either good or bad but it is noticeable.
Perspective? Perhaps something else.
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