Return of the Jack

Shortly after Beth's birthday (as in, at 6am the following morning!), we packed up and headed to the airport ready to fly back to the UK to see Alex. Although sad to be leaving Portugal, we were very excited to be seeing Alex again, especially as he had told us the previous week of his plans to permanently rejoin the family after completing his initial sea time on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. Whilst he had the most fantastic time, learning so many new skills and making some life-long friendships during his time at Britannia Royal Naval College, his time at sea made him realise that his existing life as Hope's captain is hard to beat. 

Beth had fun painting her and Zach on her birthday, using her new face paints

We flew to Gatwick and picked up a hire car, then drove straight to Portsmouth to meet Alex in time for dinner and a good night's sleep at the Premier Inn. The following day, we visited the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which was a great way to spend the day. We enjoyed a harbour tour, which took us past many Royal Naval frigates, destroyers and, of course, the Queen Elizabeth herself. It was great to get such a good view of the absolutely massive ship, upon which Alex had spent the previous six weeks. We also visited HMS Victory; Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar, back in 1805. The children were excited about this, since she featured heavily in David Walliams' excellent children's book The Ice Monster, in which she is used to transport a woolly mammoth back to the North Pole!

Beth and Zach are deep in concentration, listening to the audio guide on HMS Victory

After dropping Alex back to Dartmouth, the children and I headed off for a week near Bude, staying at a lovely Airbnb in a place called Widemouth Bay. Whilst I was tempted to visit friends during this week, I was feeling really exhausted and felt that we all just needed to relax on our own for a week. I also had some important work that I needed to focus on in the evenings, which can often be difficult when staying with others (since I prefer to spend my evenings socialising and catching up with people, rather than being on my laptop). So, we stayed in our little chalet on a small caravan site within walking distance of the beach, and had a thoroughly wonderful time. We explored the local beaches, ate lots of healthy home-cooked food and I was able to get all my work done in the evenings, which lifted a weight off my shoulders!

Exploring the beach and rockpools at Widemouth Bay

The next weekend was also spent with Alex, who needed to stay in Dartmouth for a further week to tie up some loose ends at the college. We stayed in a lovely Shepherd's hut on Dartmoor, and enjoyed a nice walk across the moors one day, to find a lake in which we could swim. It turned out to be very close to where Alex had spent the best part of a week on one of his military training exercises, back at the start of the year when the weather was a whole lot worse than it was for us in June! The lake we found, called Crazywell Pool, was really picturesque and not too busy, which was nice. The children discovered lots of tiny baby frogs and newts at the water's edge, and spent most of their time looking at them rather than swimming!

If you look closely, you can see Alex swimming in the background

We were also lucky enough to go on a river trip on one of the motor whaler training boats from the college. Alex and his colleague Aaron were given permission to take us all out on the River Dart for a few hours, and we had a really nice time. It was such a privilege to be able to do this, and the children were delighted as they even got chance to take the helm!

Zach at the helm on the River Dart

Following this wonderful period in the West Country, the children and I made the long drive back east, heading to my brother and his husband's house in Hertfordshire to spend some quality time with them. On Wednesday afternoon, Alex arrived by train, finally back on civvy street. In many ways, he seems unchanged... but in other ways he is definitely different! Firstly, there is the 'Jack speak' (Naval slang) which is now part of his vocabulary. It isn't just hot, it's 'redders'. Food is now 'scran'. 'Dippers shippers' basically means "oh well, you win some you lose some... sucks to be you!" I have also had 'threaders' and 'dits' explained to me, but I confess that I have forgotten their meanings... Then there is the precision with which the bed now gets made every morning; hospital corners all round, with not a creased sheet or pillowcase in sight! I thought I was good at making a bed, but Alex now puts me to shame.

Enjoying some 'scran' at our Shepherd's hut on Dartmoor

Our final stop in the UK was with Alex's parents, back in East Dulwich, where Beth and Zach were delighted to find a second-hand toy kitchen set up for them in the garden shed. Ever the entrepreneur, Beth got straight to work creating "Beth's Cafe", enlisting the help of others to procure ingredients, cook some suitable snacks and prepare drinks ready for her grand opening in the garden. Thankfully, we enjoyed some pleasant weather and some delicious cake and milkshakes at the cafe, which was such a hit that it reopened the following day for coffee and croissants! Beth's policy of not charging for food and drinks but, instead, inviting tips from anyone who felt the service deserving of one seemed to work out very well for her. 

Beth's Cafe was a great success! It even had a babyccino for Zach

Just in time to escape the wind and rain which suddenly hit the UK, we drove back down to Gatwick, returned our trusty hire car and boarded our Easyjet flight to Cyprus, where we would be spending the next five weeks with our friends, the Bateys. Originally, this trip was planned for just myself and the children, but I was able to book Alex onto the same flight out as us, as well as the same flight for one of our legs on the way back (when we are stopping over for a night in Bucharest).

Back together again, ready for more adventures!