Off to London.

After a busy week unloading the motorhome and trying to sort out what to keep and what to dispose of, we still finished up with our bedroom piled high with full bags and cases. However our main objective was to deliver the motorhome back to Cranham Motorhomes for warranty repairs and preparation for shipment. After completing a check list, getting a refund on the Calorgas tanks and unused gas (they don’t get exported) and a final check on any necessary paperwork we headed off to catch a train into Tolworth.

Familiar views along the River Thames.

It sounds crazy but it was cheaper to stay at a hotel in London overnight and catch a midday train back to Peterborough the following day than travel back on the same day. It also gave us time to catch up with daughter Tracey who lives close by. That evening we ventured off down to the River Thames just below Kingston. Tracey took us to a pub overlooking the river which was glorious. Boaters were taking advantage of the hot Summer evening and the pub was doing a roaring trade.

A new catamaran ferry on the River Thames.

While waiting for Tracey’s partner Greg to arrive we had a couple of drinks out on the patio on the rivers edge but after an hour or so sitting in the blazing sunshine we had to retreat inside in the shade and cool. When Greg finally arrived we had a look at the menu but there was nothing that any of us really fancied so we walked along the river bank up to the main shopping area where we sought out the GBK restaurant. The Gourmet Burger Kitchen which it transpires is a New Zealand franchise with profits going back to a trust concerned with the welfare of the native Kiwi.

Tracey with a Strawberry something or other.

We had a real feast with a Kiwi Burger made just the way they are in New Zealand with the burger, an egg, onion, beetroot, tomato and lettuce packed between two good size burger buns. Not only that but we had Lemon & Paeroa drinks which are only produced in NZ and imported by the GBK group. Two other treats were Whittakers Peanut Slabs and Minties both New Zealand icons. A great end to a very hot and busy day.

Look what we found at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen in London. All NZ icons.