Goodbye to Dorking (for now)

Well, our housesitting assignment here in Abinger Common has come to an end.

Despite the fairly basic accommodation and its accompanying frustrations, it's been lovely living in this gorgeous, quiet location. Being here has given us the opportunity to explore Dorking and its surrounding environs.

Dorking really is a beautiful town. It's big enough to support lots of independent shops as well as the usual chain retailers, and a large number of excellent antiques stores. But it's small enough to still feel a bit like a village, particularly when wandering the tiny laneways around the centre of town.

St Martin's at sunset

The extraordinary actor Laurence Olivier was born in this house - not far from the high street

Ducklings with their mother on the River Mole which winds through the town

Sunset over the River Mole. We'll take one of these riverside terrace houses, please

We've taken some lovely walks and it's been a joy to reacquaint ourselves with the system of public 'footpaths' and bridleways that criss-cross the entire country. The freedom to walk across farming fields and through woodlands on privately-owned land is something I hope the British appreciate. Back in Australia everything is fenced off and if you want to explore an area you have to risk life and limb on the side of the road and be content with the view from there.

Kevin with one of those 'tunnels of green' behind him

Cottage in a nearby village

Cow parsley at the end of its season.
I love the sculptural shape of cow parsley;
along with the oak tree it's one of those quintessentially 'English' symbols.

Out picking brambles

And my goodness, there are some damned fine pubs in both Dorking itself and the surrounding villages :-)  Kevin has certainly been testing the local ales for quality assurance.

Sampling the local rosé at Denbies Wine Estate, England's largest vineyard

Interior of The Wotton Hatch, a fantastic pub/restaurant just 2 minutes' drive from our housesit

We'll miss the veggie patch, the chickens (gorgeous, inquisitive, funny creatures!) and Bella the Exterminator.

The deadly, but extremely affectionate, Bella

This old archway is literally at the bottom of the garden - just outside the gate.
This is one of the public footpaths in the area

...and just beyond that arch is this lovely stretch of wall with its 'S' brackets to hold it up!

This is the path as it continues between farmland, woods and large country homes
(another 'tunnel of green')

A foggy morning on the public footpath below the cottage

I won't miss having to drive Kevin to and from Dorking Station each day (a round trip of at least 30 minutes, but sometimes as long as an hour), in between trips to Epsom to drop off things at the new flat or sit around in empty rooms waiting for beds to be delivered, internet technicians to arrive and so on. I have spent most of this week in the car.

Fingers crossed our furniture and other goods are released by British customs sometime soon; they arrived on a ship about 11 days ago and we understand customs have had them since Monday. Consequently we are going to be camping in an empty flat from today - thank goodness the bed has been delivered, and we've bought a TV. I have purchased two glasses, two sets of cutlery, four plates, two towels, one fitted sheet, two pillows and one duvet to tide us over until we get all our stuff. *Sigh* The joys of travel...

As soon as we are settled into the flat I'll be looking for work and my life of leisure (ha!) will be at an end.

Hmmm... I'm wondering how I'm going to work with lilac walls in the sitting room. Stay tuned.

So it's goodbye to Dorking for now, and hello to Epsom. We're looking forward to exploring our new neighbourhood (it has a cinema - yay!), and given it's only a 40-minute train journey to London I anticipate regular trips into the city for exhibitions and so on.

On with the next stage of our adventure...

Until next time,
- Maree  xo