Today (Thursday 31st Dec - New Year's Eve) we discovered an amazing wonderland. Tim had said that you must go down the A38 to Trago Mills - it sells everything! What we didn't quite understand was what this mysterious place was actually like and that they do, in fact, sell EVERYTHING. For the Australian reader you can think Bunnings on steroids. What you can't appreciate is the bizarre nature of this place. You drive in off the A38 to a mossy, stone walled area with English burbling brook/ stream, ducks, geese, a peacock. You then see an imposing almost Swiss cum Tudor building which is quite beautiful and sort of quaint with some little specialty shops, a barbers, a newsagent. All of this hides what happens when you go through some rather insignificant wooden doors and into one of the most..no, THE most..extensive department/variety stores ever seen. Floors and floors of stuff. Hardware, clothes, toys, electrical, household...everything.
Unfortunately we forgot our camera but we will be back to take some photos and buy some more things. A website link will have to do for now: http://www.trago.co.uk/image/tid/5
We bought some welly boots and a tea strainer as we couldn't find one at the Hodges' (Stef does like her leaf tea made in a proper teapot) but we sort of felt that we should have bought more things simply because there was so much to buy!
The best bit was exploring the place afterwards. It was delightful in an amazingly kitsch way. Stef loved the Winston Churchill weather vane (Mr. Churchill giving the twofinger victory salute), we all loved the aviary, the lifesize nativity scene might have been a bit much (??maybe) and we looked at the lovely, running water.
"Look kids, water runs in England because it rains," Stef said. This is a comment that reflects the Australian drought and the fact that most creeks and non-tidal rivers are either mozzie-ridden, stagnant mudpools or bone dry.
Upon arriving home a farmer called Howard dropped in and introduced himself. A very nice person who used to be a teacher. He lives a couple of houses up. We'll be seeing more of him.
At midday Martin Ollerenshaw came round for tea, introductions, a chat and the inevitable school stuff. His visit was most appreciated as it clarified much about the way things work in schools in England and what Looe school is like. It'll be interesting to actually get amongst it and see what is what. The social aspect and camaraderie of the school sounds very good with lots of fun events to go to.
In the afternoon Stef and I, battling to stay awake still suffering jetlag, went for a walk along Trethawle Lane, nosily poking into people's driveways and looking for cows and wild boars. Generally exploring. It was a good thing to do as first of all neighbour Michelle came down the road and we met her and then Richard, Jackie and ummm...curses, what was the nice man's name again?...will have to edit this later...Stef said it was Cliff, I was thinking Adrian but it may have been Peter came down the road and we met them. They are all very pleasant people and we hope to see more of them during our stay. (for the record it was Geoff!)
It is fair to say that for the past couple of days we have been struggling a bit, particularly with jetlag but also with the feeling of being lost, out of routine and out of environment. Today was much better and hopefully a good turning point for our exchange experience. It is poignant that today was New Year's Eve and we can great the new year in England with optimism and a bottle of champagne that is in the fridge.
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