Back in uk again
 

Argh to many people , to much traffic , no views of mountains , lots of chavs , argh I want to come home to nz lol

Well back in sunny Poole not been back for 3 years , mainly here to see my dad and celebrate his 80th last Sunday , lots of family outings as mum has hired me a car , feel better after jet lag wore off , back to uk time.

Been out and about most days , just got back from lulworth cove , beautiful thatched cottages , gorgeous fishing villages . That's one thing nz hasn't got , but I wouldn't trade nz for that !

Will post some pictures soon .

Re: Back in uk again
 

glad you are enjoying yourselves. bet your family are really happy you popped on over

Re: Back in uk again
 

Focus on your family bigtime and enjoy all the good stuff. It is a complete waste of your time & money to focus at all on the things you already know irks you.

Re: Back in uk again
 

Sounds like parts of Auckland !!!!! If you go somewhere busy you have to expect those things. Go to nicer parts of the UK and you won't feel that way - same with NZ.

Re: Back in uk again
 

Poole.....not London!

Re: Back in uk again
 

Get away from Oakdale and head to Canford Cliffs or Parkstone

I'll be there in September, can't wait to return to Poole Park and show my wee boy where I grew up. I just hope the Poole Park train still runs, especially since the council are stopping the Hengistbury Head train :frown:

Re: Back in uk again
 

Poole is a busy/congested place.

Re: Back in uk again
 

I know. They are booting out the people that ran it for years and replacing it with their own. :thumbdown:

That council does my head in. :frown:

Poole is fine . Depends where you are in the area. Just like Bmth.

I think when you've spent years in a lesser populated place going anywhere where there are more people will seem too busy and frantic. I feel like that on the odd times we go to Wellington or Christchurch. NZ not UK that is.
I used to love that feeling mind you, when going to London from Southbourne,Bmth.

Re: Back in uk again
 

I know the feeling, a family business that has been going for so long yet goody goody council decide to get all arsey about it and install their own in. You just know the prices will not be a quid anymore, I reckon a fiver minimum, especially in the summer.

I too had that similar feeling when commuting from Bournemouth to London when I first started dating the future wife. I used to love my weekends up there, trip to some tourist attraction, dinner in some posh restaurant - I think my monthly wages would get eaten up within days there. I miss those train journeys, well ones that ran on time. Delays and South West Trains weren't a good experience.

I also loved the train trips across to Weymouth, now that is a place i'll be visiting. Fish and Chips on Weymouth Beach, before an evening on the arcades, oh I must stop these happy memories of my youth and young adult days.

Re: Back in uk again
 

I've no idea what goes on in the minds of Bmth council at all.

Remember this ? We all said it was a complete pile of kak and it was.

Ooo. We loved doing that too.

Arcades :wub: and piers for that matter.

Re: Back in uk again
 

This weekend just gone I've booked flights back to the motherland for me and my daughter.

Got a wedding to go to in the South of France, which'll take up 2 nights. Then generally catching up with friends and family for the rest of the time. Visit a few old haunts in and around London, should be good times.

Also, co-incidentally will be there for my old man's birthday (which he shares with my daughter) and our penultimate day there will be my Grandmothers 80th.

So a bit of a bonus there.

Also, if anyone is interested the very best deal (based on various factors) I could find ended up costing us $4,499 return for me and the kid (adult fare $2,476), booked directly through Qantas although the majority of hours in the air is actually with the Emirates codeshare.

I should add I had no flexibility with the dates and was specific that I wanted to land in the UK in the afternoon (Arrive @ 1215) and I wanted to fly out of the UK as late as possible, to give us as much of a last day as possible (Depart @ 2225).

So there were cheaper options for the more flexible.

By comparison, Emirates were roughly the same price but had a 9 hour stopover in Duabi on the way back which I didn't fancy with a 3 year old in tow.

Air NZ came in at $5,200 for their cheapest offering.

Sky Scanner did offer a few options around the $4k mark but these more often than not included a 30-35 hour journey at least one way, if not both. Something I wasn't keen to do in the interests of time apart from anything else.

I'd rather pay a couple of hundred bucks extra to spend that extra 10 or 12 hours with family and friends.

If money is more of a factor than time and dates were flexible the lowest price I got quoted was around $3,800 which was some flights mainly with Southern China, but also a flight to Sydney with Jetstar.

There were two connections on the way out (total travel time 35h 55m); Sydney and Guangzhou, with a 6 hour wait in Sydney, 3.5 hours in Guangzhou.

Just the one change on the way back in Guangzhou, but for 7 hours (total travel time 30h 25m)

Today (on Sky Scanner) is a Malaysian Airlines flight for $3,650. However this comes with a MAMMOTH 15 hour wait at KL on the way home and departs Auckland at 0115 on the way out which would be tough, if it wasn't already, on the little one.

I also looked at other options like booking a one-way flight from here and had a good mate of mine look at one way flights back again (using his UK IP address), even mixing and matching carriers with this theory wasn't any cheaper.

Thus, I'm not sure about the credibility of the theory about flights being cheaper from the UK ...

Using this method, the cheapest combination (based on my stipulations) was Air NZ on the way out ($2,200) and Qantas/Emirates on the way back (£1,473, approx $2,799) so still more the return journey I got with Qantas anyway.

Even the Sky Scanner single there, single back doesn't save much, if anything. Return options are much cheaper using Sky Scanner. Which makes sense I suppose.

PS remember all prices I mention are for 1 adult and 1 child, except where specified as adult fare.

Re: Back in uk again
 

Cheers TL. As of this weekend we may be needing to fly back to sort a bit of a crisis out. :fingerscrossed: that we don't. I've been saving money for something special for us and also for Mr BEVS next flight back but we're not really in a position to afford such flights yet.

Re: Back in uk again
 

Sad to hear of a crisis BEVS :(

You also say 'we', so Mr BEVS and you?

I'm not sure what your budget is (and I'm not asking, I hasten to add!!), but I hope my research gives you an idea of what to expect.

I found Sky Scanner really useful, even if only as a reference tool. First time I'd used it.

Re: Back in uk again
 

Sorry. Just seen this TL.

Yes. Very helpful. We are hanging on here to see how things pan out back there.

Yes. It would need to be the both of us at it involves Mr BEVS Mum & uncle.
They could and probably will be in need of huge help & support .Plus Mr BEVS 85 yr old Mum must not be put into a stressful position that could see her fade away for good.

Very difficult.