Here we are at our last club – Sid Valley. With only two days to go we are excited to gain our independance on Wednesday but very sad to be saying goodbye to some wonderful friends. We look forward to seeing some familiar faces at the farewell evening but please, if you’re coming, bring tissues!
Waving goodbye!
We can’t believe that we have nearly finished this exchange, Torrington club have been fantastic hosts, kept us busy culturally (visiting pubs!!!) and vocationally. We gave our presentation last night which again was well received but unfortunately they insisted on doing one better by trying to sing us a song and in their own words described themselves as rubbish! Well……
We have not stopped since we arrived on Monday, went to Clovelly which was the most stunning and unusual village you could imagine – something you would only see on television and we got to see it – just wonderful! Then off to Hartland Abbey to see how the other half live – beautiful old building built about 1400 or so, then to top off a lovely walk to the beach – well words cannot describe the view – apart from rugged and breathtaking AND we saw the original cottage used in Pride and Prejudice. Today we all had great vocational visits and I am sure that the information we are now armed with will enhance the Tasmanian economy with our new knowledge and enthusiasm.
Tomorrow off to Ilfracombe and the big presentation – the District Governor’s night with over 100 people attending but most important of all our very own Past District Governor Kevin Shadbolt from Latrobe Rotary Club is coming with his beautiful wife Anne. I am so excited to be seeing them both on such an important occasion as this. The District Governor here is going to look after them while they are in the District which only strengthens the bonds we have all aready made.
Keep watching for the next episode, of which there are very few left, sadly! More photos also shortly.
Two Moors Primary School Presentation
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The team planning at Topsham pub!
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Nice new glasses Kendall!
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Interesting statues available for purchase at the Devon Show
[/caption]More interesting statues....
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The ferry from Topsham to Turf Lock
Hi everyone, finally my turn to update the blog (it’s Kendall here), I have managed to avoid it ’til now!!! After yet another sad farewell to Kingsbridge RC and our host families (yes, I met my match in David and Hilary Dainty), we moved onto Exe Valley RC. My host family is great, lovely people and so welcoming! An added bonus is the hot tub and sauna in the back yard… Our presentation at the Exe Valley Rotary meeting went well, we had some great comments from the Rotarians, which is always good! We were lucky enough to experience the Devon County Show on Thursday (photos to follow) – a wonderful cultural experience. Lots to see and do, a cross between the Tassie Shows and AGFEST. Sally and I bravely chose to go on the ‘Thriller’ show ride, why did I ever do it? I now know why my mother always used to refuse to go on show rides, the experience really stayed with me for the rest of the day – not a good idea. There were some great demo’s, including the massage chairs – popular with all members of the team. We cooked an Aussie BBQ dinner for the Rotarians brave enough to sample our cooking, Jason and I certainly tested our culinary skills cooking meat for 30 people on a 3-burner BBQ! It went down well, with the rest of the team impressing the Brits with their Aussie Pavlovas, what a treat!
The next day was our vocation day, which we each thoroughly enjoyed in our own way. We were all well received by our vocational hosts and learnt a lot. We also learnt just what a traffic jam is, with the holiday makers and show-goers all clogging up the motorway, like clotted cream to artery walls. We had dinner parties with our hosts that night, with Sal and I indulging in a BBQ, hot tub and sauna with champagne, whilst Heather, Jason and Kelly enjoyed a true English dinner party with more of that fantastic food we have come to know so well. We all hit the hay for much needed sleep, as it was off to the Police Control Room at 10am on Saturday which we all found interesting. Then, we were off to Topsham to catch the Topsham Turf Ferry to Turflocks Pub for a pub lunch in the sun – fantastic. We caught the ferry back to Topsham and enjoyed a refreshing beverage, catching enough sun to turn our noses red! On the road again, we returned to our respective host families houses, for another night of fun, food and fine wine. Looking forward to visiting a farm tomorrow and trying our hand at clay pigeon shooting, which, if current trends continue (ie. skittles, boulles and Pictionary), we will be successful at! We are all still loving one anothers’ company and finding that as a team, our personalities fit so well together, helping us enjoy each day to its fullest. Keep your comments coming, they are special to us, thank you for reading our blog. Kendall 
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Our stay in Kingsbridge is drawing to a close. We have all had a wonderful time and wish we could stay longer. Despite being busy we feel invigorated. Such activities that have left us feeling this way was best illustrate with today’s activities’. The ladies headed off to Plymouth for some ‘retail therapy’ while I took up the opportunity to spend the day walking on the coastal track with my hosts Robin Rose-Price, with his wife Alison meeting us a couple of mile from the end to encourage us home! The coast line was beautiful and rugged. Around every corner was a different panoramic feast for us to behold – a nice change from the culinary feasts we experience a number of times everyday! Following our days adventures we met to share with the Rotary Club of Kingsbridge Estuary a flavor of Tasmania, as we performed our presentation for them – a small thank you for so much they have given us.
We continue to be treated as we never could have imagined – the next chapter waits.
Jason
Last night we attended the President’s night for Ashburton. There were 71 people in attendance. Great venue, fantastic food but more imjportantly fantastic company. President Ken is a wonderful Rotarian and gave a terrific speech, Diana is President Elect and an absolute dynamo – she has done a fantastic job of co-ordinating us and making sure we have had a great time and yes Diana it has been wonderful. Anyway back to the President’s night, Diana asked us to sing our team song as a surprise for President Ken so we thought we’d give her a surprise by singing one of their popular songs, Widecombe Fair, we did this and it seemed to go down really well considering the loud applause!! Diana then advised that although we were the surprise for President Ken, she and the club members had a surprise for us where they proceeded to all sing Widecombe Fair applying our names and our visit to the song – we were just blown away by this and thought it was the absolute highlight of our visit with Ashburton – we laughed so much, we couldn’t stand still with all the excitement. We finally got home at 11.30pm and up early at 7.30am which is the earliest start we’ve had for awhile.
After packing up our bags again we headed into Totnes for a final look at the shops where Kendall and Sally bought some silver jewellery, I got a new briefcase for £4.00 – yes that’s right £4! Then off to Dartington Hall for lunch and to meet our new hosts from Kingsbridge – they immediately made us feel welcome and seem to be as laid back as us and full of mischief!!! This is going to be another fun trip! We all get to relax for the rest of the day and tomorrow a walk and a pub lunch. More details to follow and of course more pics!!
We arrived with our host families on Monday 11th May. After settling in all of the other members and their hosts families came to Peter and Bridget Kenyon’s home for a beautiful, but very informal supper.
The next morning we were up and ready to go for an enjoyable visit to Buckfast Abbey where we received a tour from a real monk – who surprised us all with his humor and large eyebrows!. We enjoyed a coffee at the site and then bought a few gifts for family and friends back home.
Lunch was at Furzeleigh Mill, where we did a presentation to the Ashburton / Buckfastleigh Rotary Club. This was very well received – alot of questions were asked and that is always a good sign that people enjoyed.
We then all experienced a visit to Totnes for a brief shopping experience, but with the hope for more to come on Saturday morning.
We then enjoyed a trip on the south Devon railway where our hosts collected us from and then we enjoyed a lovely relaxing night at home getting to know our hosts better.
Wednesday morning was exciting – we all had vocation days planned. I was very fortunate to spend the day with Richard Loughton who is one of the nicest and down to earth financial planners i have come across. A lazy afternoon was spent at home before we headed off to Janet and Bruce McLellan’s home where close to 40 rotary members and their partners joined us a for a delightful night.
Thursday was a busy day – this was mainly spent touring around and enjoying the beautiful country side and exploring small towns. We managed to see places of interest around Dartmmor, including Widecombe, Grimspound, Postbridge and High Moors Visitor Centre at Princestown. All of the GSE members enjoyed this immensely and i think the Rotary members that joined us seemed pleased at our amazement and comments.
We then headed out to Coombe Cellars for one of the nicest meals we have had since we arrived in England.
Friday morning we headed off to Torquay and visited Kent’s Cavern – this was a most enjoyable tour around and once again highlighted the history that England has compared to our own country.
Lunch was at Peter and Bridget Kenyon’s home and we all experienced “Cornish Pasties” – which were absolutely beautiful. The afternoon has been spent by the team working on the blog, improving our presentation and glamming up ready for a big night out at the President’s Night. Our time at the club has gone so quickly …. tomorrow we move on to our next club Kingsbridge.
After spending too much time on Dartmoor - we turned into Dartmoor Beasts!!!
Totnes main street
Clapper Bridge, Dartmoor
Dartmoor Mare and Foal
The lovely Dartmoor
Steam train from Totnes to Buckfastleigh
Kendall and Sally under police guard at Totnes
The team at Seaton Beach
Hi Guys… its Sally here! You would probably think that after a week of being with the same people some interesting quirks and annoyances would start to appear and cracks begin to form in the smiling facade of the team. I can honestly say that (although they may think a little different!) the team has the most wonderful dynamics and I feel I could trust the team with the utmost certainty in any situation. We all have various strengths and as a group we are gelling into a formidable force! I know Heather cringes at some of my conversations and laid back nature to some things but I hope that she knows by now that it’s all in good fun and often a send up to get a rise out of her! She has been a great leader and mentor; I’m so impressed with how easy it’s been to chat about things and discuss my thoughts on the trip. It would be difficult to be in this situation without someone who listened and understood my thoughts and feeling they way she does. Kelli is definitely the steady calm influence and its great to get to know Kel in a different light (we grew up in the same area and went to the same school, albeit she was a couple of years ahead of me!). Jason has the most brilliant sense of humour and I admire how much he has put up with being around four women for so long. Not only does he cop the brunt of sexist humour he also has a lovely way of making me feel grounded and, in some way, makes me appreciate the trip even more. Finally there’s Kendall. I must say that life will never be the same again after meeting Kendall. She is full of life, a darling and the funniest person I have ever met! Kendall is simply fantastic and if, for some reason I didn’t make this trip, my life would be all the better for becoming friends with Kendall. I can’t write just how much my team means to me and how being a part of such a diverse network of fantastic individuals will indent on my life. Thanks team… and its only been a week! xx
Tramway
Final night at Honiton
Colyton to Seaton Tramway
Beach houses at Seaton
