We had a few days emptying and cleaning Gus the motorhome.

We did get out for the occasional walk. The trees are turning lovely colours.

We had a walk around RSPB Swell Wood bird reserve – an ancient wood. But we didn’t see a bird. We did however see some lovely autumn nature. It is a heronery here where herons breed. There were some huge heron nests up in the trees – similar to storks nests.

My niece Kerry came over with her boys Albie (2) and Phoenix (1). Chaos reigned as they ran around everywhere. But it gave us a chance to get the toys out.

I enjoyed building Lego with Phoenix.

On the next day Jess came over with Margot who is 5 months. Glenn got on well with her.

We went out one night to an interesting Indian restaurant to celebrate Mum’s 85th birthday .

It is based on Kerala cuisine. I had a very unique dish of chicken and spices mixed with flaky bread – then wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. It was like a big curry pudding. It was very spicy – but good with the yoghurt condiment.

Kerry and the boys came over another day and Glenn and Mum took time to complete the difficult challenge of building the car track loop. They were very happy with themselves on completion.

Storm Amy arrived on Friday with rain and strong winds. On Saturday Glenn and I went to the reserve around the corner to where many apple trees are laden with fruit. The ground was already covered with apples. Of course Somerset is well known for cider – Sheppy’s cider farm is only a couple of miles away.

We picked enough for a huge apple crumble and also a big pot of stewed apples.

On Sunday morning we got Gus all packed up and emptied of water. We then took him to the storage yard where he will stay for the winter. It was sad to leave him here- but we will be back next year.

We enjoyed our walk back across Wellington as the sun was coming out at last after the storm .

Anne and Grant were preparing a large roast lunch. They invited the whole family over to celebrate us all being here. It was chaotic at the beginning but it became surprisingly quiet once everyone sat down for lunch.

We had crackers so it was bigger than Christmas!

It was a fitting end to our lovely week in Wellington.

We have been fed very well all week. Grant had cooked up every meal and frozen them before we arrived. So we haven’t done any cooking – or washing up – all week. We will get back to reality next week!

Thank you very much Grant and Anne for a great week!

The next day we set off on the train to Heathrow. We stayed overnight in a nearby hotel and flew back to Australia the next morning.