Maidstone and The Journey Home

Sorry I haven't written last week. With packing and getting ready to head back to Canada things were fairly hectic. I have been back at my parents place for 5 days now and although I miss The Hubby dreadfully focusing on the next steps in the immigration and visa process helps keep me busy and allow time to fly by faster. Allow me to fill you in on my last week in England and all the interesting things that happened on the journey back to Canada.

For the last week in England The Hubby and I both had interviews with the National Insurance Number department in Maidstone, Kent. These were to issue us numbers like our SIN cards in Canada. We had separate interviews and they asked us basic questions about our plans on staying in the country ect. Boring red tape stuff, but it did allow me to take the bus there and back on two different days and explore the town of Maidstone.

The Hubby, Geoffrey and I all waited at the bus stop at the Royal Tundbridge Wells train station patiently and I kept my fingers crossed that it would be a double-decker bus. I have ridden one before in Ottawa, but I wanted to ride the iconic buses that one usually thinks of when they think of England. I was in luck the Arriva #7 was a double-decker and we got to ride on the top right at the front. It was exhilarating as your sense of space is very different up there so at times you are worried about hitting a bridge or a parked car...lots of fun. The ride took us through the country side past horses, cows, sheep and goats. Then we finally arrived at Checker's Mall and got ready to walk up to the Job Centre which was 15 minutes on foot.

The walk itself was awesome as the main road we needed to take Weeks was a pedestrian road, sort of like Spark Street back home. They have one in Tundbridge Wells as well, seems to be a British thing. As we walked past all of the shops it was nice to see other people milling about and getting ready for their day as well. We had a bit of time to kill so we stopped at the Poundland to check things out. The Hubby and I watch a guy on youtube called Ashens who review things from Poundland from time to time and he is hilarious so we could not pass up checking out this store. It was like our dollar stores back in Canada, but they had a broader selection. It was fun to see the subtle differences in stocked items.

Because we could not go to each other's interview we spent our time wiating for each other at the In Victa House. This is where County Council meets and it has a gorgeous front court yard with benches and trees so you can wait for people. After we were done we met up for lunch in a lovely park behind a local church. We tried their KFC the chicken was awesome, seems like they still have their transfat as it was just the KFC I remember having as a kid.

We ended up finding an awesome comic store  in Maidstone called the Grinning Demon. The owner was really helpful and friendly and you can look them up on facebook. I highly recommend this store to comic collectors in the area. At the Mall Geoffrey took a ride with Rupert Bear and we perused the toy store and the hobby store. It was a nice outing two days in a row and the pictures I got from the buses were awesome.

The journey home started off pleasant and emotional at the same time. The Hubby walked me to the front gate of the flat complex and I got the my first car for hire in Brittan. The driver was nice and made light conversation at the start of the drive, but once we hit the M25 I started to drift in and out. A nap was definitely in order after the tear filled night I had. I awoke when we were close to Heathrow and I was mentally preparing myself to deal with lines, ticket counters security ect. Heathrow was boring compared to the other airports. They had lots of shops, but nothing in the way of artwork or interesting items to take pictures of.

Security was interesting they decided after scanning my carry on that extra measures needed to be taken. I had to go to a separate counter and open the bag for them. From there they took out my e-book reader, camera and my journal and asked my permission to swab those items plus my entire bag. I had been watching Nothing to Declare a show about the Austrailian and New Zeland boarder control teams, so I knew they were looking for drugs. It made me laugh, but I was compliant and it went fairly quickly once they analyzed the swabs. I did have to wait for two hours in a main waiting area before they announced the gate my Iceland Air flight was boarding at. 

The first flight to Iceland went very smoothly. This time around my layover was only two hours, but we did not have to go through security for the connecting flight so I had sometime to read and try to clear my head of sad thoughts of being on my own. I really wished The Hubby was with me, I was missing him like crazy. However, I knew if I looked towards our goal of getting my visa and getting back to the UK it would make this time apart more bearable. You can see how tired I am in the photo below.

We arrived smoothly at Pearson in Toronto. Customs was a breeze and I was so happy to see my Parents and my youngest brother waiting for me at the arrivals section. It was a long day and we still had a four hour drive ahead of us, but I did manage to get a poutine at a rest station...I soo missed poutine. When we got home my second brother had taken my puppy downstairs to sleep with him so I didn't get to be reunited with Mr. Lister until the morning. It was a happy reunion though and the puppy has been sticking with me ever since.

So now it is time to start all the paperwork and work towards the goal of joining The Hubby again. If I take things one day at a time it will be done before I know it and I have a great support net of family and friends to see me though.

Until next time, keep on dreaming.

~Diligentdaydreamer