We have been in away in South Africa for nearly three weeks. Most of it was spent in glorious sunshine, but we were nearly flooded out of at game lodge on the Garden Route when around 100 mm of rain fell in 24 hours in what is normally the dry season! The owners of the lodge coped wonderfully, and we still enjoyed ourselves, but it wasn't what we had planned! Still we had a memorable couple of nights and managed to fit in a nature walk on the last day where we saw giraffe, wildebeest, tortoise and plenty of birds .
On the other hand, we had expected to return to a wet Britain. True to form we found that it was indeed very wet.
Last Sunday we met the family at The Trout Inn near Wolvercote, Oxford. It was recommended to us by friends and it turned out to be a very good riverside pub. There were signs of serious flooding close by, with road closure signs still in place. The sluice by the pub was at full capacity. The levels were close to record but the sun was shining bringing out the local walkers, mostly in their wellies.
Trout Inn, Wolvercote, Oxford
Similar to South Africa - but more typical
We took a short walk to Godstow Lock, the highest of the electro-hydraulic operated locks on the Thames, and inspected the Godstow Nunnery ruins. Very pleasant in the sunshine but let us hope no more significant rain falls for some time otherwise the Thames will be bursting its banks again.
Godstow Lock
Flooded meadows
