I have driven thousands of kms in the UK but had always been hesitant to drive out of London. Had left Heathrow for north, south, east and west many times but had never braved the London traffic before. Well, it was super easy and I won’t ever hesitate again. Carol and I trudged over to St Pancras, and the Avis car hire place was right underneath the station. Only took a few missed turns and we were headed toward Lincoln.
I had nicked in to the UK, just for a couple of days of meetings at University of Lincoln. I had previously visited the beautiful medieval castle and cathedral on the hill but this time it was downhill looking up on the city.
The University was only established on the site in 2002 and it is totally fantastic. The campus is located on the Brayford Pool and new buildings and walkways cross from one side of the water to the other between the barges and swans. The University has about 14,000 students and the superb location, with cafes, the cathedral, and castle up the hill, make it a real university city. There were students everywhere. Carol and I stayed at the comfortable Hilton and had a lovely dinner down beside the pool.
Our meetings went really well, and I presented a seminar in the evening. Mary Stuart, their Vice Chancellor, is one very cool woman. In 1981 she was in a homeless hostel with twins in London after fleeing South African apartheid and is now head of one of the UKs most vibrant universities. I am excited as it looks like I will be spending part of my year there on an ongoing basis.
58 hours after arriving, I was headed out of the UK. Dropped Carol on the way at Oxford, a quick car drop off, and after 5500 km across the Atlantic courtesy of BA, I climbed off at JFK the same evening. You would think Melbourne/Perth/London/Lincoln/New York in a couple of days would make your head spin but I felt surprisingly bright when the lovely man at US passport said ‘Welcome back to the US of A Professor Kenny – have a fantastic time’
Sleeping under the stars 