Day 22 Road Trip to Edinburgh - Scotland

This morning we woke early to get ready for a day of driving. We packed our clothes and had breakfast, we had bacon and eggs on toast and leftover chicken from last night. We had a quick tidy up of the house and said goodbye to Gary and Katie as they were going straight back to Penkridge.      

We left the lovely cottage behind and started our journey to Edinburgh. We decided to go into Hawkshead  for some morning tea. We parked in the pay parking area and walked up to the cafe with the huge cakes that we had desperately wanted to try but had not had the chance. As we approached the cafe we saw a closed sign hanging on the door. Bummer!

After about 45min of driving, we got onto the M6 and followed it until a right turn onto the border of Scotland! Everybody was over excited.... Maybe a little too over excited so we had to have a short toilet stop at Langholm. On the road again we decided to set Gertie to the Glenkinchie distillery.

At the distillery mum paid for a look in the museum and a tasting for Nathan and dad. In the museum there was all the information you needed to know about making scotch and whiskey. Dad and Nathan did there tasting and had a chat to the man at the bar and then we were driving again on the last leg to our destination. Edinburgh.

Once we got the keys we tried to make our way to our hotel. We made the wrong turn a lot but we eventually made it. We had lunch at Betty's bar and then we ordered pizza from Luigi's. 

When the pizzas were ready we walked down and picked them up Luigi asked Nathan if he knew how to drive and he said yes so Luigi handed him his car keys and said " you go take my car drop the pizza off and bring car back" it was even more funny when he said it in his Italian accent. We went to sleep that night wondering what lies ahead.

highlights- Luigi at the pizza place

Written by 

Kyle :)

Day 21 The Lakes District

This morning we all woke up to a very sunny sky! It was great! For breakfast we feasted on pork sausages, bacon, eggs and leftovers from last nights dinner. Like yesterday, we slowly organised ourselves, in between admiring the wonderful weather and playing a few more games of chess! When we were eventually ready to hit the road, we all hopped into the two cars and headed for White Moss walks, Rydal.

We pulled up in the first car park, paid for the parking and checked out the different walks and paths on one of the main maps. We had a quick toilet break before we went, and got going on the decided trail. Not long after we had begun walking we came to a bridge but instead of crossing we continued straight on through a small paddock. As we were walking through the paddock three huge fighter jets, all like the one we saw yesterday, flew right over our heads. The noise they all made was huge, it honestly felt as though they were going to drop a couple of bombs or something! It was pretty scary! And boy did our ears hurt afterwards! They had come and gone too fast for us to even think about blocking our ears! After we had recovered from the experience we kept on walking along the trail.

Not long after we came to another small footbridge crossing over a small weir (a little rock wall built to alter the flow of the running water) and a huge lake called Grasmere. We stopped to take some pictures before walking a little further along the path and taking some more. We then headed up a little slope to get further up the mountain. Some of us, weren't so keen on the trek up that particular track and were very reluctant to go, but everyone did! However when we were up that one, and were faced with the next, a lot of us became a little more reluctant, as it was a lot bigger than the last, and I mean a lot! Driven by the longing to see the view at the top, we all started up the very, very steep hill! Marni and mum stopped about half way up and then made their way back down while the rest of us continued to the top. After a very tiring climb to the top, we were all relieved to see the peak of the mountain! And boy was the view fantastic! We could see mountains and valleys and lakes in every direction. 

While at the top we took pictures, caught our breath and even had a chat with a couple of locals! We shared a little bit of mint cake between the six of us to give us a bit of energy and filled up with water, ready for the trip back down! It was a so much easier on the way down and I think we were all both proud and relieved that we had made it up and were back on level ground again! We met up with Mum and Marni who had walked along a different path, and headed back to the cars. From there we drove to Grasmere, the town, for some lunch.

By now we were all getting extremely hungry, and to be honest we could have all used a Snickers! We wandered down several roads looking for somewhere that did more than just sandwiches and eventually found a small cafe called the Potted Out Cafe. We ordered our milkshakes, beers, wines, pizzas, burgers, and risottos and sat inside out of the hot sun. When the food came out, not only did it fill the empty tummies at the table but it tasted pretty decent to! We paid the bill and walked back down the same road to a small Gingerbread Corner Shop, so mum could buy some homemade gingerbread, which she tells me is the most amazing gingerbread she has ever tasted! From there we drove to Windermere for a quick look at the lake from a different angle and for a 'gourmet' ice-cream, with the choice of a huge thirty-six flavours! Afterwards, we had a short look in Lakeland (a store completely dedicated to cooking utensils, appliances and some sweets!). From there it was back to Hawkshead.

We stopped for a final time just before our cottage at Cuckoo Brow Inn, where we had had a lovely dinner the first night of our stay. We stopped for a few pints, some garlic bread and a game of around the world darts. After sitting and relaxing outside there for a while, we piled back into the cars and headed back to the home for a quite night at home. 

Katie, with the help of Uncle Gary, cooked up a feast of roast chicken rolls with coleslaw, salad and corn for dinner, which was absolutely delicious! Thank you guys! We cleaned up then sat down with some chocolate and coffee to watch a movie before bed. We were all very tired from our big day in the Lakes District and were all in bed early, getting ready to be up early tomorrow to pack up and head our separate ways, Gary and Katie back to Penkridge and the rest of us to Edinburgh, Scotland!

Tips & Highlights:

* It was so great to make it to the top of the mountain and see the view from the peak!

* The food at the Potted Out Cafe was delicious!

* The choice of 36 flavours of ice-cream was fantastic! There was so many yummy flavours!!

* There were so many swans at the Windermere lake was awesome! The all swim and dive into the lake searching for little fish and food!

Love Ash 

xx   

 

Day 20 A Day in the Lakes

Last night we had all decided on a little sleep in (we are on holiday after all!), so we were all a little bit late at getting up this morning. Outside, the weather looked like it would be nice later on but for now it was foggy and just thick enough to still be able to make out the houses on the other side of the lake. Dad was the first one up, followed by me just a little later, so we took some pictures of the fog covered lake and started cooking some breaky for ourselves and the others. Dad cooked the bacon, eggs and Cumberland pork sausages while I cooked and buttered the toast. As everyone got up they helped themselves to some of the food, slowly began getting ready for the day and played a couple of games of chess. When we had all organised ourselves and were ready to go, we piled into the two cars and headed through Hawkshead, then Ambleside and up 'Struggle' Mountain (yep, that's its actual name!) 

As we drove up the huge mountains, through valleys and past lakes, the scenery was continuously changing, each equally as beautiful and interesting as the last. We drove past farmland dotted with shaggy sheep with energetic lambs and dairy cows all grazing in the green pastures. We were all puzzled at how some of the sheep could climb the slopes to get where they were, and amazed at the rock walls built all the way to the peaks of the mountains! We stopped at every little parking bay we could find for so many amazing picture opportunities, each one presenting us with something new.

My personal favourite stop was at the edge of Ullswater, one of the many lakes in the area. There was a small pebble 'beach' to the side which we walked down to the waters edge. Here dad insisted that I have a drink of the lake water, I was unsure at first but he reassured me that he already had. I cupped a small amount in my hand and took a sip, and it was so delicious! It was clean; and cold; and refreshing; and tasted so much better than any bottled or tap water I had ever tried back in Australia! (I know, big call, but it was!) As we were walking back to the cars parked up by there road, we found a little waterfall, flowing fresh spring water into the lake. We grabbed some quick last minute pictures and all hoped back into the cars and kept going.

When we got to Pooley Bridge, we stopped for a bite to eat, a toilet break and a stretch of our legs. We parked the cars and walked back to one of the pubs we had seen, just down the road, the Crown Inn. Once we had finished our meals, all quite enjoyable, half of us popped next door for an ice-cream, the other half across the road for ice-cream in cones. We walked back to the cars then headed on to Keswick.

When we arrived in Keswick we wandered in search of a co-op, to buy some food for dinner tonight. On our way, the girls stopped in a small corner shop selling little bags, while the boys kept walking to Trespass, a camping and hiking shop. We met the boys in Trespass and we all spent time searching through the discounted clothes racks, shoe shelves, hats and thick, fluffy socks! Uncle Gary needed to spend a little longer trying on trousers and walking shoes, so we left him and Katie and crossed the road to the co-op, almost everyone leaving with a bargain! We got the groceries we needed and wandered down the main shopping street in Keswick, filled with hiking stores, sweet shops, cafés, gift shops and so much more! After walking up and back down the street we went back to the car for another quick toilet break before driving back to our cottage, just past Hawkshead.

When we were home we all relaxed. Uncle Gary, Katie, Kyle and I were outside looking around when a huge fighter jet flew right over the lake, extremely low to the ground! It made a huge noise but was going so fast that it was only visible for a few seconds. Later we went into have a delicious potato and leek soup with spaghetti bolagnaise for dinner, thanks to mum! Then finished it off with some Marvelous Creations chocolate and coffee, before sitting down to watch Brideshead Revisited. Brideshead was the movie filmed partially in Castle Howard, where we visited while we were in York. Mum bought it at the gift shop in Castle Howard for us to watch at some point while we were with Katie and Gary! Well, we watched it. It was terrible. 

"I'm never recommending that to anyone!" - Gary

Yep, it was pretty bad! Dad left about half an hour into the movie and Gary, Katie, mum and I were wishing we had done the same!

After finishing the movie we all headed off to bed, ready for what we all knew was going to be a big day tomorrow!

Highlights & Tips:

* The Lakes District is truly beautiful! It is definately a bucket list location with no photo able to do it the justice it deserves!

* The taste of the fresh lake water was delicious! It is so clean and refreshing!

* The bargains we picked up at Trespass in Keswick were great!

* Never, ever, ever watch Brideshead revisited. I don't think any of us would recommend it at all! It is definately not a good use of time!!

Love Ash 

xx

Day 19 Driving to The Lakes District

Gary had given us the estimated time of departure as 9.30am, so up at 7.30am, breakfast, showers and car packed, we were all ready to go. Basically it was straight up the M6, which was smooth flowing, so I took the opportunity to catch up on some blog writing. It took just a little over 2 1/2 hours to find our destination, a cottage that we had booked at Far Sawrey. Not helped along by "Gertie", which at this point, Grant was ready to throw her out the window! She took us along a very narrow single lane road, with not many places for passing on coming vehicles. The stress was over bearing, we did argue, and then I started laughing, to the point that I was then crying!! Having lost Gary and Katie, and "Gertie" announcing we had made it to our destination, yet feeling like we were in the middle of no where, we continued along the road (if you could call it that) a short distance and turned left onto a wider (not by much) road. It was here that I said to Grant, "I bet anything we will pass Gary and Katie heading in the opposite direction". Sure enough around the next bend, they pass us heading to where we had come from. A quick turn around, in a very tight spot, and we followed them back to exactly where "Gertie" had originally taken us!!

We drove up the very narrow driveway, which opened out into an acre block with a beautiful newly renovated cottage, with a view that was so incredible we had to pinch ourselves, to believe it was all true!  (Mum and Tina - an ideal place if your thinking the Lakes next year!).  We look directly over Lake Windemere to the Windemere township, and under normal circumstances the car ferry runs from Far Sawrey (where the cottage is) to Windemere. However it is shut at the moment, but would be "well good" if it was operating, apparently it's open again in May. 

A very quiet Pheasant living in the backyard - Grant was stoked to see one up close.

We dumped our bags, and a quick trip into Hawks Head for some lunch and a wander. It was here that we realised we were in Beatrice Potter country, and I was beginning to think that the Peaks District was amazing, but the Lakes District is going to be absolutely spectacular! With three full days to enjoy this countryside, we were all very much looking forward to what we would see.

Our lunch at the Sun Inn was delicious, and they had the Football playing, which was even better, so Gary was able to unfortunately, watch his beloved Liverpool lose to Chelsea!

We enjoyed looking around the shops, we picked up a few groceries, some delicious homemade jams, and a little something for Grandad!

The cakes look amazing!! Plan to have morning tea here before we leave for Edinburgh on Wednesday morning.

It was then back to the cottage for some relaxing family time, and many duels in Chess. We had seen on our way Beatrice Potters home, so we stopped for photo opportunities, and then a bit further along was a lovely little pub called the Cuckoo Brow Inn, so it was decided that it looked like the place for dinner.

Dinner was amazing and even more enjoyable as two of the bar staff were Aussies. They were super excited to hear our accents, apparently they don't see too many Aussies in Far Sawrey!

After a delicious meal, finished off with an amazing sticky toffee with cotted cream dessert (yes the jeans are starting to feel a little tighter!) it was home for another well earned rest, ready for the anticipation of what tomorrow would bring for us all!

Highlights

* The cottage, the view, the lake, the food, the shops... Everything!!!

Lots of love,

Chrissie xx

Day 18 Penkridge Cricket Club and driving for the first time in the a United Kingdom

A nice sleep in this morning, after what has been a very busy few days. 

It was cricket at Penkridge today, and both Gary and Jack were playing, so it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy a relaxing day watching the game. 

Not having driven in England yet, I was desperate to get into the drivers side. My opportunity came when Lexie needed to be dropped off in Cannock for a birthday party. So off I headed with Gary, Grant and Lexie. I managed to make it there and back with no troubles, in fact "the big girl" drives like a dream!

It was a very relaxing day, the cricket was great, we got to see both Gary and Jack bat, with Jack hitting two beautiful fours, and officially out scoring Gary, and was the third highest scorer for the Penkridge team. 

Unfortunately the match was rained out, and so the points were shared. A few drinks afterwards at the club and Chinese takeaway for tea, and it was into bed, for a good sleep, before our trip to The Lakes District.

Highlights

* Ann and Bernard so kindly letting me use their washing machine to catch up on some washing

* Driving in the a United Kingdom

* Watching Penkridge v Coventry at the Penkridge Cricket Ground

Lots of love,

Chrissie xx

Day 17 the Peak District, Bakewell and home to Penkridge

This morning we were up, relatively early, and packed ready to grab some breakfast and head off home to Penkridge, via the Peak District.

We opted for a cheap breakfast at Weatherspoons, pancakes for four of us, naturally, and bacon and egg wraps for Grant and Marni. It was not too bad either, and filled a void before our next eating experience.

I had discussed with Grant that we should stop at Leeds, so I could go to the Apple store, to get my iPad fixed, on our way to Bakewell, but he didn't seem that keen about driving in the centre of town. I must admit, I haven't even attempted to drive at all yet, let alone in the city centres, and we think Albany has too many roundabouts, well England is absolutely full of roundabouts!! Everywhere you look there is another roundabout, and they don't have islands in the middle like ours, they just have circles on the ground! However they are all well signed, and the majority of English drivers are very, very polite! Anyway it was decided that Leeds would not be a good idea (sorry Karen!), and we typed Bakewell into "Gertie" and off we went, hoping that she would take us the correct way!

Driving down the M1 was excellent, we came across no roadworks, we travelled around the outskirts of towns such as Leeds, Dewsbury and Barnsley, before we turned off onto the A6178 and "Gertie" kindly took us right through the centre of Sheffield, a rather large industrial city, with plenty of roundabouts, and lots of cars, the one thing that Grant was trying to avoid! 

However, he managed it amazingly well, no arguments, and as we started to wind our way out of Sheffield we could see that we were making our way into some beautiful countryside. Then the fog came... Which made it even more difficult to drive, but the feel became very majestic, and we all started to feel like we had discovered a part of England, that would be etched into our minds forever.

We arrived at our destination, just before lunch, we parked and embarked from the car to find a very radical change in the weather. It was now 8c with a very cold wind, and drizzling with rain.  However this didn't dampen our spirits as we knew we had come to a lovely town in Bakewell right in the Peak District, and for all Pride and Prejudice fans, we were not far from Chatsworth House, the setting for the well known Pemberley Estate, the home of Mr Darcy, in the 2005 film.

Hungry and ready to eat, we did a quick "trip advisor" check, and came across the third best cafe in town, which was right across the road from us, called The Lavender Tea Rooms.  Lots of lovely cakes, and mismatched china, I had the smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel which was delicious, the coffee... not so good, and we are still to find coffee as good as the coffee at Three Anchors, the Spring Espresso in York was close, but doesn't even really compare! 

From here it was a quick walk around, as we were sure it had dropped another 2c.  I had spied a little alley filled with shops, and to Grants great delight as he walked around the corner, there was a whiskey shop! It was very nice inside, and warm!! The lad on the other side of the counter was very chatty, picked up on the Aussie accent, and was quick to say, "You must have family in Great Britain, as this is the only reason you would be here!", followed by a bag out of the English cricket team. Lots of laughs and a quick sample of the whiskey on sale, Grant made his purchase, and we were on our way again, reluctantly out into the freezing cold! 

A quick photo opportunity of "the cherubs" to send to Mum and Dad via Whatsap, and we were back in the car, punched Penkridge into "Gertie" and we were on our way. I must say "Gertie" has been good to us so far, but boy did she take us on some back country roads as we weaved our way home. We definitely felt like we were in "All Creatures Great and Small" country, with the rock walls, rolling hills, with ewes and lambs, and dairy cows everywhere.  Through little places such as Ipstones, Froghall, Cheadle and Stone we drove, then onto the M6 bypassing Stafford and then home into Penkridge.

I had been checking on my phone, train times to Birmingham, as I still desperately wanted to get my iPad looked at, and the nearest Apple Store was at the Bullring Shopping Precinct, right at the New Street train station. So we quickly dropped off our bags and got Gary to drop Grant, Marni, Ashleigh and I at the Penkridge train station, and we caught the 4.16pm train to Birmingham. We quickly walked through to the Apple Store, which was absolutely manic, people everywhere, but I persisted, and finally after waiting nearly an hour, someone helped me. As it turned out it was my charger that was causing the problem, so after purchasing a UK charger, and a quick stop in a fantastic shoe store (where I bought my new boots), a quick grocery shop at Tesco, and we were back on the train at 7.09pm and home again to Penkridge by 7.30pm! 

After what was an exhausting day, it was time for bed, and hopefully a sleep in for us all!!

Highlights

* Grant driving through Sheffield 

* Bakewell (Home of the Bakewell Pie)

* The many back country roads that Gertie took us on!!

* Getting my iPad fixed!!

Lots of Love,

Chrissie xx

Day 16 York - The Jorvik Viking Centre and Castle Howard

This morning we all woke up, not so bright eyed and bushy-tailed! After catching up from our slow start, we were getting pretty hungry, so we headed into the centre of York in search for the 'supposedly' best coffee in York, and all of Great Britian! 

The weather was beautiful outside and leaving the navigating in the hands of myself (risky, I know.) we made our way to Spring Espresso, a little coffee shop tucked away with a few small breakfasts. We were all very disappointed to see the closed sign hanging on the door, but much to our relief, the young girl at the coffee machine had just forgotten to change it. We found a seat and ordered our coffees, croissants and muesli. Over came the coffees, and we were not disappointed! They were definately, by far, the best coffee we have had since we arrived! Marni even had a chance to get behind the coffee machine and had a go at making the patterns like the young barista had done on our coffees! We grabbed our takeaway coffees and headed.

From there we walked to the Jorvik Viking Centre, and lined up for a short 15 minutes before going in. At the Viking Centre they really try to make it feel as authentic as possible. It looked, sounded, felt and smelt like Vikings. That's right, smelt! And boy, it was putrid! Smell put aside, it was extremely informative, interesting and very cool! There were several skeletons of real Vikings found on the site of the centre, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years, each showing the injuries before throughout their life and, if any, injuries at the the time of death, some of which may have caused it! Marni particularly liked the ancient fossilised poo, dug up over twenty years ago, with no known age, giving evidence of the foods the Viking had been eating! After walking through the whole centre, we made our way out for some desperately needed fresh air! 

We wandered down one of the main streets window shopping and in search of a sim for Mums phone so she can have internet connection wherever she goes. After VodaPhone did not help us at all, we found a 3 store and purchased a bargain of a deal, with 30 days of unlimited data for just £15! Mum was very pleased, and when Nathan and Marni heard about the deal they were straight in to get a sim each for themselves! We quickly stopped in T-K-Maxx before making our way back towards The York Priory, were we had seen a pub called The Red Lion the day before, and stopped for lunch.

When we got to the pub we found a table outside in the sun and ordered our food and drink in at the bar. It was here that the man sitting on one of the bar stools started talking to me about how I should never move to England. He talked, and talked and talked, before the waiter who served us before (who was great fun!) saved me, by asking if I could help him out with something at our table. I very quickly followed him out and thanked him for helping me! Only a few minutes later the same man from the bar came out and took my hand, shaking it and even kissed it (ew!). I was definately freaked out! Once he had left, and I was reassured by the waiter that he was definately gone, I very quickly pulled out the antiseptic wipes and tried to enjoy my meal, which was actually very nice! We had a quick look in the antique shop across the road from the Red Lion then walked back to the Priory. 

We stopped back at the Priory for a quick toilet stop then piled into the car and drove out to Castle Howard, only 15 minutes out of town. When we arrived the four of us kids were very unsure of the size of the castle, but was soon reassured when we found out that was only the entrance and ticket sales office! We walked along the driveway down to the actual castle (which was huge!). We slowly walked through the 'house' (all of the workers call it the House), and spent an extra long time speaking to one of the guides about the large dome in the parlour. The architect of the castle was never actually an architect, instead he was involved in theatre! The dome is particularly special in the castle as it was the first ever personally owned building with a dome, inspired by St Paul's Cathedral in London. 

What I found particularly interesting, and quite amusing was the statues in the House. The British never liked to buy incomplete statues, but the French and other European countries wanted to sell them. To solve the problem, the Fench found 'odd' bits of statues like arms, hands, fingers and in some cases, even whole heads! On one of the art pieces, the statue was missing its head, and not one matched the body, so they made a new one, out of a completely different stone. They polished it and shined it to make it look like it was the original. Now, after dusting and ageing the polish and shine has worn away, leaving a very odd looking head and body!

After looking through the parts of the house available and open to the public (the rest was closed to the public as it is still occupied by Mr Howard and his family), we had a look in the gift shop, which was filled with goodies, then walked through the garden to a large fountain. Then we walked along one of the several paths to a beautiful lake and playground. After a look around at the lake while Kyle played on the Playground and a quick toilet break, we caught the tractor back up to the Castle, for an ice-cream and drink! Then we all piled up into the car again and headed back to the York Priory!

From there five of us walked in the opposite direction to the town, leaving Nathan at home to sleep, for a look and drink at the Fulford Arms. After that we walked back to a pizza shop on the way to town just down the road from the Priory. We grabbed 3 pizzas to takeaway and shared them between us all. Then early to bed for all of us after a huge day of wandering through York city centre and most excitingly, Castle Howard!

Highlights:

* Spring Espresso: tasting the best coffee in Great Britian!

* The waiter at the Red Lion was a huge ACDC fan!

* Castle Howard was spectacular!!

* Maybe our long lost cousins, as Mums grandmothers maiden name is Howard!!

Love Ash 

xx