Across The Sea

Thursday 31 August 2017

A good sleep last night as the minimum was 5 degrees and we left a window open so we could snuggle under the doona again.   The nice lady showed us how to turn the heater on if we got cold but that wasn’t necessary as the doona was nice and thick.  We did enjoy the decadence of the heated towel rail though!  A nice breakfast in the conservatorium which actually was quite warm as the sun was shining directly in through the windows/roof.  The American couple behind us (Larry thought she was Kate Hudson travelling incognito but I thought she probably could have afforded something a little more above our budget) even had to pull the blind down it was so warm.

A short drive north and we did a quick stop at the Clava Cairns which are an ancient burial site with round burial cairns surrounded by standing stones.  Jenny found one to try and summon Jamie Fraser but to no avail.  Sigh!  

Onwards to Culloden and the battlefield with the associated information centre. The info centre was terrific, one of the best we have seen on any holiday.  There was a step by step guide on the history of the Jacobite revolution with all information relevant to their side of the storey on one wall and on the opposite wall the corresponding information on the English government side.  A thoroughly interesting read and well worth a visit. Jenny knew quite a bit about the history of the Jacobite revolution and Larry thought he knew the basics but in the immortal words “You Know Nothing Larry Bender”. After the info centre we went outside to the actual battlefield and there are 4 flags on opposite side of the fields and they represent where the two sides were drawn up. It gave you an idea of the distances and how difficult it would have been for the Highlanders.

After this we ventured into Inverness and stopped by the famous Inverness Tesco, Larry doesn’t know why it is famous but Jenny said it was so it must be. Lunch was purchased here so we could have it on the road and off we went heading for Loch Ness. As we arrived at the Loch the rain started, a quick few photos and back in the car until we stopped at the Nessie shop. Souveniers purchased and the rain was bucketing down but it cleared up a few miles down the road and we were able to stop by the Loch and have our lunch. Stared intently at the water and we did our best Nessie calls and threw some sandwich crusts but to no avail, she didn’t appear, bugger.

Headed in a more westerly direction through the Five Sisters. The scenery was magnificent, so very much different to what we are used to. Jenny was driving so Larry was taking in the scenery and there were waterfalls everywhere as it had been raining.

Continued on and up and over the bridge to the Skye. The bridge is very tall, must be a reason for it but I doubt there are ships that are that big coming under it. Maybe Mr Google will find the answer. Not long after we crossed the bridge the heavens opened up and the rain was very heavy. Made for slow going as there is a lot of traffic but it eventually thinned out the further north we went until we reached Portree.  A little further north and as we came down the hill towards the western side of the northern most finger of Skye it was once again blue skies and sunshine.  Just past Kensaleyre and we found our B&B, Corran House, which is quite comfortable.   We chatted to our host about the weather and she told us how yesterday she took the dog for a walk about 3 miles up the road and got absolutely drenched but when she got home all the washing on the line was bone dry so obviously rain is very localised on Skye!  Our friendly host arranged a dinner booking at the Edinbane Inn which was only about 15 minutes drive away and the drive was quite scenic and us being us the back road seemed more inviting than the major road. A nice meal was had (Jenny thought the entrees sounded better than the mains so had two – Loch Eishort Mussels in a creamy garlic and white wine sauce, followed by braised cheek of Scottish beef with root vegetable dauphinoise, parsnip puree and rich jus) and we found the best tasting gin we have had in all of our travels - Mysty Isles Gin, made right here on the  Isle of Skye.  We will be purchasing a bottle tomorrow to take back home.

Back to our B&B and it was very picturesque as the sun was just setting and making pretty light and reflections in our Loch (Snizort Beag).  We got out of the car at the B&B to the sounds of bellowing and watched from our hill as a herd of cows were shifted from a paddock across the road to the field next to our bedroom.  Now Larry knows what a real grumpy cow sounds like!!

A Leap Of Faith

30th August 2017

Best night’s sleep we’ve had all trip as we could actually have the window ajar and so the room wasn’t so stuffy and we could actually snuggle under the doona instead of lying on top of it.  Yummy breakfast at 8am served on Wedgewood china and tablecloth on the table so quite posh.

We don’t have a super long drive today so we did quite a few stops.  First was to Queen’s view lookout – either named after Queen Victoria, who visited here, or Queen Isabella, wife of Robert the Bruce, who lived here.  Either way, a very spectacular view and the sun was even shining! 

A couple of miles on and we were back out of the car at the Killiecrankie Visitor centre and heading down the side of the hill to find the Soldier’s Leap and then continued even further down until we could walk along the edge of the river Garry and underneath the railway viaduct.  We walked as far as we felt we needed or wanted to but not having a map with us and not being sure just how far the path would keep going, we retraced our steps.  By the time we got back up to the visitor centre (gasp!) it had opened so we could educate ourselves a little more about the battle that was fought here and why the English soldier made his famous leap across the river.

Continued onwards to Blair Castle.  We were just going to look at it from a distance but the canny wee lady was stalking unwary visitors in the driveway and before we knew it we had bought tickets to view the castle and grounds.  It actually ended up being very interesting and the baronial entry hall with its wood panelling and decorative displays of broadswords, swords, pikes and rifles was certainly very impressive.  As was the number of staghorns lining the passageways!  Out of the windows we could see a number of cross country jumps in the fields and one of the castle attendants told us we were lucky to be here this week as last week had been very busy and crowded because the Blair Castle International Horse Trials had been on.  I would have liked to be here for that but perhaps just as well we are here a week later when it’s quieter and at least I could see the cross country course and the trampled earth and if there had been any casualties they’ve been scraped up by now.

We contemplated lunch in the castle cafe but decided to push on for the House of Bruar and, as it was only a few minutes up the road, we didn’t have long to wait.  I see what Margaret means about it being weird having a fancy department store in the middle of nowhere.  We avoided the cashmere and tweed shops, the nursery selling heather plants and the giant hall selling gourmet foodstuffs and headed straight to the restaurant/cafe where we purchased soup, sandwiches and hot chips.  A pity we weren’t here for morning or afternoon tea time as the selection of cakes looked very inviting but were full from what we had so missed out.

Next stop was Ruthven barracks which is the only place we have been, so far, where there is no fee to park and no fee to trample all over the ruined 18^th century building.  The building was burnt down by the Jacobites in the 1700s but before then housed hundreds of English soldiers.  It’s right on top of a hill and although each room has a fireplace it still looks like a pretty grim place to suffer a Scottish winter.  We had the whole place to ourselves and it was a bit surprising as it really is quite a spectacular ruin.

Our plan for the rest of the afternoon was to visit the Highland Safari Park but, whilst we had a reasonable idea of where it was, we failed to see any signs for it and eventually worked out that they had all been removed due to current road works so that the place has either closed down or had to take a break as literally no one can get to them currently unless by helicopter.  Having that plan thwarted we headed on to check out Aviemore and, seeing signs to the Cairngorn Brewing company we thought we’d check that out.  Although there was a group there doing a tour, the shop was otherwise empty and the girl behind the counter was quite happy to pull us a few sample ales (including their famous Sheepshaggers lager) and chat to us about Scotland and Australia.  She would like to visit Australia but is a bit worried about all the creepy crawlies especially spiders, snakes and lizards so of course Larry calmed her fears by introducing her to bungarras.  You should have seen her face when she saw the photo of one on Google!  She forgave us enough, though, to give us directions to nearby Loch Morlith which she promised would give a spectacular aspect across to the Cairngorns.  It was certainly very pretty but by now it had clouded over and was quite chilly so, although there were some stout hearted Scottish kids cavorting in the shallows nearby, we were not at all tempted.

Back in the car and another short drive found us in Carrbridge which is our destination for tonight.  We checked in to the Fairwinds Hotel then settled into the lounge for a complimentary whiskey or sherry and a spot of internet.  We eventually dragged ourselves out again and walked down into the village to the Cairn hotel (pub) for a drink (another variety of Scottish gin for Jenny, beer for Larry) and then dinner of Haggis Lasagne for Jenny (just couldn’t resist seeing what haggis lasagne would be like and glad I did – it was really yummy) and beef and ale pie for Larry.  His was very good too apparently.

There was an Australian couple sitting next to us and they recommended the riverside walk as an after dinner digestive so we finished our day with a half hour walk past the old Packhorse bridge, along the river, back over it via a suspension bridge and the Carrbridge carriage driving horses and then through the forest and past the cemetery (really?  A wood AND a cemetery in the evening light??) and back to our hotel.

Time to put the feet up, have a cuppa and write the blog before bed.

Wheels and Ladders

Tuesday 29 August 2017

Had a pretty good sleep last night – think my cold has finally turned the corner and only woke up once for a cough for a change.  Breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, cereal and juice and then we were packed up and on the road again before 9am.  Much cooler today – forecast says a maximum of around 16 degrees so we have dug out warmer jumpers and even put our rainjackets within reach.  Just in case.

Followed the Edinburgh bypass and the GPS took us right around the perimeter of Falkirk so that we arrived at it from the north rather than the east.  Funnily enough the signs to the Falkirk wheel wanted us to go that way too – not sure why – we still drove right through the town so it wasn’t a bypass as such.  Never mind, we arrived just after 10am which is when it opens anyway so we were on the first boat of the morning in order to actually go on the wheel.  It really is a wonder of modern engineering.  Each of the two gondolas on the wheel are capable of holding 250 tonne of water and, using Archimedes theory, it doesn’t matter whether there are boats in there or not, they maintain that weight and balance each other out as the wheel rotates.  The wheel takes four minutes to move boats from the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal.  If it wasn’t there, the canals would have to be linked by a series of locks that would take a few hours to negotiate.  Interestingly, the two canals used to connect much further to the east within the town but as the canals silted up and became unused during the middle of the 20^th century they were built over and could not be reopened when canals once again became popular later in the century.  The site of the Falkirk wheel is therefore constructed in an area that was once a tyre factory and so covering it in concrete to build a new canal system was not an issue.  There is now, with the popularity of the canals in Scotland for recreation and holidays, a regeneration of employment in the canal industry with all locks in Scotland having a lock-keeper.

Headed north to the site of the battle of Bannockburn.  It was pretty chilly here so raincoats were added for an extra layer of warmth even though we have so far only experienced a few light rain showers whilst in the car.  We walked up to the monument to Robert the Bruce and sighted Stirling Castle in the distance.  Amazing to the think it would have been a landmark for the soldiers over 700 years ago also.

Onwards to Doune and its castle which is famous for being used in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail as not only Camelot, but also Swamp Castle and, in more recent years, as Castle Leoch in the Outlander TV series (although interestingly, only the exterior was used and the inside kitchens etc so perfectly recreated in the studios in Ireland that many people think they actually filmed them at Doune also).  Doune is great in so far as you can wander and explore on your own with either Terry Jones or Sam Heughan whispering interesting facts about the castle or filming in your ear as you do so.  I like the fact that the Laird of Albany’s bedchambers had a lovely big fireplace and a handy privy but his wife’s had neither.  Apparently he had grand plans to build an extra wing on the castle and provide his wife with a lovely suite of rooms (presumably including fireplace and toilet facilities) but never got around to it.  Considering he died at the grand old age of 80 that suggest to me that he was a serious procrastinator!

By the end of our tour we were seriously hungry, it being after 2pm, so headed into the town of Doune and had lunch at Buttercup cafe – steak sandwich and a huge hot chocolate for me, a bacon and cheese Panini and milkshake for Larry.  Feeling sated and having also had a bit of internet we got back in the car and on to Gleneagles.  We drove into the clubhouse carpark and saw the fancy people coming off the links with their caddys.  Fabulous scenery but it looks as though the rough on the sides of the green is seriously rough heather and every green seems to have horrible slopes down into burns, lakes or bunkers.  Also, being a links course, there looks like there would be some serious walking to do, even if you were clever enough to head straight down the greens and not have to zig zag down them like I would!

Continued on and past the outskirts of Perth.  Larry wanted to drive in to the city centre to get a photo of a Perth sign.  Jenny convinced him that the attractions of Perth city centre (none) didn’t warrant the effort so was in Larry’s bad books for a while.  Good humour was restored with a stop at the Stewart Tower dairy farm for an icecream.  You could tell it was a dairy the minute you stepped out of the car – a distinct aroma of cow fills the air – but by now the sun was shining and the shop sheltered us from the wind so we sat outside and ate our icecreams (mine was a jammy dodger one complete with whole jammy dodger biscuit!) watching the goats annoying each other and the ducks sleeping in the sun.

Jenny took over the driving for the final stretch up the road to Pitlochry.  We found our B&B and checked in and then went for a walk with the steps through the garden taking us straight down to the main road.  From the map it looked like the fish ladder was just over a bridge but it ended up being a good hour long hike from our hotel and a big circuit so we ended up getting our exercise for the day after all.  It was very interesting though, as well as being very picturesque, so it was worth the effort.

Made our way back to our room to put our feet up for an hour or so and then down to the closest restaurant we could find where we shared a pizza as neither of us were that hungry after our late lunch.  Yet another show about Diana’s last days/funeral etc on the telly to watch while we write the blog, download photos and have a cuppa before bed.

All Who Wander Are Not Lost

Monday 28 August 2017

We could hear cows mooing and little birds chirping when we woke up this morning as we are just out of Edinburgh – much better than the sound of cars and sirens.  Went down to breakfast but limited myself to fruit salad, cereal and toast this morning as I’m not usually a big breakfast eater and have had too many cooked breakfasts in a row.   We had a big bag of washing to deal with and was hoping the hotel would take it off our hands but they don’t offer a laundry service so they wrote down the name of a laundrette in the nearby town of Musselburgh so we headed there after breakfast. 

Wandered the high street of Musselburgh while we waited (it offers TWO electric cigarette shops – they are very popular over here and we are getting used to walking through big clouds of cigarette smoke only to discover it is aromatic vapour instead).  The laundrette had huge dryers so the laundry didn’t take long and I must admit to a certain mesmerised fascination in watching clothes tumble in a dryer!

 

We headed off to the nearby park-n-ride at Newcraighall and caught the train into central Edinburgh and headed off to explore the city.  We headed up to the Royal mile and meandered our way up the street to the castle.  It is the last day of the festival today so there are lots of people handing out flyers to shows and lots of street performers so a very vibrant atmosphere.  Also a very crowded one and the congestion only got worse as we reached the castle and joined the queue.  Finally got our tickets and then did the tourist shuffle around the castle.  We saw all  we wanted to see, including the very splendid views out across the city, but we drew the line at the 30 minute queue  to the see the Scottish crown jewels.  We’ll come back one day off peak and look at inside stuff!  All around the castle walls were huge stacks of fireworks being prepared for tonight’s festival fireworks finale which should look pretty spectacular.  We could possibly walk up Carberry Hill next to our hotel to watch them but by 9pm our bodies might have other plans (Carberry Hill, by the way, is where Mary Queen of Scots surrendered to the English confederate lords before being imprisoned in Linlithgow Palace).

We soon got tired of the constant jostling crowds at the castle and headed back into the old town and wandered the streets and lynds.  Found a modest little kebab shop off the main tourist drag so had a reasonably priced (but very nice) chicken wrap for a late lunch.  Continued our wanderings and eventually made our way all the way down the hill to Holyrood Palace.  Admired it through the gates and then wended our way back up Canongate and stopped into Jenner’s Department store for a cuppa.

Enough was enough and back to the train station and a short ride back to Newcraighall station to collect the car and to Carberry Tower Mansion. The only dinner booking they could offer was at 8:45 so went to Dalkieth and found a bistro called Mercat and had a couple of salad dinners and as Larry was on a no alcohol day only Jenny had a cider.

Back to Carberry Tower and an early night. 

Wizardry

Sunday 27Aug2017

A bit of a sleep in this morning and we were just ready in time for breakfast at 7:30.  On the road by 8:30 as we had a bit of a drive to do today. We decided to mostly bypass the highways and motorways and do the back roads which provides much more interesting scenery and it did not disappoint.

First stop this morning was Castle Alnwick which is the home of the Duke of Northumberland and is the second largest inhabited castle after Windsor. It wasn’t too shabby a place with very green lawns and smicko state rooms. It was very interesting to walk through the house and the current Duke and Duchess have opened most of their home for the public as a way of supplementing the income as the cost of keeping this property would be enormous. Also it was the location of Harry Potter’s Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, especially the learning to fly on broomsticks scenes.

After our fill of that castle we did a Willie Nelson and found our way to the Holy Island and Lindisfarne Priory ruins. A joy to be competing with the English Tourists on their Bank Holiday pilgrimages. To be honest it was all a bit of a let down, even the famous crab sandwiches were average. Did get to taste some mead and purchased a spiced mead mini bottle to go with the two that found their way out of Castle Alnwick in Larry’s back pack (paid for of course!).

Left the island over the causeway with a few hours to spare before it was closed off again due to the incoming tide and in two shakes of a jiffy we were in Scotland. Well there no dancing girls or ticker tape parades as we crossed the border on a back road, just a couple of smallish signs to advise you had entered another country, you get a better greeting going into Big W. 

We continued our back road adventures into the middle of bloody nowhere. Except this time it was nowhere in Scotland and it was a bleak and barren countryside for a while until we arrived in the town of Lauder which has castle Thirlestane next to it. We drove a way up the driveway but then realised they wanted some cash to go further but bugger that, we reversed a bit and had a chat to a couple of Scottish horses. Very friendly they were and the scratch and pats were appreciated.

Now the next part gets interesting as sign posting leaves a little bit to be desired in this part of Scotland but eventually we found the town of Roslin after a few detours and parked up next to the chapel which most of us heathens only realised is a special place after watching The DaVinci Code.

A very fascinating church with a bucket load of carvings in every surface that can take a scratching or three.  Full of French and Italian tourists so you could not get the ambience of the place as there was more arm waving going on in the church than the goal umpires in a Sydney – Dockers game.

By this stage it was getting a bit late and we still had to find our digs for the night in a little bungalow called Carberry Tower Mansion House. Very flash abode with a lot of history (to be honest every thing in this country has history) as it was owned by the queen mother’s sister and Lizzie and Mags used to visit a lot as kids. Larry had the obligatory couple of pints to see if the Carlsberg in Scotland tasted any different than it does in England and Jenny had another Gin and Tonic to check on that was well.

A very tidy dinner of lamb for Larry and Shetland salmon ( no it wasn’t a small salmon in case you were wondering) for Jenny was consumed and now sitting in the library writing this blog.  A piper just piped a bus load of American tourists into the fancy dining room for dinner.  Bet the food isn’t any better than we had downstairs!

We’ve now made our way back to our little garret in the roof space (probably used to be servants quarters!) but it’s still very nice and we get to use all the same facilities downstairs as the people in the fancy suites below us.

Dog hire company required

Saturday 26 Aug 2017

The earliest our hosts offered breakfast was 8.30am so we had a lovely lie in with a cup of Yorkshire tea – how nice it is to be able to sit in bed and look at such a fabulous view out the window instead of a fence or roof or road.  We had a very nice cooked breakfast and then on the road again.  We were a bit stressed about getting caught up in all the traffic for the Swaledale Show but we did a bit of back road touring and managed to miss it.  We did, however, stumble across a flat racing paddock which is where the English train their racehorses.  Unfortunately they were just packing up the last horse into a trailer as we got there.  Made our way onwards to Aysgarth falls and managed the steep road down into the valley to see them.  Apart from being very picturesque, these falls are famous for the scene in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves where Kevin Costener and whoever played Little John had their sword fight.  The water looked cold enough for us not to want to recreate the scene although there were some guys wading around collecting something in a bucket.  Bait?

Back in the car and driving through beautiful countryside and to the village of Askrigg – famous as the town used for the TV series All Creatures Great and Small.  Bought ourselves a drink and sandwiches from a little shop/cafe and then drove on towards Hawes.  Very touristy town and absolutely heaving as it is August Bank Holiday weekend.  We will go on to see lots of touring motorbikes today as well as a line of mini mokes (the people in those were very well rugged up!)  Although there are quite a few dark, threatening crowds around it remains dry and generally sunny wherever we are.  I think I got a bit burnt today!  We found the Wensleydale Creamery and sampled quite a few different varieties.  Unadulterated it’s a fairly average tasting cheese but they’ve obviously worked that out so there’s all sorts of options including ones with blueberries, caramelised onion, smoked etc and we bought a couple of small chunks just because.

Our next destination was Hadraw Water Force (waterfall) but it wasn’t well signposted and the GPS sent us some convoluted route and the next thing we knew we were climbing up and up and over the Buttertubs Pass which was spectacular if not a little hair rising particularly when you rounded a corner to find a sheep in the middle of the road. 

We spent the next hour or so wending our way through the back roads of the upper dales before finally leaving Yorkshire and heading into Cumbria and then winding our way back up into the Penines.  We passed through a lot of really wild and desolate country today – amazing that a country with so many millions of people still has these areas that have a very high sheep population and a very low human one!

We stopped at Low Force waterfall (thought it was High Force but once again poor signage confused us) and had our sandwiches on a rocky ledge looking over the falls.  Lots of families there enjoying their bank holiday with a picnic and a walk and EVERYONE without fail had a dog with them except us.   Honestly, there should be a dog hire company in England so you can hire a dog to take with you everywhere, otherwise you stick out and look like a tourist.  We really haven’t seen any other foreign tourists since we left York and took to the countryside – everywhere we have been has been English families enjoying the school holidays and the long weekend.

Continued our zig-zaggy way north and eventually hit Haydon Bridge which is where we are staying tonight.  Back on a more major road and headed west towards Vindolanda.  We arrived about 3.30pm but doesn’t close til 6pm this time of the year so all good.  Wandered all around and over (really, it’s amazing that they don’t care about people trampling all over these archaeological sites) and you get a really good idea of the layout of the town and the fort.  Very impressive that so much has been worked out about what every building was used for, how many storeys they may have been, even what god would have been worshipped in any particular temple.

Checking the clock we figured we might have just enough time to go up Housesteads fort which is right on Hadrian’s Wall.  Arrived at 4.30pm and thinking it closed at 5pm we high-tailed it up the hillside (GASP!) to check out the ruins and to stand on the wall and pretend we were looking for marauders from the north.  After 5pm and still plenty of people up on the hill and we suspected maybe the dash up the hill quite that fast hadn’t been necessary after all.  Never mind, good for our fitness and at this rate, based on the walking and climbing of hills/steps we are doing we might actually lose weight these holidays!

Eventually made our way back to the car and managed to stumble across our B&B “Hadrian Lodge” on the way back to Haydon Bridge.  Checked in, meanwhile fending off the world’s friendliest and most fittest chocolate Labrador, then rewarded ourselves after our long day of driving, with a drink and a spot of Wifi in the lounge before heading into Haydon Bridge for dinner at The Anchor Hotel which was right on the river.  We watched the ducks pretending to be salmon and swim upstream while we waited for our food to arrive and Larry had a colour-changing gin and tonic.  A blueish colour until you add the tonic and then it goes pink.  Apparently it had a raspberry flavour hint to it and Larry said it was very nice.  Dinner for Jenny was creamy, garlicky pasta with prawns and chorizo.  Larry had a chicken, brie and cranberry burger and fries.  Was a bit of a long wait for the food to arrive so pretty much straight home to bed afterwards.

Carlton - Oh The Serenity

Friday 25^th August 2017

Our usual reasonably early start but it’s not that surprising as one of the high up windows in our room has no curtain.  We packed up our things and then headed across the road to the Travelodge to treat ourselves to a cooked breakfast.  Very average to say the least – let’s just say the best thing about it was the free Wifi.  Had a quick chat to Kate who was just walking home from school but didn’t get through to Ben so just sent him a message wishing him good luck for his very last concert tonight.

Back to our room for a final tidy up and then we walked back around the city walls to the Europcar office at the railway station and picked up our silver (just knew it would be silver) Vauxhall Insignia – bigger than we were expecting – thought we were getting an Astra and this is more the old Vectra size.  Still, we’re not complaining as the boot easily fits both our suitcases plus the overnight case so we are not so obviously tourists.

It was a fairly tortuous trip out of York as it was not only peak hour but a truck had broken down in one lane of the ring road so it took us a while to get out of town.  At one point we recognised our laundrette of the first day – wow, we did walk a long way!  The traffic was a bit stop start most of the way and we guessed it was people heading off for the Bank Holiday weekend and worried it was going to take much longer to get everywhere than we had planned.  We made it to Castle Howard by 10.30am though, which was fine as it doesn’t really open until then anyway.  We made a tour of the gardens and admired the house from the Atlas fountain and then did a tour of the house.  Whilst the gardens and exterior are breathtaking I must say I found the inside a little disappointing.  It’s certainly grand and all, it’s just a little painfully obvious that quite a lot of money needs to be spent inside and that these enormous stately homes must suck the families dry.  It was just all a bit shabby and the tour generally takes you through these shabby areas plus the wing that was burnt out in the 1940’s and still hasn’t been renovated.  They cover this by saying how that made it so much easier to be used for the film set for the recent Brideshead Revisited movie and have left the set decorations hiding one room.  The other has large photo displays of the previous Brideshead TV series with Jeremy Irons which is the one I watched and gave me a secret wish to one day be invited to stay in a stately home.  I still have a secret plan of marrying Kate off to some English lord so that my dream can become a reality!

Back in the car and up the road to the Eden Camp where the original POW camp huts have been turned into a very well done exhibit of life during the wars including one where you feel you are actually in a U-boat attack and another where you are made to feel you are on the streets of London during an air raid.  Very well done and you just couldn’t help ducking when an explosion went off over your head.  We didn’t get through all the huts as it was just information overload and we were also getting hungry so we headed to the canteen for a pastie and the world’s longest sausage roll. 

Refuelled we headed north towards the North Yorkshire moors and turned left at Pickering and headed west.  Made it to Helmsley, which is a very pretty looking Yorkshire village, and then turned off to Rivaleux Abbey.  What a gorgeous little hamlet of houses and then the striking ruin of the abbey sitting amongst them in the valley.  We didn’t go in but just walked around the hamlet admiring the houses with the abbey in the background with the sound of sheep bleating in the background.  Just lovely.

Headed on to Sutton Bank where we parked up at the visitor centre and then took the 500m (metre?  Too long.  Mile?  Too short) to the viewing point to see the view that James Herriot famously called the ‘most beautiful in England).  It certainly was spectacular and, although a little hazy, you certainly could see a long way across the Yorkshire Dales.  It’s also a fantastic place for a gliding club and we watched a couple of them come into land whilst there.

Continued west and the GPS sent us a rather convoluted way around Thirsk and towards Masham.  We were going there as Jenny had read there was a dairy nearby which made its own ice creams but there was not advertising for it as we headed near and through Masham and we despaired that we had missed out but another five miles out of Masham we finally found it and had a very nice ice cream.  Unfortunately we arrived there at exactly the same time as a bus load of Doncaster pensioners so it took a bit longer to get served than it should have (ie the old bloke who told us ‘I’m not pushing in I’m just getting to my friends’ as he pushed in for example).  It was a lovely ice cream and worth the wait.  Feeling refreshed we pushed on towards Middleham and its castle which was home to Richard III.  The town is now home to a number of racing stables and there were a few long legged horses in the fields.  We were stressing about not being able to find Carlton, which the GPS wouldn’t recognise and we had no phone reception so we pushed on.  Luckily we pushed on in the right direction and drove down some narrow country lanes through classic Yorkshire Dales countryside of stone fenced fields and white fluffy sheep until we found the little village of Carlton and the welcome sight of the Forester’s Arms.

Checked in and Larry carried the suitcases up the steep narrow steps to our upstairs room.  We have a fabulous view across the valley and it is really quiet as we are so remote.  Once the pub quietens down tonight we will sleep well.

Nowhere else to eat or drink in the village than the pub so time for another gin – this time rhubarb infused – and then a beef and Masham ale pile with chips and veg before retiring to our room so that Larry could doze off and Jenny could write the blog. 

Cruzin Through The day

Thursday 24 August 2017

We made it through until about 5.30am this morning before being wide awake – guess we only need about 8 hours and my cold doesn’t really make sleeping that easy.  Lazed in bed watching breakfast television with a mug of Yorkshire Tea in hand and then dressed and ready to explore by about 8am.  We walked along the walls along the west side of York which eventually curve back around to the river Ouse (sounds like ooze).  Walked up to the Minster but couldn’t go in because of the early hour but it was nice to look at it with the sun shining on it and without crowds of people all around.  We followed a walking route plan I had printed out which took us round the back to the Treasurer’s House and Garden (also closed) and then up Goodramgate which has some of the oldest jettied houses in York.  One of them contained a cafe that was actually open and had free Wifi so we had a cuppa and checked our phones (no internet at the Masons Arms) and waited til 9am for the shop Larry wanted to visit to open.  A great little department store that sold everything including the kitchen sink but also the sports socks Larry needed to buy and a new caravan coffee mug Larry wanted to buy.  Socks (and mug) bought, we continued wandering through the streets of York, found the Shambles and the Shambles markets where we bought strawberries and grapes for one pound per punnet for a second breakfast.  The crowds had started to pick up by now and it became evident just what a tourist town it is – cars come a very obvious second to pedestrians during the day! 

Eventually we stumbled upon Betty’s tea rooms which is one of those ‘must do’s’ of York and decided on an early lunch.  There was a queue of about six people and we rolled our eyes and almost didn’t go in but thought we could see an empty table or two and people finishing so did and only queued for 10 minutes at the most before being shown to a table.  We are very glad we did as we had a really nice meal (Larry had the bacon and cheese rosti and I had a Wensleydale quiche and salad) which were absolutely delicious.  We are even gladder that we decided to go in when we did as the queue continued to form behind us and by the time we left it had stretched out the door and around the corner.  We certainly wouldn’t have queued if it had been that long when we arrived and we would have missed out on a lovely lunch. 

Continued to wander around the streets of York and Larry bought a pair of runners and we bought a few little gifts etc.  Made our way to Barley Hall which Jenny had read about and it was certainly very interesting.  Basically an intact medieval townhouse which had been covered with a brick facade over the years and used for all sorts of other uses over the centuries before the property was bought in the 1980’s and its original use was discovered.  It was then decided to restore it back to a house and to use all the old, original construction and furnishing methods to do so.  It even has a bone window (ie the bones, hooves of cattle melted down and poured into thin rectangular moulds to make small, translucent window panes).  Fascinating.  They also had displays of costumes from the BBC TV series ‘Wolf Hall’ so that was also interesting.  Although the street 100 yards away was teeming with people and tourists because Barley Hall is down a little side lane and hidden from view there were only a few people going through so it was easy to see everything at our leisure.

Wandered on through York and realised because of our early start and early lunch that it was only about 2pm and we had just about done and seen everything we wanted to do.  Larry wasn’t keen on going back to the Minster so I suggested the Viking museum.  Headed down there but because it’s much more heavily advertised it had a queue alright and we just couldn’t face it.  It had become a bit cooler and rainier during the course of the day so we thought of heading back to a cinema complex we had spotted earlier in the day.  On the way there, however, we were diverted by a sign pointing to River Cruises’ and thought an hour or so sitting down looking at scenery was probably a better way to spend our time.  It only became an even better idea when Larry discovered he could sit on his butt, looking at scenery AND with a beer in his hand.  

The cruise took us down river to Bishopthorpe Palace which is where the Bishops of York Minster reside.  Apparently it had to be considerably extended by one of the bishops in the 17^th century by about 20 rooms as we was very productive and had about that many children!!  There are a number of metal markers adjacent to a door on the ground floor which mark the heights of various floods over the years.  The highest is from the flood of 2000 so not that long ago. 

One the way back to York the original Terrys chocolate factory was pointed out.  Apparently it was bought out by the Kraft company who promptly moved all production to Poland and the building was turned into residential apartments the most expensive of which sells for around 2 million pounds.  So yet another example of a town’s industrial history being lost to capital gain.

After a long and full day we headed back to our room to put our feet up for a while and to write the blog.  Hopefully we can publish it soon once we have an internet connection again.  Once that was accomplished we headed down to the bar and tonight I tried the lavender infused Masons gin which was actually very nice.  We ventured back into town for a fish and chip dinner and marvelled at how different the place felt without the hordes of tourists.

A Yorkin We Will Do

Wednesday 23^rd August 2017

Another early morning.  I think we are falling into a pattern of early nights and early mornings.  We breakfasted and watched morning television again and then, at about 8.30am we set off south to Kensington Gardens for an hour’s walk around the park.  Lots of people walking their dogs and lots of joggers at this hour of the day.  We walked across to Kensington Palace and looked through the gates.  There were at least half a dozen floral tributes to Princess Diana attached to them – not sure if that’s just always the case of whether because it’s coming up to the 20^th anniversary of her death.  Headed along the south side of the gardens along the Princess Diana Memorial Walk (which probably goes between the Princess Diana Memorial Playground and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain (!!).  

Walked past the Royal Albert Hall and it is currently surrounded by BBC vans and equipment as the Proms are on and being televised.

Headed back to the hotel and a last little relax before packing up, checking out and making our way up to Paddington Underground station.  Caught the Circle line to Kings Cross and cashed in our Oyster Cards – got most of our money back – think it got confused by refunding for two cards so a bit of a bonus there!  About an hour before our train to York was due to leave so we had an early lunch and cleverly logged into the cafe’s Wifi (clever because you needed an English postcode and I managed to make one up that worked).  No problems finding and getting on the train and we sat opposite a nice girl from Canada who was very chatty and shared her grapes with us.  She has sold her house and is off for a year travelling but other than London, York and Edinburgh she hasn’t planned anything.  Certainly not my way of doing things!!

Arrived in York around 3.30pm and decided to catch a taxi to our pub/hotel.   A very quick trip around the city walls in the car but it would have been a bit of a slog with the cases.  The barman at the Masons Arms warmly welcomed us and helped carry my bag up the stairs but he was a bit frazzled as there had been a burst water main in the street that morning and they had had a bit of a mini flood to deal with.  Not much sign of any damage though, other than the dirt between the pavers out the front had washed away.  We thought we should get a bit of laundry done so asked for directions to the nearest Laundromat.  The simple directions of “Through the arch in the wall, up the street for 10 minutes, you can’t miss it” meant of course we did and we walked up to a junction and then guessed left instead of right.  Eventually when we did go right the laundrette was closed so we kept walking in case there was another one.  Eventually there was and the nice owner let us in even though we could only just get the wash done before closing time.  He then even more nicely directed us to a nearby pub to have a drink whilst he minded the washing. 

Had a feeling we were in the ‘not so touristy’ part of York here and the local we went to gave us the feeling of walking into someone’s house that happened to have a bar in it.  It was basically just a family group and their friends and everyone that walked in knew them and they passed the baby around and talked in loud, Yorkshire accents and it really was very entertaining albeit we felt a bit self conscious being so clearly out of place.  Still they were very nice and we were on their good side because we complimented their dog which had cute floppy ears.  Eventually the washing was done and the nice (gee, he was nice) laundrette man rang us a taxi to get back because we had actually walked a bloody long way from the hotel.  Dumped our laundry in our room and then headed straight to the bar for a well deserved drink.  I had the Masons Gin – came in normal, tea infused or lavender infused – I tried the tea – very nice indeed.  We stayed on and had dinner – the obligatory roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  My god, possibly the biggest meal I have ever had put in front of me – probably would have fed a family of four.   The Yorkshire pudding alone was the size of a soup bowl.   I did my best by the 2 cups worth of cabbage defeated me and I only managed 3 of the 6 new potatoes. 

We thought we should go for an evening stroll to help digest and did a short circuit into the centre of York and then home via Cliffords Tower but bursting bladders and tired legs drove us home.

 We staggered up to bed and despite my poking to try and keep him awake, Larry was asleep before 9pm and so, of course, I wasn’t far behind.  No doubt we’ll be awake at the crack of dawn again!!

New discoveries and old favourites

After a reasonable sleep in we had breakfast in the room with some yummy Cruesli (chocolate chunks in toasted muesli) about a million calories per bowl but hey what the hell we are on holidays.

Walked to Paddington Station but didn’t get on a train.  Instead, we went through to the end of the station and beyond to the Grand Union Canal and up to the canal boat water taxi.

 A very pleasant glide past Regents Park and the London Zoo (we glimpsed a couple of African hunting dogs through the fences) to Camden Markets which was a complete surprise as it is a rabbit warren of little stalls in the old horse stables. Very interesting but a bit too much retro and hip for us (even though Larry oozes that style already) and we weren’t hungry enough to indulge in any of the multitude of food stalls so it was like water of a duck’s back.

We actually got lost in there and couldn’t find our way out but eventually Google Maps helped us out and we found our way to Chalk Hill tube station and travelled to Tower Bridge to see the Tower Of London.

Dutifully lined up and were amazed at why it so long for some people to ask for and pay for their tickets but we were quick and off we went like a seagull to a chip to the exhibit/Crown Jewels. Had a line up of about half an hour to see the Crown Jewels but they were well and truly worth it. Huge diamonds in the crowns and sceptres and overall it really is a must see exhibit. The Beefeaters and staff are quite clear about no photography and Larry witnessed a pillock taking photos of one of the crowns when he thought no one was watching. But out came a staff member and demanded he stop, told him to show her the pics, demanded he delete each photo as she watched. Gold, what a moron, thought he could do what he wanted but that doesn’t work when you are around tens of millions of dollars worth of jewellery.

We explored most of the Tower of London and there is so much history to take in. Larry particularly enjoyed the armoury section and the armour of Henry VIII caused much laughter from the people who saw the enormous cod piece, would make John Holmes look like he was in freezing water if the cod piece was actually a true representation.  Jenny, having just watched the series ‘The White Princess’ which is all about Elizabeth of York and deals a lot with the period where Edward Plantagenet, the Earl of Warwick was imprisoned in the  Tower was disappointed that the White Tower was a shuffling mass of people walking past armour and the full history of the Tower of a place of imprisonment and royal apartments is glossed over.   There is only one little reference to the staircase where they found a box of bones in the 17^th century which they assume must belong to the long lost Princes in the Tower.  Jenny has more sympathy for their cousin Teddy, though, who was locked up there for 14 years before finally being dragged out and executed.

Eventually enough was enough and we exited and found a bench next to the Thames for a ten minute recover sit down. As it was approaching workers knock off time we made our way to the tube station before it became very busy and took the circle line back to Paddington Station as we wanted to get some supplies for our room. A few drinks including a couple of aluminium stubbies of Corona were purchased and consumed whilst writing this blog.

A quiet night planned as Jenny is struggling a bit with her cold and has just about lost her voice and developed a cough so we need a rest and a few hours of down time as tomorrow we are off to York on the train.

The Streets of London

Monday 21^st August 2017

We had a good sleep but were both wide awake by about 4.30am so not quite acclimatised yet and probably our tummies were rumbling a bit, Larry having missed dinner and Jenny having not really eaten anything since yesterday morning (and probably not even having kept that down!)  Lazed in bed and watched early morning television and then headed out about 8am for breakfast.  Found a nice little cafe and Larry had the Big Ben full English breakfast and Jenny, scrambled eggs on toast.  Total bill, including hot drinks, was ten pounds.  Probably would have cost 3 times for the same at a Dome Cafe in Perth but Glen tells me that’s pricey for London.

Back to the hotel to brush teeth and pack our day bag and then headed south to Hyde Park.  Wandered through in a south-east direction and took the ubiquitous photos of girls on ponies and squirrels in trees.

 Ended up at Hyde Park corner and then made our way past Green Park and the Ritz to Fortnum and Mason.  Chatted to a nice Irish man on the street who started a conversation with Larry because he thought he heard his Irish accent (??!!) and wanted to tell him about he had coincidence he had had at a restaurant the previous night.  Once we had assured him we were Australian he very kindly pointed out things nearby that he highly recommended.  Not a weirdo,  just a genuinely nice man

We continued up to Piccadilly Circus (yes!  Not Paddington!!) and Larry reacquainted himself with the M&M store.  We didn’t spend anywhere near as long in the store as the last time we went with Sarah but there were no complaints about being rushed so all good!

Continued on and to Leicester Square where they were setting up lights and barricades so assumed it must be for a movie premiere.  Asked one of the security guards at a shop nearby and they told me it was for Logan Lucky.  Not a movie I know much about so don’t think we’d bother coming back tonight to see the stars.  Besides which we have plans for a catch up with Glen and Jeremy.

Time to sit down and have a breather so found a nice little French cafe and had a coffee and citron tart and worked out where a nearby camera shop may be as Larry had discovered the nice people at Emirates had smashed one of the lens protectors on his camera.  Thankfully the lens protector had done its job and the lens was fine.  Luckily there was one on the way to our next destination being the British Museum but Google Maps led us a bit of a strange way as I forgot to tell it we were walking and not driving so probably did a more circuitous route than necessary.  Found it though and Larry was pleasantly surprised at the cost – much cheaper than he had paid for the original one in Perth.  

Onwards to the British museum which was HEAVING.  So many people in the Egyptian section but we fought our way through and saw what we wanted to see before the endless shuffling and hunger pangs saw museum fatigue set in.

Made our way to the exit and headed down to the road to a very touristy cafe (Munchkins?) for a bite to eat. Should have walked a bit further and bought a much cheaper sandwich but sometimes you just have to sit down for a bit and so paid much more than we should have.  Have learned our lesson and will walk that extra hundred yards tomorrow.

After lunch and (in Larry’s case) restorative ale or two, headed south and made our way through Covent Garden and Drury Lane to Fleet Street.

Last time we were in London we had tried to find the Temple Church with only limited instructions on where to find it so had failed miserably.  This time, with the aid of Google Maps we found the little side lane and the church.  We were in time for last admittance at 3.45pm so had only 15 minutes to wander around inside.  Just mind boggling how old it is and interesting that so many of the knights interred there are unnamed and that so many current families are still identified with the inner and middle temples. 

Time to head back to the hotel for a bit so walked down to the Thames and along the edge to Temple Underground station.  Then we stuffed up which train to take and ended up on the District line rather than the Circle line so had to jump on and off a few different trains and lines to get back to Paddington.  Back to the hotel to put our feet up as Larry had informed Jenny (and half the train) that she had developed cankles from all the walking we’d done.  In no time at all Glen had messaged to say he was waiting in the lobby and we then found Jeremy just arriving from work out on the street and made our way up to the Fountains Abbey pub for a drink and a good old catch up.  The pub is right opposite the hospital Jeremy used to work at and he could even point out the window to the room where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.  Apparently the pub takes some credit for puffing the yeast from the brewing across the street!!

Dinner in a funky Italian restaurant (ASK Italian) with pizzas for the boys and a yummy asparagus and pancetta pasta for Jen.  Was lovely to see Glen and Jeremy and we caught up and reminisced until suddenly the wall was pretty much hit and it was time to head home and to bed.  My phone says we walked over 32,000 steps today!