Early on Saturday morning we headed off to Heathrow to collect our rental car. Rachel and Mark M the desginated drivers chose a wee Peugot. It had a beautiful sun roof but not a lot of room in the back for 3 adult passengers. See the pictures below which highlight the poor French design!
Backseat of the peugot - hat for perspective.
Hold on to your hats.
Around 8pm we arrived at Sedbergh where Mark M had found a lovely cottage for us. One slight problem was the extremely narrow driveway. It spooked Rach so Mark had to do the honours and squeeze the wee Peugot in the drive. It took two people to direct and ensure that the paint work on our rental car remained in tact.
Our hosts had recommended a local pub for dinner, maybe 100 m walk along from the house. Good time to test out my new high heels. Unfortunately as it was getting close to 9pm and they were busy we coudn't get a table there. They gave us another couple of options slightly further down the street. We enjoyed lovely meals in a quiet restaurant attached to a deserted pub. You know that you are in a country village when some bloke pulls out a table and plonks a TV down on it, wires up an aerial and turns on the boxing.
A haven for outdoor lovers the Lakes beckoned. The weather was particularly windy which made me feel at home. The locals said when or if the wind stopped it would rain. We had aspirations to do a water activity on one of the lakes - kayaking or windsurfing. However the windy weather meant nippy temperatures. After making inquiries at the Windermere Tourist Information Centre and a conference over brunch we settled on a lake cruise incorporating a walk. Due to the immense number of people visiting Windermere this bank holiday weekend we spent so long trying to get a park that we missed the ferry we hoped to get to Ambleside. On a whim, we decided to drive to Ambleside and hope it was less busy so that we could do our ferry cruise in reverse. This just meant going for the walk at the end rather than in the middle of our cruise.
Ferry cruise - Mark M & Rach
Shazz & Mark G
It is usually on Sunday when I miss being in NZ the most. Why, I hear you ask. Well because the shops are open for such short hours. Like 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. So, by the time you have done anything fun the shops are shut and it is difficult to purchase ingredients for a nice Sunday dinner. We fell in to this trap again. The local co-op in Sedbergh just did not have the right ingredients for our desired dinner so we had to settle on Indian takeaway.
With a longish drive home on Monday we resolved to get away early. I think we left about half an hour after our scheduled departure time. One of the problems with hiring a car is having too much freedom. Which way should we travel home? Where should we stop off? I don't remember why but York was chosen as the main stop en route home. Harrogate was floated as an option, something to do with Mark M's obsession with Mackintosh lollies.
Along the back roads to York I noticed a sign for Wensleydale Creamery. A hasty decision was made and we took an unscheduled stop at Hawes. It turns out that the creamery was established by one Kit Calvert. I'm not sure if he's any relation. We all enjoyed an early morning cheese tasting and purchased some of our favourites including papaya and blueberries. Yummy!
The wedges of Wensleydale
It seemed the thing to do in York if you only have a couple of hours is visit York Minster. I don't really know how we decide what to see or do on these trips. Mostly we seem to wander around, eat some food and see what interesting things we stumble on. No-one seems particularly keen or inclined to do any research before we go. Partly becasue we don't seem to decide where we are going until the last minute. This suits us fine but I guess one day we will come back from such a trip and be told by someone that we missed something we would have quite liked to see. I would love to hear from anyone who could recommend places either in England or Europe so I can put them on my list!
York Minster
As we had found Windermere busy on Sunday, York Minster was on bank holiday Monday. With limited time we opted for a look around the Minster. There was quite a long queue for the Tower! Rach and I joined on the back of a tour and learnt some of the history of the Minster while Mark, Mark and Sharyn wandered and took photos. We particularly liked the carving of a guy with two right feet. Turns out the master carver took an early lunch one day and instructed his apprentice to "do exactly the same for the other foot". It just goes to show how important it is to think before you give instructions!
The man with 2 right feet.
The 2 Mark's & Me
farewell from "the North"
2 comments:
Awesome! I love road trips where things aren't completely planned. Hopefully we'll catch up with you in August. Have you got a bank holiday then, too?
yeah I think there is a bank holiday. Just not sure if it is observed where I work. Will have to get back to you on that. Should find out at induction this weekend. Need to be out of my house by the 20 August. Will be working 6 or 7 days a week from 14 July - 23 August. Not much time to play tour guide!
Post a Comment