Travelling south

We continued our journey south, with a slight detour to Southampton where we had lunch with Neil. It was great to catch up over pizza and a beer. Amazing to realise that it's been a year already since he and Kimberley left New Zealand. Good to see that he is settled, with plans for the future and has been continuing to indulge his love of travel.


From there we travelled on to Torquay. Fortunately we had booked via the Internet the day before, as the town was full of "no vacancies" signs, being a seaside town in the middle of school holidays. Not only that, but we were right by the sea, with a lovely view from the bar's terrace. We had a very pleasant evening, and for a change it was mild enough to sit outside wearing shorts and T shirts!


This is the beach just across the road from the hotel. In the distance are multicoloured individual changing sheds.


As on several occasions, we stayed at a Premier Inn. We have found them to be consistently good value, clean and with very helpful friendly staff. They always have a restaurant next door, and wifi, though you do have to pay. If you book a month in advance you can pay as little as £32 a night. So we are paying less for 3 nights in London on our way home than we paid for one night at the start of our trip. The room is also twice the size, but a long way further from the centre of London. But that's OK as it's close to the Metro.
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Henley

On the way south we visited Henley-on-Thames. More specifically, we called in at Henley Business School.


Although till now she had never been there, this is the institution through which Ann did her MBA, consistently ranked in the top ten for the world. We were made to feel very welcome, offered a cup of coffee and were free to explore the grounds.


And what beautiful grounds they are! This is a view of the main building after strolling down towards the Thames.


And this is the view looking the opposite direction. Ann thought that she probably should have done a short residential course as some of her colleagues did, rather than spend $21,000 and years of toil. Still, it was great to finally be there and experience the expensive, tranquil atmosphere.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

York 2

York is a fascinating place. It is "the capital of the north, and the second city of the realm". It dates back to AD71 when it was built as a fortress by the Romans. In AD306 Constantine the Great was made Roman Emperor here.

The narrated tour on the hop-on, hop-off bus took about an hour, and with several hops, we completed the circuit three times during the day. We were still hearing new things on the third circuit!


The old city is full of narrow cobbled streets with lots of history. We saw where Dick Turpin was buried, but apparently he is not there any more! One of the more interesting stories was the reason for the number of bricked-up windows we saw. There was a tax based on the number of windows a dwelling had. This is where the saying " daylight robbery" came from.


This York minster is the fourth to be built on the site. It was built between the 12th and 14th centuries and is a very impressive piece of architecture.

York is also the home of Britain's national railway museum, the largest railway museum in the world. It has a huge collection of royal carriages. Over the years 28 trains have been built exclusively for the royal family. The museum also has a Shinkantsen carriage, recently donated by the Japanese. It looked just like the one Ann travelled on in the early 90s.


The museum is also one of the few places in the world where you can see the underside of a train and live to tell the tale!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

York

From the Lakes District we drove through beautiful rolling countryside that looked like it came straight out of "A Country Practice", or that vet TV programme, whatever it was called. The hedges in the south were replaced by stone fences in the north, and most of the houses were stone too. It was easy to see why when we looked at cross sections of the land!


York wasn't a whole lot different, as it is a walled city so there were plenty of cobblestones, stone houses and a very impressive 3 miles of wall around the perimeter of the old city.

We found accommodation just outside the wall - after a couple of attempts, as we discovered the annual races were on! Our big mission for the day was to find a laundrette as we were seriously running out of clothes. We did eventually, and then walked along part of the wall back to the hotel.

Next day, when we took the hop- on, hop-off bus, we found we had walked past several important historical buildings.


One of these was Clifford's Tower, one of the few remains of the original York Castle.

Being in York for race day was fun. We have never seen so many people all dressed up! Men in suits, and women in hats, posh frocks and high heels that looked impossible to walk around in all day. We saw them around lunchtime catching buses to the racecourse, and, in varying degrees of drunkeness, in the pubs later on. Many of the pubs do not serve food, so there were dozens of very well dressed people standing in the streets eating fish and chips and KFC!

Lakes District 2

Next day was a bit cloudy, but after a hearty full English breakfast we set off to do the cruise and walk tour. The first leg was a half hour boat trip to the Ambleside Pier. We had been warned that there was nowhere to get food or drink on the walk so fortified ourselves with a beer at one if the lakeshore pubs before the next leg.

It was on a boat built more than a hundred years ago, which deposited us at the boatshed of a castle. The jetty was well and truly under water so the staff used brute force to hold the boat against a bank while we disembarked.


The walk was advertised as "a gentle two hour stroll"! But part of the track was under water and much of the 8km walk was up and down hills, and the track was rough with rocks and tree roots. We felt sorry for the two couples who passed us with a toddler carrying a pushchair! Still, it was a good walk, mostly very pretty, and the third boat trip took us back to the pier next to our b&b.



Here's a pic of Graham with our (his?) new toy, wearing his lovely new shirt from Venice.

We had our first flat white in ages at a place that supposedly had free wifi but we couldn't get online, so maybe tomorrow. We also had a drink at "Hole in t' Wall" the oldest pub in Bowness, having been there since 1612 and frequented by Charles Dickens in the 1800s. Beatrix Potter lived just up the road too, and we could have done a trip to Hilltop if we had time. The Lakes District has been the home to many authors, poets and artists it seems.


That night we found a chippy that did the very meal that Graham had been threatening to find for a while. Steak and kidney pudding with chips, mushy peas and gravy, yum!
;-) Ann-a-Gram

The Lakes District

The weather forecast was better in the south than the north, but we decided to head up to the Lakes district anyway. We were rewarded with blue sky and sunshine! Found a lovely B&B with a four poster bed and a view of Lake Windermere in a gorgeous little town called Bowness.


This is the view out the window. There are heaps of quaint little pubs and cafes. It is school holidays now so there are lots of people around, though still plenty of accommodation with vacancies.


We went on a jazz buffet dinner cruise. Most people sat "in steerage" as the leader of the band said, because that was where the buffet was, but we sat on the top deck and thoroughly enjoyed the music. And the food was pretty good too! It took two and a half hours to do a circuit of the lake, it's long but not very wide.


The sunset was rather lovely, and have you ever seen a New Zealand lake as calm as that?

We bought ourselves an iPad while we were in Manchester and downloaded Chopper, so Graham has been flying helicopters on rescue missions any spare second ever since! We showed Chopper to the manager of the Apple shop and he was suitably impressed and immediately downloaded it. He said he was going to write a review, so hopefully some more good publicity David. We thought we were the first in the family to get a 3G iPad, but we were pipped at the post by Dad who got one for his 80th birthday! Of course David and Emma have had wifi ones for ages. Not bad considering none have been released in NZ yet.
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Liverpool

Being so close to Liverpool, we had to go and visit The Beatles Story. We drove down on a grey day with passing showers, and parked close to the entrance to the exhibition. In just a few years, the Beatles achieved so much! We watched and listened until we were exhausted, and still hadn't seen it all.


A special place was the replica of the Cavern, where the Beatles performed many times before making their first record.

Another amazing thing that we were reminded of was that they were turned down by virtually every recording company before they finally recorded their first song. There must have been quite a few people kicking themselves later on!



When we were finished and ventured outside again the rain was even heavier. Hooray for our ponchos, which saved us from being totally drenched!
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Manchester

One of the "must do" parts of our trip was always Graham's home town, and we have spent a couple of days having a good look around places that meant a lot to Graham in his early years.


We could see one of the stands at Old Trafford from our hotel room so it didn't take us long to walk over and have a closer look. We were lucky enough to get on a tour almost straight away. There were about 35 of us and we think we were the only ones who spoke English!


It was great to catch up with friends and family over a drink or two at their locals.
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Blackpool

This is the view of Blackpool Tower from Central Pier. Each day we hoped the weather would improve, but each day it grew steadily worse! Jeans and jackets became the standard dress.

Still, we explored the Promenade from top to bottom, and tried our luck in every arcade. Although the machines here do their best to prevent anyone from winning, Graham still managed to grab a watch - and amazingly enough it is still going! He was a little disappointed with the state of the town, you can certainly see the effects of the recession here. Many hotels on the front have closed down, and many more are in need of a great deal of work. However, we read about and saw evidence of multi-million dollar projects to improve the trams, and access for pedestrians. But at the moment all of that is just adding to the tired, grubby appearance of the town. And of course the weather hasn't helped!


But... we thoroughly enjoyed the Legends show, being entertained by Rod, Robbie, Tom and Elvis, 4 dancing girls and three members of the band. We had a great afternoon at Pleasure Beach (kind of like a small Disney/fair ground), and competed against each other in the Derby.


The sun came out briefly, and Graham beat the odds again to win the best prize in the arcade!

;-). Ann-a-Gram

Southport

We stopped at Southport on our way to Blackpool. The hotel was right on the Esplanade, so we did the walk down the pier. Graham did not remember being able to find the sea at Southport, but the tide was in and there was plenty of water.

Next morning as we were heading out for a walk we heard a band playing. We followed the noise and found not one, but more than a dozen marching bands from Liverpool.


It was orange day, and 22 buses of Irish had descended on Southport to celebrate! Needless to say the pubs were all full, the beer was flowing, and there was a great carnival atmosphere.


There was good sing-a-long live music all afternoon and we had a great day.

On the pier we found an old fashioned penny arcade. It was great fun, without any of the electronic noises of today's arcades.


Graham found his favourite clock game. All of the games used old pennies, purchased at the rate of ten for a pound. Kept us amused for ages!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Tips for travellers - especially those who are going to be away for a while

1. Travel light. We spent a month in the States with a 45litre backpack each, and didn't wear all of the clothes we took with us. We found some bags you could roll up and release the air, kind of like having your clothes vacuum packed. Great space savers and with three you can have one for tops, one for shorts/ jeans etc and one for smalls. (We lugged a suitcase around Europe and the UK and apart from the cruise barely used its contents).


2. Take an Onya Back - kiwi made, the little grey thing on the right pack unravels to a good sized backpack - ideal for shopping and made of parachute silk so is very strong. When packed up you can clip it on your belt or carry it on your wrist.

3. Invest in an iPhone or similar 3G/wifi device that you can carry in your pocket at all times. We used it for blogging, email, keeping electronic copies of important documents, checking credit card and bank account details, as a calculator to check our budget, booking hotels, trains and ferries, converting temperatures, distances, and currencies to things we knew, taking photos, communicating in foreign languages.. oh and for the odd text and phone call.

4. If you are travelling by car at all, buy a good GPS with the most up-to-date maps of the area you are driving through. If you are in a long- term relationship, this is an essential piece of equipment to help you stay that way.

5. Take a traveller's clothesline. Washing a few things every couple of days, especially drip-dry, will not only save money but also lots of time trying to find laundrettes.


6. Take a first aid kit. If you don't you'll end up buying things for various minor ailments in larger size/quantities than if you brought them from home.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Wales 2

The footpath signs in Wales are more modern than the English ones, and bilingual as are virtually all of the signs we saw.


This footpath went straight through the middle of a private garden, beautiful.

We thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in Wales, and thanks to Pam and Keith we saw quite a lot of the countryside.


We visited Llangollen, which is considered to be one of the prettiest towns in the north of Wales. The Pontcyslite aqueduct, in the last blog, is 126ft above the river - glad we didn't know that when we walked over it! Our impressions of Wales confirmed what others have said - it is very pretty!

We also enjoyed having a few drinks at Pam and Keith's local, the Fox and Hounds and met some of the locals. We had a great meal with a few of them the next night at a gorgeous pub miles away from any motorway down tiny narrow lanes. Thanks to all for your great company - hopefully Graham didn't bore anyone with his stories of our adventures!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Wales

After leaving the Broads we travelled west to the north of Wales to stay with a very good friend of Graham's from way back. Pam and Keith looked after us very well, and took us to see some beautiful sights and pubs in their neighbourhood.


Some of the scenery was very similar to parts of New Zealand, with trees, rolling hills, and rivers that could have been in Southland.


Chris B, there were several narrow boats tied up near this aquaduct, but unfortunately we didn't see any go across while we were there.


We met up with Pam's son Jason and family and had a very enjoyable lunch with them at a pub that was established in 1462!
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Footpaths

Years ago an English friend of Ann's told her that rhe whole of the UK was crisscrossed with paths giving the public access to the countryside. She was intrigued by this, so we bought a map of the Broads that showed all of the footpaths, national walkways and other public access routes.


Wherever possible, when we moored up for lunch or at the end of our day's travels, we went for a walk along a footpath. Some are nothing more than a track along the edge of a farmer's paddock. Hemlock, blackberry and stinging nettle abound - fortunately dock as well! More than once we walked into some stinging nettle and had to find some dock leaves.


Some of the paths, including those that are national walkways, are wider and would allow vehicle access. Where paths cross farmer's property there are gates to keep stock in.

As well as several smaller paths we walked on three national walkways - Weavers Way, Angles Way, and Wherrymans Way.

btw, just to correct a former comment, the place we stayed at on our way to the southern rivers was Stracey Arms as we stated, not Stacey Arms.
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Itinerary 3

Tenth night: Reedham ferry. We moored up in a strong wind against an incoming tide - if only that couple from the first day could have seen us! We walked the mile and a quarter along Wherryman's Way into town and to the cute pub at the far end.


The hanging baskets were very impressive.

Later we had our first meal out since being on the broads at the pub at the ferry. Out waitress was a very helpful and friendly young girl. We stayed up late enough to see the sunset (which is still quite late), and a girl walking her dogs along the footpath.


Eleventh night: Acle Bridge. Next day we crossed back over Breydon Water, the large expanse of very tidal water that links the south and north rivers. We travelled for about five hours to moor up at Acle. We walked into the supermarket to be served by our waitress from the night before! On our way back to the boat we spied a road sign saying it was 6 miles to Reedham - distances by road and river are rather different!

Twelfth night: Coltishall. We travelled back to our boatyard in Horning for some topping up and emoting out, and a drink at Graham's favourite pub before heading on to Wroxham, through a very low bridge and on to Coltishall. The river is beautiful and for most of the journey after the bridge it was as though we were alone in the world.



Thirteenth night: Salhouse Broad. After a very pleasant potter back down the river, and under the bridge again, we moored up close to where we spent the first night, but in the broad itself. We cooked up a feast in the last of our three disposable BBQs, and even watched the end of the semifinal between Germany and Spain!

Fourteenth night: Horning. We moored up in our boatyard and had dinner at the New Inn, which apparently is the oldest in town. A lovely meal and nice stroll back to the boat, with no need for an early start next day to return the boat.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Le Boat

Thought the bateau deserved a blog of its own, so here it is!

Unless we were leaving the boat to go walking then we always had the top down - like our car! The first thing we did in the morning was to wind it down, and it stayed down till we needed lights to read in the evenings.


As well as a two-seat bench at the helm, there was a very comfortable L shaped seat, and a foldaway table for meals. Apart from the first 2 evenings when we needed our jeans and merinos, it was all shorts and T shirts, and sometimes not T shirts!


The kitchen in the front of the boat had heaps of space, a cooker and full-sized oven, and a microwave. Not that we used the microwave as you could only use it when the motor was running.


Our bedroom was cosy and we slept very well - all that fresh air! The shower was a bit erratic, and as the water heated up while we travelled, our routine had to change if we wanted a warm shower.


But the best thing was mooring up every night with a different view of the river and wildlife, and heading off to the local pub!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Itinerary 2

Sixth night: Stracey Arms. We travelled as far towards Great Yarmouth (our GPS says gee tee Yarmouth!) as we could. The mooring cost £3 - some are free but they range up to £6 or more. There was some activity around 8pm, low tide, with boats going through to the southern rivers, but it was pretty quiet. There had been a pub there but someone has obviously gone bankrupt doing it up in a completely over-the-top style, so it is for sale if anyone has a spare quarter of a million pounds. But we are very self-contained on our boat - drinks and nibbles, no problem!



Seventh night: Oulton Broads. This is a large broad on the edge of a town, so lots of shops, pubs and restaurants. We moored up at the yacht club, stern-on. We thought we had done a great job of reversing in, and stopping before crashing into the wharf. Ann was tying up when a voice said "Wot you doing with that rope, your kni-ing?". (The letter t doesn't seem to exist here) And then he (the yacht station attendant) added insult to injury by giving us 3/10 for our mooring! But at least he didn't jump on our boat yelling STOP like he did with the next one.

We watched the regular Thursday night power boat racing from our boat. After that our compulsory entertainment was from some very loud larger than life people on a neighbouring boat. Oh well, hard to find the perfect spot!

Eighth night: Beccles. We had planned to go further upstream, but there was no room under the bridge! The yacht club was next to a very nice park, so no problem! Only our second stern-on mooring. A passerby offered to help and held a rope, but wandered off saying we were obviously experts! A stern-on mooring is good for a BBQ! Think we smoked out the neighbours, but they didn't complain.

Nineth night: Loddon


We parked among the locals, just before the town. It was obvious that this was a group of people who regularly met up here for a get-together. We walked into town and checked out the pubs. Chose one in Chesgrove, which was just across the bridge from Loddon. There was a street party in town, although it was more like a river party as it was in people's gardens by the river. The people around where we moored had a bit of a party too. Saturday night after all. Doubt if it had anything to do with Sunday being 4 July, although the people in town let off fireworks.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

The rivers and broads

Many people confuse the Norfolk Broads with England's canals. The Norfolk Broad region is a system of 6 rivers, three in the north and three in the south, that all flow out to the sea at Great Yarmouth. Most of the rivers have broads, or shallow lakes. These are large areas that were dug out for peat to burn on fires in the medieval ages, between the 9th & 14th centuries. The area covers 303sq km, with more than 200km of waterways.



The northern rivers tend to be narrow, with trees and water lillies and lots of bird life.


Rivers in the south and the north have bridges with only just enough room to pass through - knowing the tides and the height of your boat are crucial! Some parts of the rivers are very tidal, changing by several feet in height between high and low tides.


The southern rivers have mostly reeds along their edges. We were there over the weekend and saw heaps of fishermen, and they were catching fish, but not large ones.
;-) Ann-a-Gram