The weather once more was looking grey but we’ve not come to expect much more and just embrace the wet. We stopped at Lake Windermere once more for another quick look around the river before heading off to Ulleswater where we were catching a steam boat half way up the river, jumping off and then taking the 8 mile walk back to the car. That was the plan anyhow. When we got there though we decided that, as I wasn’t up too such a walk today (very tired today and sloth like) I would take a return trip on the steam boat up and down the river and meet Chris back at the car after he had jumped off and walked back. So, we took a half hour ride up the river together before Chris jumped off (not literally, they let him off on the gang plank, they didn’t make him jump) at a place called Howtown and I continued on slowly up the river taking the landscape in. It was lovely and slow and I went mad taking photos. We got to the end of the river and the heavens opened and the rain and cold just howled in!! I now fretted for poor Chris thinking “oh god, he still has to walk 1.5 hours… he’s going to be freezing and drenched! The poor man!!” Knowing that he had his mobile on him I attempted to call him and suggest he turn back to Howtown where the boat would once more be stopping on the way back but there was no answer. It was completely torrential. It was bucketing like I’ve never seen before. Then Chris rang, it wasn’t raining where he was, which was only 5 miles away. It was bizarre! So, I continued on my steam boat ride and Chris continued on his walk (ringing me at one stage to ask if I could see him as he could see the boat and was waving at us, I couldn’t despite my vast amount of squinting) I made it back to the car about half an hour before Chris and then decided I’d best get some form of exercise for the day and walked out to meet him in his last km or so and walked back with him where he told me of the beauty he’d seen, but sadly not spotted any red squirrels.

We made our way back to the B&B for our last night with Barbara and shared another meal with her a glass of wine or two. We had another lovely night of chatting and laughing before another amazing nights sleep.

written by  Chris and Emily on May 10, 2009 from Sedbergh, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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This forest has an eerie feeling to it, as if something or someone is watching you and that it’s hiding something. It’s a rather odd feeling. We took a 20 minute walk to the ‘Major Oak’ to stretch our legs which was nice. It’s a massive old Oak Tree that is 1150 years old and is now having its branches propped up by scaffolds. In the day the Major Oak use to be called the “Cockpen Tree” as the inside of it is hollow they use to keep bags of roosters in the inside of the tree (or tied to the branches of it) and would bring them out for the illegal cock fights that use to happen. You can feel the history of this place and you can’t help but feel that the woods are hiding something.

We didn’t have long to stay, we’d already been driving 4 hours and had another 3 or so to go, so we hit the road. Apart from another ‘comfort stop’ or two we made our way back to Sue and Patrick’s and it was lovely to see them again, felt like we’d been away for weeks, not days! Quick dinner and then a well earned nights rest!

written by  Chris and Emily on May 11, 2009 from Nottingham, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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We had a fairly uneventful day today. Ann had a friend pop over for a little bit so we were able to meet her and her granddaughter which was nice and after this head off into the heart of Bristol to see the exhibition on Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was confined to living in an attic with 7 others during the Nazi reign of terror. It was a great exhibition, one that evoked a range of feelings from laughter (Anne Frank had a cheeky sense of humor) to complete hatred for Hitler and how the hell could he lead such a disgusting, revolting war that people actually got behind and supported. What really struck me was the maturity and wisdom that Anne Frank possessed at such a tender age and what a clear and concise communicator she was. An amazing young girl and as sad as it is that her life ended in such horrible circumstances her diaries and writings made such an impact on the rest of world to come. It was a great little exhibition and one that made me come out of it wondering to myself “what am I doing? What can I do to help others in need?” Makes you realize how truly blessed we are to live in such a free and liberated country like Australia.

We moved onto the post office then where we hoped to post home some stuff that we’d collected along our travels, just various things, some small souvenirs, pamphlets etc, not much really. We picked out a box and waited in line to post this… and when we were finally seen too and told the price we almost keeled over! 59 pounds!! ($118) We told them that was an absolute rip off and how the hell could they charge that amount when to post 5 kilos of goods Aus to UK is only $50, and yet to post JUST over 2 kilos UK to Aus would cost more?! We weren’t very happy and we made it perfectly clear. It was suggested to us that we break it down into 2 kilo packs as it would be cheaper, so we did this but it was only minimally cheaper. It’s such a bloody rip off. No wonder everyone in the UK seems to be a bloody workaholic, they have to be in order to survive and afford the basics!

We offered to cook dinner tonight and as it was such a grey, cold, dull day we decided that a good hearty stew and dumplings was in order so this took up the rest of the afternoon, along with the rice pudding (I finally found a rice pudding recipe that I’ve been looking for, I was very excited)

So that was the day, nothing too special but a nice one all the same.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Chris says “Invisible, silent karaoke performed from an IPod via headphones is not something to be shared with an audience, thanks Em”

Ems’ response to this is “hmph”

written by  Chris and Emily on May 15, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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We eventually found Chris a belt, which in itself doesn’t sound like such a feat, but when you’re looking for one that has a minimal amount of nickel in the buckle it can become quite a chore. Anyhow, we found a store that was selling belts and as we had a 20% off card for this place it helped with the purchase.
As Chris was paying I began to chat with the girls behind the till, they were impressed by our accents and even more impressed, and in awe of the fact that we were backpacking for 6 months. The young girl behind the till, who wore a top which I assume is fashionable, a short skirt and boots, face caked thick with makeup turned to me and said “I just don’t know how you do it, like, how do you know what clothes to take, like? I just couldn’t, I’d be lost without all me clothes and makeup, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it like” To which I nodded and agreed that knowing what clothes to bring can be difficult yes, but when travelling that’s not always your main priority, that you go to have experiences and adventures and to not worry about that sort of stuff.
The other girl shook her head and said “well, I couldn’t do it, I can’t live without my hair straightener” I have to admit, this struck a cord with me. I too find it hard without my hair straightener but I mentioned that there is a palm sized one for traveling that you can buy and that if you have a spare 1.5 hours to kill sitting there trying to iron it all out, then it’s no problem. I have one that sits in my backpack. I haven’t used it much and Chris keeps harping on about it saying that it’s a waste of space and that it’s just more weight for him to carry around. I refuse to get rid of it and remind him that we’re in England now, who knows when we might bump into the Queen and be invited back to hers for a bite to eat? In that case I’d like my hair straightened thank you to look my very best.

Anyhow, after the naivety of these two young, albeit, sweet girls, we moved on to the nearest cinema to see “Star Trek” On our way there we walked through a mall where I had a young promotions girl come up to me and try to hand me samples of her stores goods. I’m very tired of people on street corners trying to flog me things and ask for money for charity all the time. Normally I’ll drop a few pennies in, but as we’re travelling in a large place that is so darn expensive I now try to keep all our pennies for ourselves, before we end up a charity.
So, anyway, this girl comes up and sticks this promotional flyer thing in my face and I was polite in saying “no thank you” and as she’d shoved this thing in my face I’d walked into two girls, who I apologized too, but as I walked away the promotions girl screamed over her shoulder (and I kid you not when I say screamed, she truly did!) “No, thank YOU!!!!!” Her voice going up octaves and becoming more hysterical as she did so. I didn’t like her attitude so I yelled back “YOU’RE WEL-COME!!” I wanted to add a rude word on the end but I resisted it and instead went on my way muttering about how incredibly rude she was when I had been polite to start with.

We found the cinema in the end and made it in time to see “Star Trek” which Chris has been waiting to see since the promos came out last year or so. I was rolling my eyes, but you know what? I really enjoyed the film. It’s not as nerdy, of sci fi, or as trekki as I thought it would be. All in all it was good, 4 out of 5 on my taste scale. After this we made a quick stop off at the pub on the way home for a cider before catching the bus home.

written by  Chris and Emily on May 16, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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We were woken by a huge down pour today, rain crashing down on the roof and lashing the window panes. It gave us quite a start but it was quite nice to watch as we lay in bed. It wasn’t really out door weather to say the least, so we relished in staying indoors and taking it easy! We had a productive day however, organized a car hire for tomorrow as to head to Lands End and Penzance etc, our transport to Heathrow for next Friday, our accommodation for various nights, emails and the likes. It felt good to get it all out of the way. We also had time to sit down and really look at Europe and talk about which routes we should take and how long we should try to stay in each etc.

As always, we had a Sunday roast which was lovely family get together. It was really nice to see Jenny again and also, we got to see Martin for a short time before he head off on his ‘biking, hiking and beer’ week away.

Chris and I have both been keen to watch the Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves DVD since being in Sherwood Forest and just this morning asked Jen if she owned a copy of this that we could borrow. Sadly she didn’t and a long discussion took place of how this was the best Hood film to be made and the consensus was that we all loved it. We’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we’d just have to wait awhile to see this film again, but then, when Jen was over we were sitting in the lounge and she said “Hmm, wonder what’s on telly tonight?” And lo and behold, she checked the guide and what do you suppose was? Good ol’ Robin Hood. We were very amused by this; it was such a random thing to have happen. So, we just got our Robin Hood fix and are about to head to bed. We have another day on the road tomorrow so, it means another early night for another early rise!

written by  Chris and Emily on May 17, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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We drove steadily on through the day, taking the wrong turn only once and took time to stop at both “Arthurs Stone” and Tentagil Castle. Sadly, Arthurs stone is nothing to write home about. You pull into a dirt parking lot and make your way to a small little ‘building’ to pick up your tickets ( 3 pound each for the record) and then make your way through a paddock which is home to many many sheep, past a horrid power station that buzzes hideously, down a steep little path that has a picnic table in the middle of it (?!) which you have to either climb over or walk around (which means going through a soggy part of the paddock) over a little bridge, through a walk way surrounded by blue bells (this part was lovely) over a road and into another paddock which they claim was the setting for King Arthurs very last battle, which just so happened to be against his evil and illigitment son Maudrid. Ho hum. I don’t believe it. It looks as if someones looked out their back window one day and gone “you know what luv? I reckon we could milk some suckers into believin’ that soggy paddock is a historic site. I reckon we charge ‘em an arm and a leg, we’ll just pop up a few “official” lookin signs up, add a few ‘historic’ bits and bobs about, and hey presto, bobs ya uncle, we’ll be rich! Bloody fools!” (obviously this ‘entrepenur’ was an occa… the Brits would have been saying things more like “Maudred my dear, I do believe we could cleverly disguise our back field as the final battle grounds of his holiness King Arthur… anyway, I’ve diverted off the subject.. back to the story!) You then walk down a path to a little running river and stand on a platform and look down to see a large stone that has some latin inscription. This apparently once upon a time use to be part of a bridge, and is inscirped “here lies Ma” Now, how that translates to “King Arthurs stone” has me a little bemused, but, I’ll take there word for it. You then walk a little further down stream and come to the “secret garden” which isn’t really so secret anymore, not with all the big signs that are up all over the joint. It’s not such a garden either, it’s a pile of rocks, so again, not so impressed. The best part about today was the walk though the blue bells, that was really pretty!

We then drove onto Tintagle Castle, and oh my word, THIS was awesome and believable! A huge castle obviously once stood on the cliff tops of this amazing coast line, and my god, who ever built the place must have had bloody good legs! It’s incredibly steep and winds its way over the cliff top and sides, just amazing to see! It was incredibly windy here today, so much so my eyes watered terribly and rended me blind for a bit, which scared the crap out of me as I was walking along the cliff top where there were no barriers to stop you falling. Chris was my hero for the day (and always) though and offered me his sunnies, which did help with the wind and allowed me to see again. It was just breath taking though, amazing cliff faces, the ocean, the castle ruins, the seal we saw lazily swimming below (it was a very large seal for the record!) We’d have loved to spend more time there but unfortunantly had to move on as it was getting late and we still had to find our accommodation for the night. We did vow to come back here though on the way home and spend longer exploring.

Newquay wasn’t so hard to find, though there was a scary moment when the GPS died (someone forgot to recharge it’s batteries.. no names… Chris…) so I had to navigate the old school way, with a humungous road map. I managed to get us to Newquay, but it wasn’t without it’s yelling and carrying ons believe me!  Our accommodation is at a backpackers right on the water front. We’d booked a 4 man dorm and were able to score this room to ourselves (always a huge bonus!) the rooms not all that fantastic (nor clean, sand in the beds, bins not changed, dirty mop in corner, beer glasses under the bed and the list continues!) but the view from the window is fantastic! We look out right over Newquay beach and are able to lie in bed and watch the surfers and those walking their dogs etc, it’s a nice way to chill out. So, we’ve opened up the window wide to let in all the fresh air and to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the crashing waves, can’t ask for more than that (apart from perhaps no sand in the bed…)

written by  Chris and Emily on May 18, 2009 from Newquay, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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Our main destination today was Lands End which is the south western most point of the UK, but on the way decided to stop and see a few of the sites, the first being Penzance. We “paid and displayed” for only an hour in this town, and I have to say that this was even too long to stay. I’m not trying to be cynical or mean, but this place was just so darn boring and bland. It had no character and everyone we passed seemed to be off to a funeral or something, there were no smiles or happy atmosphere. Apart from an old codger who rode his bike past us and gave us a nod, no one seemed to accept our exsistance, so after a quick stroll around the water front and town we moved on.

We then arrived at a place I sadly forget the name of (but vow to find out) which had an amazing outdoor amplitheatre that was built by an elderly lady and two gardners back in the days of the war. This theatre is carved into the side of a cliff and has an amazing back drop of the Atlantic Ocean and some amazing cliff faces, it’s just stunning! While we (smuggled) and ate our lunch here we watched as staff set up equipment for a band who are to perform tomorrow night. It was nice to get a rough idea of how they set up for performances and where they place various equipment, I found it all really interesting and made me realise how much I miss doing creative and performing arts. I vowed to myself that once we get home I’ll take up something creative once more!

After this wonderful detour we head off to Lands End. Again it was an amazing coastal line of cliffs, ocean and wind. You can’t go anywhere around here without gale force wind, which after a while really gives you the pips! We were practically blown to the cliff top that is the very most south western tip where we took photos of the coastal line and took time to discover some of the little paths and rocky areas that make up this attraction. It was nice here, but as I said, after a while you get over the wind and all you want to do is get the hell out of it, so we really didn’t end up staying quite as long as we could have on a nice clear, calm day.

We decided to go back to Newquay via St Ives which meant travelling on some tight little windy roads. While these roads weren’t so fun to be on, they certainly weren’t as bad as we had been expecting. So many people had told us that these roads were awful and ‘death traps’ and I could see how they might be if you were travelling fast and an irresponsible driver (or if you encounted one of these said drivers) but they weren’t as horrid as we were anticipating, thankfully!

We made it back to Newquay in time for the ‘almost free parking’ (two pounds to park over night in a carpark, bit of a rip off seeing as it doubles as the accommodations carpark and on their web site it’s classed as “free parking”) Quick bite to eat at the Walkabout pub (def the cheapest pub meals we’ve come across yet) and back to the room to read, write, people watch from our window and generally chill out!