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Hello Everyone!
And so the 2013 travel begins. It all started, of course, in Kunming. An easy hop from KMG to Guangzhou and then a 12 hour flight to Paris CDG. I had a good seatmate on the flight. He was from Australia and on his way, ultimately, to Greece. Ate a fine meal with a glass of wine on the plane and made small talk with my new friend. He is an electrician from Perth. Nice guy. Anyway, a quick change in CDG and off to Manchester where I met dad and Leigh at the airport. After a light breakfast, we hopped on the train to St. Bees and, after about 28 hours of travel time, finally arrived in our guesthouse in St. Bees, England, UK.
St. Bees is a really beautiful town on the west coast of England. Lots of sheep, seagulls, a number of pubs and guesthouses. We wandered around the town to the beach and poked around some shops in St. Bees and ate dinner at a pub a few doors down from our B&B. Open the door and that sweet, musty smell of beer on hard, dark wood furniture and floorboards. It has been
The Irish Sea
I make the first of many steps toward the North Seaa long time. We soaked it all in over dinner. I had mushroom stroganoff and a nice ale and watched the sun set slowly over the back garden of the pub. VEEERY pleasant, indeed!
The following morning was the official start of the walk. For those that don't know, the England Coast to Coast hike is from St. Bees to Robin Hood's Bay and crosses some 192 miles (or 308km) from east to west across England. Very exciting. The weather was crummy on the first day. High winds, rain, cold, as we scrambled along the coast before eventually heading inland. We have already met several different groups from all over England and Europe. We see the same people nearly every day, but it is nice to make friends and swap stories. Everyone in England has been super friendly. It is so nice. The country is beautiful, clean, the air smells good, and the food is heavy and delicious (so is the beer!) Anyway, after a long wet day, we spent the night in Ennerdale near some lakes just outside of the Lake District National Park. Every B&B we've stayed at has been has been really pleasant. All with white
Clouds...
Part of hiking in England sheets, towels, super clean with friendly staff. Its so lovely.
Day 2 was a really tough day. We hiked from Ennerdale Bridge to Grasdale, the heart of the Lake District in England. This was an extremely unpleasant, especially in the morning. We hiked up quite high into the hills with some other hikers. I think everyone got lost in the clouds... We all found each other at the peak of the hill and had to decide how to get down. Clouds everywhere and we couldn't see more than a few meters in front of us. After about 20 minutes of scouting, map consultation, GPS consultation, and common sense, we found the trail and started off again. The land was absolutely saturated with rain. Bogs everywhere, mud everywhere, rain rain rain. Surprisingly, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I really had a good time out there. The weather dramatically improved in the afternoon and we were awarded with some spectacular views of the Lake District. We ate some lunch on top of a crag and headed down to Grasdale; arriving at the hotel around 4 in the afternoon. Grasdale was also really lovely. Its a
Wandering Around
On the descent into town bit of a tourist town, but still, very quiet and charming. There are a number of creeks and rivers that flow through and around the town and there is a lake on the south side of town.
Day 4 was the best day we've had so far. The weather was perfect and the hike was equally beautiful and challenging. We had a really great lunch next to a lake on top of a hill. After lunch we hiked higher up into the hills, topping out around 800m. The view from the top was really nice. Also, there must be an air force base nearby because there were a number of planes doing training exercises through the valleys around. It was really cool stuff; dad was particularly excited. After soaking in more views we had to hike down. We are currently staying at the Old Water Inn (a favorite of Wainwright himself!) in Patterdale. Dad and I are actually staying in the room where Alfred Wainwright often stayed. It is a really cool place.
Sorry for writing such a quick blog, but it is dinner time in England! Also, Andy Murray is up next in the British Open at
A View
The Lake District Wembledon, so it should be fun to watch as well. I will post pictures soon!!!
Tomorrow should be an equally wonderful day!
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