Lynne and I have arrived in Kendal, Cumbria, England. We are developing our strategy for the next few days in the Lake DIstrict. We want to do a few Happy Birthday Greetings: To Jackie, my daughter, Hope you have a wonderful day. To Monica, my sister-in-law, Happy Birthday. Make sure Rob and CHaz take you out to dinner. To Kathi, our dear friend in Utah, Happy Birthday young lady. [View Full Entry]

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William Wordsworth played a big part in the first part of our visit to Engand. Driving through Cockermouth in the Lakes District we were crawling along in traffic so Kev pulled into a pub carpark and we went in for a drink - just to get out of the traffic for a while!! The pub was the Trout Hotel - see http://www.trouthotel.co.uk/ - and we ended up having lunch there and booking in for the night, in a room overlooking the river. It turned out that the childhood home of William Wordsworth was just next door!! The next day we were [View Full Entry]

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This morning I woke up to the sound of my phone alarm. Usually when this happens in a tent I'm straight up, what with hard floors and shiver-inducing temperatures not being the best pre-requisites to a good lie in. Not so today. The combination of a new tent, down sleeping bag and fancy self-inflating mattress (back when ah were a laddie, we didn't get any o that fancy crap!) has created the perfect early morning relaxation environment. Only time will tell if its a good thing, or if it will just turn me fat and lazy. As a sign of things [View Full Entry]

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Well i just thought i would test that this was working before i leave for the States :) Last day in the UK and so far today i have unpacked my uni room out of my loaded Fiat Punto...its not sitting the corner of my bedroom looking rather sad. Am in the process of printing out all the valuable details which will hopefully keep me right in the next 2 days in terms of flights, social security, CRB, visas etc Later on 2day i will be meeting up with Becca (younger sister) and will do some last minute shopping...turns out that [View Full Entry]

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As Doug's Grandma Winnie was 100 years old on 7th May we were certainly not going to miss out on the party and seeing her on this special occassion so we planned and schemed along with my dad, Doug's mum Ann and Dad John (poor Ann nearly had a breakdown trying to keep our visit a secret!) for the past 6 months that we were going to go home and join in and surprise everyone at the same time!!! We arranged for my dad's friend Paula to come out to Oz along with her husband Andy and little girl Lulu for [View Full Entry]

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A nastalo druhe volne pindeli, tzv.Bank Holiday Monday - tri dny volna. Jednim z mist, ktere jsem chtela v Anglii navstivit urcite byl NP Lake District. Prvotni plan vypadal tak, ze si zamluvim ubytovani nekde v dosahu verejne dopravy, ale vzhledem k volnym dnum uz pred dvema mesici bylo vse obsazene a ja nabyla dojmu, ze cela Anglie miri na sever do hrabstvi Cumbria. Nezbyvalo nez si pujcit pojizdne bydleni a doufat, ze me nekde v kempu nechaji v aute prespat. Jeste v patek vecer, kdy jsem si pro auto jela na letiste jsem chtela vse vzdat. Bala jsem se rizeni [View Full Entry]

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Monday May 26th We had a wonderful day at Hadrian's wall today. We left Lockerbie at 5.30am. Thankyou for your hospitality Lockerbie. We started at Brampton and took a photo of the statue of Hadrian himself- very appropriate. Then off to Lanercost priory, Banks East Turret and our first miletower, with beautiful views over the Irthing valley. The Roman mile was a bit longer than the modern mile. In the bottom of the wall in many spots one brick is missing. I noticed that this is 8 steps apart every time. So decided that this was a unit of measurement. This [View Full Entry]

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Just testing to see if this works. Sorry for cluttering up your inboxes! Amy [View Full Entry]

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Sunday May 18th Did some fell walking in the Yorkshire Dales this morning. It was Brisk. Walked from Bainbridge Ings to Gayle a tiny village with a mill - all of 650m. Stone houses and colourful gardens. Walked up through narrow stone stiles (unsuitable for dogs) to Wether Fell. The typical weather cleared and we had a sunny morning. We were in Wensleydale this morning- Wallace and Grommit country. The accent is so 'Oh Grommit!' When we got back we had Dutchie Paula over for a coffee. She is a camp site inspector all over Britian. She gave us some great [View Full Entry]

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Monday 12 May - After a much valued day of rest, we were feeling recharged and ready to set off again into the hills, valleys and mountains - hiking ever closer towards bonnie Scotland. The landlady at the Victorian Inn very kindly washed our laundry the day before (and did not charge us as a donation towards the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust) - which was needed as we had seven days worth of washing since our last washing day in Malham. So not only were we bouncy and refreshed, so were our clothes. We left Alston the highest market town in England [View Full Entry]

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