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Published: February 10th 2015
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After six months of anticipation 19 December and our flight to the UK finally came around . The flight was an uneventful 27 hours to Manchester with a stop in Hong Kong(3hr). After such a long, nearly sleepless flight I was hoping to get through immigration quickly, but found myself in the slow line that took over an hour before I got to the counter. There was an uncomfortable two or three minutes where I was worried I would become one of those people you see on Border Control who is pulled up for questions about my intentions for coming to the UK and my plans to leave. As the immigration official started to probe more and more about my plans and my girlfriend and her family I had a brief sinking feeling that that would want to pull me to the side and investigate my plans further to satisfy themselves I wasn't there to live/work illegally. Fortunately I was allowed in with no further questions.
On the other side of immigration it was great to see Madge waiting there to great us and chauffer us the 2 hours back to "end of the line" Hull. My head
was so fuzzy and full of cold I don't remember much about the drive other than the Starbucks, rain, dark and fantastically wide and fast motorways.
Within an hour of arriving to Hull we were putting up the xmas tree and settling in. There was some eating, drinking, napping before we went to Julia's brother's house for a bad Christmas sweater party....by the end of the night I was begging for sleep, couldn't sleep and had an epic head cold - a great way to start a holiday (and it stuck with me for the first week).
The second morning saw us up and stirring around 530am, though it was pitch black and cold outside. By 7am we were on the road in the dark heading out for a long road trip to Scarbourgh and Whitby Abbey ruins.
Scarbourgh looked to be a quaint seaside holiday community and I would love to spend a long weekend exploring.
Further up the road was Whitby, home of incredible oceanside abbey ruins and Captain Cooks start of his sailing career. We started out with a tour of the ruins... the most
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
We wasted no time at all the first full day in the UK we were up and on the road by 7am incredible I'd ever seen (but surpassed later in the trip by Fountains Abbey ruins). The bitterly cold wind limited our visit to a very brief walk around the site and then we headed down to the town and the refuge of a world famous fish and chip shop.
After a yummy lunch we crossed the river and explored around the former boyhood home of Captain Cook. I was amazed to think that only a day before I'd made a tip in 27 hours that took Cook nearly two years to make. It was a real privilege to know that I've seen places Cook stopped at in Australia, New Zealand and the various Pacific Islands and now I'd seen where he started his early sailing career.
Again, I'd recommend Whitby for a long weekend vacation.
We wound out the day with a drive back through the North Yorkshire Moors, with its miles and miles of heather.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Welcome back blogging!!!
It's been two years since your last blog and you've been missed. How about a blog filling in that gap...and how did you meet your girlfriend? I enjoyed touring the Yorkshire Moors...but in the summertime. Good to see that you spent Christmas with your family.