Stalybridge - Day 3

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We had another very lazy day today. We slept in … again, well, it was a very late night/early morning after our epic card playing session last night! After a late breakfast we drove down to the bridge to pick up some supplies for a BBQ tonight. Aargh, it took us ages to find things in a strange supermarket. I’m sure we circumnavigated the store several times before we found all the items on our list.

Just when we thought we had everything we needed, we decided we should buy some dips for starters/nibbles tonight but … could we find them?? Around and around the store we went trying to find some dips. Eventually we asked and we were directed to the fruit and veg area where we found the dips … right beside the prepared salads where we had picked up some potato salad at the very beginning of our supermarket adventure.

After all that time at the supermarket Bernie just had time for a quick lunch before he needed to head back down to the railway station to collect Robin and Sandra. He pigged down his icing topped Bakewell Tart and left me enjoying my ‘traditional’ tart with a cup of tea. Robin and Sandra caught the bus down from Newcastle this morning to Manchester or they might have been dropped off in Huddersfield, I’m not actually sure. Anyway, they then caught the train (replacement bus) to Stalybridge station where it had been agreed Bernie would meet them.

Before Robin even said hello to Bernie, he was telling him about this AMAZING aquarium warehouse in Stockport and giving him directions to get there!! Fortunately, Sandra suggested that Bernie should take them up to Kath and Albert’s and THEN see about driving over to Stockport. The three of them arrived back at the house, but Robin was too excited about the impending trip to Stockport to say hello properly to anyone.

Robin had already phoned ahead to make sure they had the fish trap he wanted in stock and had asked them to put it aside for him to collect this afternoon. He was most anxious about getting over to Stockport to collect his fish trap. So, Sandra settled in to relax with a nice cup of tea while Bernie and Robin headed over to Stockport!

When they arrived back with the fish trap Robin was very keen to show us all his new aquarium accessory. It’s basically a two-part plastic bubble that can be put into the fish tank and it’s held in place by a strong magnet on the outside of the tank. The trap is baited and when the fish you want to catch swims in you remove the magnet on the outside of the tank and the trap floats to the top so that the fish can be removed. Exciting stuff, yeah?

When you are a marine tank enthusiast like Robin it really is! Robin’s tanks are filled with corals, so it is too difficult to net the fish if he wants/needs to remove them. He had looked at ordering this trap online, but it was going to cost way too much to import it to NZ. When he discovered how close the aquarium warehouse is to Stalybridge, he was like a kid at Christmastime realising that he would be able to buy the trap in person and take it home with him. All this because he has a rogue fish that he wants to remove from his tank to stop it harassing the other fish! Still, it makes a unique story for my travel diary which would otherwise be very boring today, ha, ha.

Colin, Lucy, Adam, India, Amelia and her friend, Ewan, joined us for the BBQ dinner. Lucy arrived with a lemon cheesecake AND lemon drizzle cake for dessert plus they had brought along some more meat for the BBQ. It wasn’t great BBQ weather but at least it wasn’t raining. Bernie and Colin managed to get the meat cooked without needing to resort to breaking out the golf umbrella, although I am sure that has been done before on an earlier visit!

It seemed like SO MUCH food had been cooked that there would be no way we would eat all of it. Wrong, two of our number were young adult males so they put a pretty decent dent in the pile of food that we had! Lucy’s cheesecake was delicious. I’m going to have to get the details!

The kids headed off after eating leaving eight of us to play Jo. I had a narrow lead over Colin going into the final hand. I asked if he wanted to forego the final hand and split the pot. No way, he said so the final hand was dealt. As soon as I picked up my cards, I knew that I had little chance of making three runs … and I was proved right with Colin winning the hand and the pot. Very sad!



Steps: 4,225 (2.90 kms)

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