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Published: October 26th 2006
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Beautiful Bath
Let's move to bath! Some of the fantastic architecture around the city. With the new purchase of our little Ford Focus, we had a ‘London break’ for half-term holidays.
Our first stop, only a few hours from London, was the fantastic town of Bath. This place was just lovely - everything you could want in an English town. Great size - classy shops, amazing Roman architecture, fascinating history, good restaurants, heaps of stalls selling nice little ‘foodie’ things and nice markets. We met up with (Chris’s) cousin John and spent the day sampling the cafes, checking out the real estate and the other sights in town.
That afternoon, we took the scenic journey out of Bath and paid a visit to John’s old School, Monkton Combe. An amazing prep school set in a lovely valley near Bath. So very English and traditional - big old buildings surrounded by farmland. Very ‘Harry Potter’ - what do I need to do to get a job in a place like this!?!
That evening we were picked up from our B&B by Chris’s Aunty. Back to Bath, where we enjoyed a great dinner in restaurant that used to be some sort of underground wine cellar. After dinner and drinks we took our seats at
Don't try this at home
Half-naked man with fire cracker up his bum. A very funny street performer in Bath! the theatre to watch the RAMBERT Dance Company. Some amazing dancers (including some Kiwis) - all very arty, modern and ….. conceptual: you couldn’t help but be impressed - even if we didn’t quite ‘get it’
The next morning we set off to check out one of the ‘natural wonders’ mentioned in the ‘1001 Natural Wonders You Must See Before You Die’ book. With that sort of credentials, we thought it important to pay a visit to Wookey Hole. According to the website and brochure, this is meant to be ‘Britain’s most spectacular underground caverns’
Is this England’s most over-rated tourist attraction? A twenty minute walk through artificially lit caves, with a tour guide who offered very little geological information about the caves - instead focusing on myths about witches and making lame attempts to frighten the kids in the group. The caves themselves were quite ‘nice’ but certainly not as good (or natural) as Waitomo or other cave complexes in New Zealand. There is only one word for the big plastic dinosaurs and sound effects: TACKY! We had to laugh - the whole thing was so so bad!
Fellow kiwis - save your money (ten pounds
Pulteney Bridge
Over the Weir in Bath. each) and don’t bother with this one…
After our ‘adventure’ at Wookey Hole, we were off to Wells to explore the amazing Wells Cathedral - no sarcasm this time, it really is lovely. After meeting the rallies again for a tasty 3-course Italian lunch, it was off to find our B&B near Chedder.
Yep - this is it. Chedder. Chedder like the Cheese. According to the ‘1001 Natural Wonders…’ book, there is a legend that a milk maid left a bucket filled with milk in one of the caves. She came back after a few days (weeks… months..?) and there it was: Chedder Cheese.
There is a double-decker bus tour, but we decided to avoid the tourist traps and explore the area on foot. The walk along the top of the Gorge is lovely and offered some great views of the countryside. We didn’t pass another person during the walk: great!
That afternoon we stopped in the town of ‘Street’ following Aunty’s advice, to check out the factory outlet shopping area. Worth the stop. Oh yes - we’ll certainly be back there to stock up on ski clothing in the near future!
After making our
Hiking in Chedder
Usual ummm... breeds of sheep and goats in Chedder Gorge. (Look closer at the sign.) way down towards the coast - we checked into our (deserted) B&B in a fishing village called Burton Bradstock. After seeing the weather was turning nasty, we set off to find a warm pub to shelter in. Our meal was quite possibly the best we have had in England - fresh seafood and lots of it. A good way to enjoy the bad weather.
The next morning, the waves outside the B&B were HUGE, thanks to the overnight storm. Chris went mad with the camera taking heaps of photos of the swells crashing against the eroding rocks.
Next stop after check-out, was the sweet village of Corfe on the Isle of Purbeck. On a hill above the village was the 1000 year old Corfe Castle. After exploring the ruins we stopped at an animal sanctuary that had heaps of cats, donkeys, goats etc. Don’t worry guys, common sense prevailed - we did not adopt an animal… although it was very tempting.. we resisted the cats cries and donated some money instead.
As we continued along the Coast, we stopped at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove in Dorset. The sun came out again so we were able to
Chedder
Chris admiring the view of the countryside from the hills above Chedder Gorge. photograph these cool rock formations. Last stop in the afternoon was Studland Bay to visit ‘Old Harry’s Rocks’ and the impressive chalk cliffs.
Back to London, that night - refreshed and quite excited about all the places we can visit now that we have wheels.
The next road trip is planned for next week… after reading this exciting recount.. I’m sure you’ll be sleepless with anticipation for our next blog up-date…
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Heidi and Dan
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Hi
Hey guys, cool that you are really getting around England. Love the photos. Looking forward to seeing you in a week or so!