U.K. - Iceland - Israel

April - Juni 2023
  • Mark Dennes
  • Loriene Dennes
7 weeks exploring 3 very different locations. Brand new experiences mixed with revisiting some familiar ones.
In our usual style, it’s a packed itinerary . . . .
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  • Mark Dennes
  • Loriene Dennes

Daftar negara

  • Palestina Palestina
  • Israel Israel
  • Islandia Islandia
  • Irlandia Utara Irlandia Utara
  • Skotlandia Skotlandia
  • Wales Wales
  • Inggris Inggris
  • Tampilkan semua (8)
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  • Wonderful weather in Wales

    13 Mei 2023, Wales ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today could only be described (in the exact words of John Owen) as ‘an absolute cracker of a day’.
    And it was.
    The weather was perfect - clear skies, light breeze and warm enough to break out the shorts for the first time on the trip. There was a spring in the step and a smile on the face of all the locals who were clearly enjoying the weather as well - everyone commented as you passed them while out walking with phrases such as ‘beautiful day’, ‘thanks Aussies for bringing this great weather with you’ and similar.

    And walk we did !

    John and Sarah had devised a plan for exploring the local area on foot and they asked if we were keen for a walk? ‘Yes, sure, we love walking. We did lots of walking in London ….what do you have in mind? ‘
    Well, what they had in mind was (after a short drive to our launching spot at Penmaen) ‘a little circle-route’ walk in this very beautiful part of Wales known as The Gower.
    We firstly steadily climbed up to gain altitude for panoramic views up and down the coast and out towards the Brecon Beacons at Cefn Bryn. From there we tracked out towards a famous landmark - ‘King Arthur’s Stone’. At this point John was leading confidently as Sarah called out - ‘John, I don’t think this is a good way - its always wet and boggy through this section’.
    Without changing his direction or missing a stride, John confidently calls out over his shoulder “No, no, no, it’s absolutely fine” as simultaneously we all stepped into wet and boggy ground and could now not only SEE the landscape but could FEEL it through our damp shoes and socks.
    Photos were taken at King Arthur’s Rock, then we headed downhill to the King Arthur Hotel and Reynoldston for coffee and a snack.
    From here we walked along a cliff’s edge around to Torbay beach and stunning views over Three Cliffs Bay, then down onto the beach, across a rapidly flowing river via stepping stones, up the other side through a golf course then back to John and Sarah’s home. (Sarah had detoured before we got to the last beach to retrieve the car and drive it home).

    Lots of beautiful scenery, 26,000 steps and 19.5 km saw us through their front door for a late lunch enjoying the sunshine in the gazebo in the back garden.

    Next it was off for a short walk around to Sam and Jemima Snelling’s house for afternoon tea precisely 10 minutes after we had finished lunch. We spent an hour or so with them and their four gorgeous children which was lovely enjoying coffee and cake in the sunny front garden area.
    We then returned to John and Sarah’s house for yet another afternoon tea and drinks, joined by Jeremy and Katie (John’s sister and brother-in-law who live next door as well as their guests Ian and Jo Brown from Bristol)
    Meanwhile Sarah had been busy putting the finishing touches on dinner which we then moved inside for. It was a delicious meal and by the time we had finished a specially made pavlova (and cheese platter) for us Aussies… it seemed like we had been eating and drinking non-stop for about 7 hours.😳

    Thanks to John and Sarah for organising and hosting us on a wonderful and memorable day :)
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  • Mumbles Hall
    The weather was pleasant enough for the picnicPretty impressive one-handed shot from JemimaThe PalmersMike Movassaghi - I didn't manage to get a shot of Sarah his wife.Tenby HarbourThe 'Stowaway' coffe shop - we sat inside out of the coldOn the way to SolvaSolva Harbour.... I thinkDashing to the protection of the Cathedral in St. DavidsA little draughty, but better than outsideNot a soul outside - but packed inside.'There's a table outside - enjoy your meal!'

    Mumbles Meeting and Meteorology

    14 Mei 2023, Wales ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Our beautiful weather had evaporated overnight.
    We woke to an overcast and foggy morning but this wasn’t really an issue as we were heading off to Mumbles (a 12 minute drive away) for the Memorial Meeting this morning at 11am.
    We arrived at Mumbles, which still meets in the same hall that Bro. John Thomas spoke in all those years ago. Its only a smallish hall, but Bro. Micheal Owen informed us that 300 people packed into the hall to hear ‘the good doctor’ give a public address.
    The meeting at Mumbles really felt like ‘home’. Apart from the Owens, we knew a number of others there, including Bro. Stephen and Sis. Ruth Palmer and Mike Movassaghi who would be known to many of the younger ones. Mike visited Australia with his brother Duncan (Spunky Dunc) many years ago, and he is now married with several children.

    Today was a special day for Mumbles. For the first time they held a picnic lunch in the grounds of the nearby Norman-era castle (doesn’t every ecclesia have a 900 year old castle in their backyard?) where a short talk was given on the significance of the 75 year anniversary of Israel becoming a nation again. This was followed by a game of ‘Rounders’ for the kids (well everyone, really).
    Interestingly, the Welsh almost completely shun cricket as a sport. Their go-to sport is ‘Rounders’ which to all intents and purposes appears indistinguishable to Softball to my untrained eye.
    At this point, we bid farewell to our wonderful friends here in The Gower as it was time to continue our journeys. John Owen had given us 3 towns of interest that were ‘mandatory viewing’ before we drove to Fishguard which was our final destination for tonight. “It will delay your arrival a little, but its worth it. And the forecast is that the weather should be fine”.
    Unquestioningly I followed his advice and as we drove away towards our first point of interest - the quaint little town of Tenby - visibility started to reduce a little and there was the odd shower of rain. Never-the-less we pressed on and Tenby came into view with a temporary clearance from rain and a very welcome coffee stop down near the harbour.
    It was now quite cold, so hunkering down in what was effectively a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ coffee shop was very welcome.
    Fortified by the warming coffee - “Make it a double shot, please” we ventured outside to snap some photos. I wanted to take a quick look around the other side of the harbour wall but Loss was more keen for a quick restroom stop, so we parted company for a few minutes.
    After snapping the required photos, I made sure I kept moving as I thought the plummeting temperatures could be about to trigger a Welsh equivalent of a ‘sheep grazier’s alert’.
    As I made my way towards the WC’s a gentleman unexpectedly called out to me “Are you looking for your wife? She’s just in there in the toilets”.
    How did he know that Loriene was my wife? Was it because we again were the only two people in jackets that were anything other than black, grey or dark blue?

    “Oh, yes” I replied “But how did you know she was my wife?” I asked.

    In his lilting Welsh accent he replied “Ah, because she came up here looking and sounding a little desperate when she realised that these here are pay toilets and she said her husband had all the money 😳and she had no cash, nothing at all, so I gave her 40p so she could . . . . “

    I thanked my new Welsh friend profusely as he disappeared up the hill and then I waited nervously outside the conveniences.
    Pay toilets are an annoyingly common occurrence here, but this time things could escalate beyond a simple annoyance. The subsequent conversation once Loriene emerged could go in a number of directions and most of those possibilities were not generating happy thoughts in my mind. While I was trying to formulate some inadequate responses as to why ready cash or other lines of credit had not been provided for such emergency situations, the ever deteriorating weather gave me the answer I needed. Disarm by distraction and protection.

    As she emerged from the facilities and before she had a chance to say anything, I rushed up throwing my arms and coat around her in a Sir Walter Raleigh-like gesture, exclaiming how cold it is out here now and for her own health and safety I must get her back inside the warmth of the car immediately.
    My plan seemed to work, because so stunned was she by my magnanimous actions that not a word was spoken about the incident.
    Or perhaps that was because it was so cold she couldn’t move her lips.

    We drove on to Solva which was the next destination on John’s ‘must-do’ list. I’m sure it is a pleasant town, but it was difficult to even see to the end of the little harbour due to the drizzle, lowering cloud base and the patchy airconditioning in the car at slow speeds. It was too unpleasant to contemplate getting out of the car, and with no thought of ignoring John’s advice (!) we motored on to our third interim destination - St. David’s.

    The drizzle was steady, the temperatures were low but we ventured out for a brisk walk from the car park to the historic Cathedral. Interestingly, St. David is officially the U.K.‘s smallest city (pop. about 1800), but it is designated as a city rather than a town or village because it has a Cathedral.
    As we arrived at its doors, they were being locked - the afternoon service has just concluded - but the caretaker must have seen our need to go inside to warm up and dry off a little - so he kindly reopened the Cathedral briefly just for us.

    It was now quickly back to the car for our final leg of the trip to Fishguard. Thoughts of a warm welcome by the hotel proprietors followed by a hearty Welsh meal in a warm venue were driving us on.

    We needed some milk and found a service station on the outskirts of town. We commented to the young lady behind the counter about the rapid deterioration in weather today.
    ‘Ah’ she said ‘Yesterday was lovely, but now we’re paying for it’
    Slightly puzzled, we asked for clarification.
    ‘Oh, welcome to Wales. You get one nice day, then you get punished for a week’

    When we arrived in Fishguard proper, the town seemed deserted. We pulled up as close to the Abergwaun Hotel as we could, but it was not possible to park right at their door. I left Loss in the car as I made my way to the front door. It was locked, with instructions to ring a number to gain access.
    I rang the number, which went to voicemail. I left a message and stood in the cold drizzle contemplating a possible ‘plan B’ if no one rang me back. Eventually my call was returned, access was gained and we moved our gear up into the room.

    Dinner options were looking pretty limited. There was a fish and chips takeaway shop that had a sign saying ‘open’. I walked up and peered in. The lights were off, the chairs stacked on tables, but when I pushed the door, it was indeed open.
    I looked around for a moment but there was clearly no one inside. I closed the door and turned around. The owner was in his car behind me, with the engine running. He called to me -
    “Sorry sir, now we are closed for the day”
    “Sure, no problem” I replied.
    I then watched him drive off for the night, clearly not worried about his door being unlocked and the ‘Open’ sign still on display.

    However, all was not lost. There was a small pub right next door to our accommodation which had some lights on and was displaying a menu. We dashed through the drizzle to the door hoping for a hearty meal in a warm and dry dining area.
    On opening the door, we immediately understood why the streets were deserted - the pub was heaving with people. As we pushed through the crowds we searched in vain for a table inside. There was one vacant table but it was reserved, probably for people who wore darkly coloured jackets.
    “There are some tables outside, sir”

    Hmmmm.

    See the last photo for our dining experience tonight.

    I had to delay typing up this blog for a while until my fingers could move in the commanded directions on the keyboard.
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  • Fishguard defences
    The start of our walk in SnowdoniaRisk assessment done ✔️Risk assessment approved hi-vis jacket ✔️Mt Snowdon in the background (Wales' highest peak)(Inside) Where Charles became Prince of Wales(Outside) The Queen and Charles walked out on the balcony to greet the crowds

    Snowdonia Sunshine

    15 Mei 2023, Wales ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    Despite the pessimistic prediction of our Fishguard Fuel Station proprietor, we were not ‘punished’ with the weather today.
    A bright, clear (albeit breezy and cool) morning dawned and we hit the road after some WhatsApp calls to the grandies back home.
    We reprovisioned at the local version of an IGA, went for a quick drive down around Fishguard harbour then headed for Aberglaslyn National park, just over 3 hours away.
    Before leaving Fishguard, we stopped at the fort on the headland that had defended the UK from the last actual invasion in 1797 (see the inscription above the door of the hotel we were in last night- yesterday’s photos).

    As we drove further north, the villages got smaller, the scenery became more mountainous, English became the secondary language and the need to refuel became a little concerning.
    One tiny town did have a service station, but no fuel in the pumps. Just when things were starting to look a little concerning, a service station and adjacent Starbucks appeared in the middle of nowhere.
    The staff were all speaking Welsh to each other. Even when they spoke ‘English’ to us, we could barely understand it.
    Never having been a fan of Starbucks coffee and against our better judgement we ordered a Cappuccino.
    Perhaps it was the language problem now exacerbating the endemic Starbucks problem, because what we received in the cup resembled bitter dishwater rather than coffee. However, the caffeine boost was welcome and we continued on to Aberglaslyn Pass which was the start point for a scenic walk in Snowdonia National Park.

    After a bit of lunch sitting in the car park-there were absolutely no food facilities so our self catering independence was invaluable here - we set off on a delightful walk following the banks of a beautiful mountain stream.
    As we ascended, the path got considerably more tricky. One of the locals we met told us about an abandoned railway line just above the track which he had walked along many years ago.
    We spotted this just above the walking track and decided it looked much easier walking than the rough track we were on.
    However, when we got to the rail line there were very functional looking steel rails set on solid looking sleepers.
    Being a responsible traveller, at this point I decided I needed to immediately submit a formal risk assessment to the travel insurance company for this little adventure, but there was no mobile signal.
    I assured Loss that the fact that the tops of the rails were fairly shiny was of no concern- the Welsh signage we had seen almost certainly said that ‘tourist steam trains only run occasionally on weekends’; and today was Monday.
    Additionally, the train driver speed signs for this section of the track were so slow (10mph) we were pretty sure we could have actually outrun the train if necessary. We briefed each other on how to press ourselves against the side of the tunnel if necessary, then set off on a leisurely walk along the tracks, through a couple of tunnels and enjoyed the view of the river from this new vantage point.
    No trains were encountered (after all it was a Monday) and we retraced our steps to the car park and continued on toward our overnight destination.
    We drove straight to the most historic castle in Wales - Caernarfon Castle, which has history stretching back to Edward 1 and Constantine the Great.
    So historic is the castle, that it is where the Queen chose to invest Charles as ‘Prince of Wales’ in 1969.
    Our accommodation tonight is a 500 year old hotel inside the old city walls with direct views to the Castle.
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  • Always looking for an opportunity to improve on being ‘stingy at Stonehenge’, today definitely was our day.

    First of all was the excellent (free/ included) full breakfast at our 500 year old politically incorrectly named ‘Black Boy Inn’ accommodation.
    We then immediately headed off in the direction of Llanberis (20 mins) to catch our train to the top of Snowdonia - the highest point in Wales.

    The backpack was carefully loaded with provisions/ water / spare clothing / frozen lamb roast etc. as we knew this could be an epic climb of Himalaya proportions.
    The first job was to park and of course pay for that very privilege.
    There was a parking area right near the train station at £11 for the day, but by a quirk of GPS input error, we ended up at another parking area - fully 90 seconds further walking distance away - for just £6 for the day. Chalk up a win.

    Heading in to the ticket office, I got our two pre-paid tickets - and then a partial refund of the ticket prices! It turns out that the train can only go up to the 3/4 station of Clogwyn as there is still trackwork happening on the last section.
    “If you want to get to the summit, you will have to walk up the last section” I was told in a curious mix of Welsh and English. (Note: At this point I was congratulating myself on having almost mastered the Welsh language, as last night I downloaded and partially studied the free version of the ‘Welsh For Dummies’ App I had found online.)

    No problem, I thought - we are all set for a good summit-push today, having acclimatised accidentally over the last 2 days by somehow managing to book accomodation at ‘Black-Boy’ many floors above ground level with no lifts.

    The day was partially cloudy. From the train station, our summit target looked to be just above cloud base height up there in the jet-stream. Potentially challenging, but we were well prepared for what the mountain might throw at us.

    We began our ascent on the cheapest ride of the day (The early-bird 9am in the diesel powered train - later trains, or the steam powered train cost more. Yet another win.)
    We eventually arrived at the stratospheric heights of Clogwyn station where the air was noticeably thinner. Before we left for our summit attempt, I wanted to check with the train driver if we could come back on any train once we had descended back to Clogwyn.
    Our friendly train driver explained to me in Welsh that it would be fine for us to do exactly that - or so I thought.
    (My understanding of the free ‘Welsh for Dummies’ course led me to believe that when a Welshman shakes his head, he means ‘Yes’. Perhaps in hindsight I should have upgraded to the paid version of the App as it would seem that the ‘free’ version could have been misleading.)

    We loaded up the backpack, checked all our mountaineering equipment was in order and climbed up into the swirling mists that now enveloped us. Like a latter-day Mallory and Irvine, we made steady progress up the Western Cwm, then traversed across to the Hillary Step, the South Summit, picked our way along the last stretch of the summit ridge and then finally - we were on top. Was that Tibet we were now looking down into?

    In 1984 Greg Mortimer and Tim Macartney-Snape were the first Australians to summit Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen - now Loss and I had summited Snowdonia in a similar fashion. Amazing. I have sent details of our climb to the Guinness Book of Records and am awaiting their confirmation of our epic feat.

    Now the task was to make it back down to the safety of Clogwyn station and our promised ride back down the mountain from my Welsh speaking train driver. On arriving there, we saw a sign (in English) that clearly said you could only go back down on the same train you had gone up on - and unfortunately ours had left long ago.

    I approached the train driver - not my Welsh speaking friend - standing beside his shiny STEAM engine - and in very plain English he told me if we wanted to ride down the mountain on HIS train, it would cost us another £22 each as we had missed our preassigned train.
    Clearly my crash course in Welsh was not as thorough as it should have been, but being determined to make this one of my stingiest days yet, we shouldered our loads and down-climbed the 8km foot track to Llanberis far below.

    Next it was off to a FREE museum just up the road - the National Slate Museum. Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? Well, it was actually very interesting. Wales produces some of the world’s finest quality slate, with the best quality being turned into roofing shingles which currently sell for about £4.50 per shingle.

    Of particular interest was a demonstration on slate splitting and cutting. We got chatting to the craftsman after his demonstration and he told us an interesting story of how ‘Sydney saved his bacon’ when he used to work as a slate cutter in a commercial quarry.

    There had been a slump in demand for slate shingles in 1999. The bosses wanted them to keep producing, as they were on a very rich vein of high quality slate. The finished product was being stockpiled on a scale never seen before, and when after a few months of this the boss called all the workers in for a meeting, they thought they were going to lose their jobs.
    “Good news, lads” he said. “You’re not going to lose your jobs. We’ve just sold the entire stockpile last night. It seems that Sydney in Australia has just had a massive hailstorm and they need every last one of our slate roof shingles”.
    So, all those blue tarpaulins on roofs in the Eastern suburbs many of us remember gradually gave way to new, job-saving slate tiles from Wales.
    Every cloud has a silver lining.

    In addition to this, he gifted Loss the little coaster he had hand fashioned during the demonstration. This saved us buying one in the gift shop at a cost of £12 - how many wins can you have in one day?? At least one more, as it turns out.

    We decided that we would economise on dinner tonight and cook for ourselves in our kitchenette. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to Caernarfon to purchase the ingredients, which came to the grand sum of £11. This was another significant saving, compared to last night where we had eaten at the restaurant across the road which advertised their ‘2 meals for £12’ special deal.

    Can a day of frugality get any better than that?
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  • 'Didn't we send you people off in boats a long time ago?'
    On the Big Red Bus - at last.Index finger, and the River BoatStately homes on the River DeeThe Queen Victoria ClockThe 1000 year old Chester Cathedral'The Rows' - unique 13thC timber buildingsFinding the cafe with the underground Roman ruinsThe Old Dee bridge built 1387On the old city wallsIn the middle of the Roman amphitheatreThe incorrectly hung picture at 'The Architect's' RestaurantEnjoying the results of my effortView of the world's oldest racecourse (1539) from our Motel windowTerrible photo of the special Airbus Beluga - (Google it for a better one if interested)Quite a few claims to fame for Chester

    He seemed quite friendly until . . .

    17 Mei 2023, Inggris ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    …. he heard our Australian accents - at which time he pulled a sword on us, muttering darkly ‘didn’t we send you people all off somewhere in boats years ago? - they obviously didn’t finish the job properly’😳

    We arrived in Chester this morning after about 1.15 hr very scenic drive up the coastline and then inland to cross the border back into England, then shortly after arriving in Chester - the oldest Roman base in the UK. It was essentially built as a fortified city as a defence against the wild Welsh to the southwest.

    Having been so frugal yesterday, I felt justified in lashing out and late last night purchased online a ‘hop on / off’ bus tour, combined with a short boat cruise on the river Dee - all at a discounted, combined online price, of course.

    Our accommodation was situated right at the racecourse which is the oldest racecourse in both England (and indeed the world). Having arrived at about 10am, we were way too early to check in, so had a coffee while we waited for the open top bus which came right past the front door.

    The bus commentary was very informative as we made the circuitous route around the city. We spotted the Chester Christadelphian hall along the way and decided we would go there for Bible Class tonight. However, we discovered on checking their website that it is held Tuesday evenings 😔.
    We exited the bus at the Riverboat stop. The half hour trip up the river Dee on the boat was relaxing and similarly informative and by this stage we felt we were getting a feel for the layout of the city.
    On return to the dock, it was now time to start exploring the city by foot. Highlights included:
    *A circumnavigation on foot of the ancient walls,
    * Admiring the ‘second most photographed clock’ in the UK
    *The unique 13thC timber houses called ‘The Rows’.
    * Shopping for some gloves for Loss (which will possibly be needed in Scotland but almost definitely in Iceland) to replace one which had been inadvertently lost along the way.
    * Loss finding £5 on the Roman walls pavement! (our first cash since Windsor Castle)
    * Checking out the Roman amphitheatre - the largest and most complete found in the UK.
    * Finding the ruins of a ‘Hypocaust’ directly underneath a cafe (as advised by one of my patients who had grown up here and told me about it recently)
    * Seeing the purpose built aircraft (Airbus Beluga) in the sky that flies Airbus wings manufactured here at Chester to the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France for final assembly.
    * Having an excellent dinner on a warm English evening, overlooking the Racecourse and enjoying a pint that was ‘on the house’ because the waitress said I would earn it if I could find the picture hung upside down on the walls of the bar / restaurant. (This I did while waiting for Loss to come back from the WC).
    * Avoiding being ‘terminated’ by our Roman army soldier friend.

    All in all, a successful day.
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  • The Lollipop lady on Penny lane DID exactly thatOn the corner is a barber showing photographs...Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout....Broughton HouseSkeldale houseSkeldale house at Askrigg (Season 1) - with the old Austin permanently insituThe Alderson farm at Yockenthwaite

    All Creatures Great and Small

    18 Mei 2023, Inggris ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    It’s hard to avoid the whole James Herriot / All Creatures Great and Small connections when you’re deep in the Yorkshire Dales.
    But we weren’t really trying to avoid them - in fact we sought them out. We are unashamedly fans of the books as well as the 2 series that arose from those volumes as they portrayed a rural life so different to ours in Australia. Beautiful, rugged, harsh, stark, majestic - the list of adjectives goes on. What we discovered today was all of this and more.

    But first things first.

    Indeed our destination today was Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales, but as we were so close to Liverpool after departing Chester, Loss insisted 😉 we take a slight detour to capture a couple of points of interest from the most famous of all Liverpudlians - The Beatles. Two songs were released by the band in February 1967 - Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and both of these physical landmarks were on the ‘easy’ side of Liverpool so we sought them out.

    First stop was ‘Penny Lane’ and we snapped the obligatory photos of some of the landmarks from their childhood - the Barber, The Bank, The shelter behind the roundabout etc. We even took some video with the song playing quite loudly. No one batted an eyelid as I suspect it is an everyday occurrence for the locals.
    About 10 minutes away is ‘Strawberry Field’ which was also a childhood haunt, particularly of John. It was a children’s home ‘back in the day’ with large gardens and grounds. It is now a Salvation Army centre and they do a strong trade in Beatles memorabilia.

    Although Loss was keen to seek out other places such as their childhood homes etc, I dragged her away from her 60’s nostalgia and we headed for the Yorkshire Dales. The scenery changed quite abruptly after we left Liverpool suburbia behind us and before long we were marvelling at the beauty of the Dales as they started to reveal themselves.

    On the way to Grassington, we stopped at Broughton House (Mr’s Pumphrey’s residence) and then arrived in the absolutely gorgeous town of Grassington at midday. It was too early to check in at our accommodation (The Devonshire Hotel / Drovers Arms) so after exploring the town and appreciating its unquestionable beauty we went off for a longish drive through the Dales. The roads are impossibly narrow and winding and progress is slow - but that is a bonus because around each bend lies a new vista of beautiful rolling hills, little streams, bridges, stone fences and buildings dotting the landscape creating an ‘otherworldly’ sensation.
    We ended up passing through Askrigg (the Drovers’ Arms and Skeldale house of the original series) and Yockenthwaite (the Alderson’s farm).
    We’ve just returned to Grassington, checked in to ‘The Drover’s Arms’ and been assigned room 7 - the Tricki Woo room :)
    We’re just hoping that as a result we don’t end up with Tricki’s unfortunate, recurrent affliction😳
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  • Up hill and down (Yorkshire) Dale(s)

    19 Mei 2023, Inggris ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Nothing especially amusing today, but we do have a little bit of inside info for those who might be interested.

    It is apparent that there are a number of closet ‘All Creatures’ devotees out there, judging from the private messages we have received. It wasn’t our intention to devote any more space to this, but to satisfy the interest of said ‘Herriot-o-files’ here is a little extra we discovered this morning before leaving Grassington.

    After a full ‘Mrs. Hall’ breakfast - including some traditional Yorkshire Pudding which even Loss sampled, we went for a stroll around the village and came across a little street that looked (to our untrained eyes) as if it would be perfect for the series and both of us commented along those lines - cobblestone street, perfect looking little houses etc.
    As we looked further down the street we saw some activity happening. It was a group of tradies and people from the production crew of ‘All Creatures’ preparing another house to feature in the next series. It will belong to ‘Gerard’ - Mrs. Hall’s new romantic interest(!) They were preparing the house - external painting (replacing modern colours around windows and doors with appropriate shades of brown etc.) as well as internal furnishings.

    ‘Is it OK if I take some photos?’
    “Hmmm, you’re not really meant to….but I can’t see your camera…”

    Filming to take place on Monday. You saw and heard it here first.

    Our plan today was for another circuitous / scenic drive through the Dales. Again, it was fascinating to see the ever changing scenery and the amazing houses in little villages all jammed in together around the main road through town (which was often barely wide enough to fit the little Fiat through). After heading north and east through Leyburn, we headed across the more rugged part of the Moors to Tan Hill Inn - the highest Inn in England. A ‘signature drink’ Ginger hot chocolate was had before continuing on to Hawes
    - and the impressive sounding ‘Hadrow Force Waterfall’. This also laid claim to fame as being England’s largest drop waterfall.
    We drove in, paid our entrance fee and walked along the path towards the falls. With the hype about its vertical drop etc I was expecting a Niagara Falls type of experience, however this certainly wasn’t the case. Although very pretty, the water volume and height were relatively modest, perhaps more comparable to En Gedi falls (for those who have been) than Niagara - or even Fitzroy falls or similar, for that matter.

    Next point of interest was the Ribblehead Viaduct which is essentially just a photogenic railway bridge. We pulled over on the side of the road just long enough to snap a couple of shots, then it was onwards toward our main destination for today - the waterfall trail at Ingleton.
    This is a popular attraction in this area of the Dales. It is a series of waterfalls, gullies and chutes. The trail is about 8km and we took around 2 1/4 hours to complete it. Again, the falls were relatively modest but very picturesque and thoroughly enjoyable.

    We have settled into another very historic hotel tonight in Ingleton.

    And the weather has even warmed up a little - we were down to shirtsleeves for most of the day!
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  • Windermere
    ThirlmereThe very steep Honiston pass - the photo has flattened it outRemeber these little beauties from the 60's and 70's?The premium box setGraphite miniature artistryWorld's largest pencilThe WW2 'life saver' pencil

    Water, water (and people) everywhere . .

    20 Mei 2023, Inggris ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We woke up to another Saturday almost identical to John Owen’s description last Saturday - ‘a cracker of a day’.
    The sun was shining, the skies were blue and the temperature a little warmer.

    We left Ingelton enroute for the Lake District and as always we didn’t take the most direct route. We headed firstly to Windermere. The place was absolutely packed with people.
    Nevertheless, we enjoyed some morning tea by the lake and marvelled at the sheer number of people and the sheer number of ice-cream outlets. We have noticed this all along our travels - clearly the Brits have a love affair with ice cream beyond anywhere else we have ever seen.

    We called into the Tourist Information place as I’m a great believer in gleaning a little local knowledge from these people whenever I can. I asked the gentleman on duty what was the best / most scenic way to get to Keswick which was our final destination.

    “Well, normally I’d suggest this route” pointing to some substantially thick lines on the map. “But I know you Aussies don’t mind a bit of a drive so I’d suggest the following . . .”
    He then proceeded to highlight some very THIN lines on the map, including hand drawing in some roads that didn’t even feature.

    Of course we took his advice and wound our way through the Lake District on these secondary and tertiary roads and enjoyed it very much. Lakes, mountains, streams and quaint villages were around every bend. We eventually made it to Keswick, where again there were hoards of people in the main town. We stopped for a little something to eat, found another Information Office and asked for some further advice on scenic drives around this part of the district.

    I told the lady where we had been. She said that was quite nice, but ‘as you Aussies don’t mind a bit of a drive, I’d recommend this route . . . This is next level to what you’ve done so far’
    Next level?
    ‘Yes, especially Honister pass - it’s very steep, narrow and winding - but very scenic’

    We thanked her for her advice and newly hand drawn map, but before tackling her ‘next level’ drive we paid a visit to the Derwent Pencil museum in Keswick.

    Sounds like a bit of a yawn? Not at all. Apart from reminiscing about the Derwent pencils that were part of our lives doing projects etc all those years ago ( the pictures on the pencil sets are of local scenes here in the Lake District) and being amazed by how much expertise goes into making them, the part that was especially interesting was the role Derwent Pencils played in WW2, inventing then providing Allied pilots with pencils that concealed escape route maps from Germany and a miniature compass all concealed within the hollowed out pencil shaft. The lives of downed pilots were saved by this and other methods, and the fellow who invented the pencil was code named ‘Q’, becoming the inspiration for ‘Q’ in the James Bond movies etc.

    Following this, we headed off to drive the ‘next level’ route around the Lake District. She was right - it was very scenic - but it was also everything she had promised - steep, narrow and winding. Lots of pulling over and reversing to allow opposite direction traffic pass was all part of it, then finally we got back to the outskirts of Keswick to find ourselves in a bumper to bumper traffic jam - which could have been avoided except for an unnoticed error on GPS input.
    Our accommodation for the night was ‘Derwentwater Hotel’. It had accidentally gone into Waze as ‘Derwentwater Hostel’ which also exists, but is on the opposite side of Keswick. On our way to the ‘Hostel’ we were congratulating ourselves for travelling against the very heavy traffic we could see snaking into town on this single lane, one way in, no escape route road.
    When we got to the ‘Hostel’ and realised we had to backtrack to the ‘Hotel’ on the other side of town, the traffic we had been observing so smugly now became ours to be engulfed in.

    Despite this tedious conclusion to our exploration, it was ‘a cracker of a day’.
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  • A Day of Scrambling

    21 Mei 2023, Inggris ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    The day started earlier than planned, with the fire alarms in the hotel going off at precisely 3am.

    Whenever we stay anywhere, the very first thing Loss does is check out the nearest fire escape and she ensures I acknowledge it also. With the Derwentwater Hotel being an older establishment, she even commented on the higher likelihood of a fire occurring in such a building as we entered it last night.

    We leaped out of bed and got ready to leave. While I stumbled around to collect a few essentials like passports, phones and IPads, Loss used these few moments for a very quick go with the hairstyler and comb (because it’s important not to look too dishevelled in the middle of a fire emergency) and just as we were opening the door to exit, the shrill noise stopped. A false alarm. As I tried to get back to sleep, the thought crossed my mind that this was our first ‘scrambling’ of the day because we were also booked to go ‘scrambling’ in the Lake District later this morning.

    When eventually we woke again at a more civilised time, Loss enquired as to what the plans were for today.
    “Memorial meeting streaming, then I thought we might try to immerse ourselves more thoroughly in the Lake District”.
    She thought this sounded ideal.

    I believed my description of the plans for today was accurate, but I had failed to show her the booking details which said we would be ‘working our way up or down a pristine mountain stream with natural rock slides, jumps into plunge pools and scrambling’. I thought it best not to overload her with too much information in one hit after last night’s truncated sleep.
    After a slight pause, I added “Probably best not to wear your pearls or your high heeled shoes today either.”

    After our streamed meeting, we got ready and headed 10 minutes out of town to the designated spot next to Stoneycroft ‘Ghyll’ (a local word for a ravine or canyon) and met Chris who was our guide and instructor for our adventure. I had been keen to ensure we had a place available for us today when working out the itinerary, so I had booked and prepaid it months ago.
    “So how many others will be in our group today, Chris?” I asked.
    “No one else - just the two of you”. Magic.
    As the wetsuits and safety gear emerged from Chris’ truck, Loss was looking for an escape route. A coffee shop? A Keswick branch of Harrods? - but there were none to be seen.
    While we got into the thickest wetsuits I’ve ever seen, I thanked him for running the activity as many tour operators would probably cancel out with so few takers.

    It was clear we were certainly going to literally get immersed in the canyon today and I enquired what the expected water temperature would be?
    “A few degrees - it’s usually about 5 or there abouts” 😳

    Once we’d donned the bib-and-brace wetsuits, jackets, thermal booties and helmets we thought we were all done. But then there were shorts and a rash-shirt to put on over the top.
    “What are these for, Chris?”
    “Ah, the shorts and tops make you slide faster down the rock chutes”. Loss would have run for safety at this time, but the thick, stiff wetsuits only permitted ‘Tin-Man’ like movements.

    Once we were all suited up, we made the 20 minute uphill trek to our starting point on the Ghyll. By this stage we were getting wet - not from the Ghyll, but from perspiration inside our arctic-rated wetsuits.

    A short descent from the track and we stepped into the water. Chris got us to take a plunge in this first pool to acclimatise us. It was surprisingly pleasant, but with 10mm of wetsuit on, we had so much buoyancy we felt like we were bobbing around in the Dead Sea. You only really noticed the very cold water temperature when you held your hands under for more than a few seconds.

    So off we went. Chris was a great guide - very professional with just the right mix of caution and adventurous spirit.
    We spent a very enjoyable 1 1/2 hours working our way down the canyon and it delivered everything they had promised, with the jumps and slides into various pools being the most exciting.

    Many people only book this first section of the Ghyll, but I had chosen the add-on abseiling section as well (which I also ‘forgot’ to tell Loss about). This entailed using ropes and climbing harnesses to abseil down waterfalls on slippery rock faces which were another level up from what we had just done.
    Loss had never abseiled before and I had only ever done it once before many years ago, so after some instruction and practice on level ground it was back into the water for our first drop. Chris stayed at the top and had us clipped in on a safety line.
    Loss negotiated this first drop really well and I followed after her. When I got about half way down I lost my footing and found myself inverted. I eased myself down headfirst the rest of the way into the pool below, much to the amusement of Chris and Loss.

    We did a total of 4 abseiling drops with some slides and jumps thrown into the mix. Eventually Stoneycroft Ghyll released us back to a climb-out section on its banks and we made our way back to the cars. The whole experienced was about 3 hours.

    By now it was mid afternoon and we felt we had earned ourselves a decent lunch so we found a little cafe near to the hotel and enjoyed a late, leisurely lunch in the afternoon sunshine. Fortunately we didn’t have any ‘wounds to lick’, (but we might be a bit stiffer in the morning than we planned especially in our arms) but spotted a family nearby with a dog who was enjoying a lick - of her ‘puppy ice-cream’. (As it turns out, the family are emigrating to Melbourne in a few weeks’ time.) I’ve included a short video of ‘Mabel’ for the kids.
    So it seems the Brit’s love affair with ice-cream extends to their K9 companions also. Google tells me its available in Australia, but we’ve never seen it.

    Tomorrow, GW, we are ‘scrambling’ for Scotland.
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  • More scrambling videos

    21 Mei 2023, Inggris

    As only 2 videos can be uploaded on any single footprint, I’ve just added a couple more here.