Kings, Queens, Pubs n Castles

A 59-day adventure by Karry. Read more

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Trip start
August 17, 2017
Kings, Queens, Pubs n Castles Traveler
Leaving Home
August 17, 2017 in Australia ☀️ 25 °C
Today is the day, we're off for eight weeks. Seven weeks in the Uk and then one week in Denmark on the way home. Goodness that seems like a long time at the moment. Got to the airport early all ready for breakfast and coffee. No power!! Never mind after we'd run the gauntlet of security and immigration we had a great breakfast and coffee at the international.Read more
TravelerHave a great trip. Looking forward to reading all about it and travelling along with you.
8/23/17Reply
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2 Days in Singapore
August 19, 2017 in Singapore ⛅ 30 °C
Had a pretty good flight to Singapore. Makes all the difference when you fly during the day and have the exit seats. Found our hotel and took ourselves around to Chinatown for some dinner. It wasn't far and the taxi driver had pointed out where food street was on the way. Roast duck and port belly, don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

Coffee and breakfast the next morning in this little street shop, very strong and sweet coffee, wasn't too bad after the initial shock. After a walk around the local neighbourhood we thought we may as well just kept walking and ended up down at the bay. Went to look at Garden on the bay, absolutely amazing and a real credit to Singapore. The flower dome was having a orchid spectacular, so of course we had to go to that. Gorgeous displays and so many different species of plants and flowers, big plus the domes all all airconditioned. Not too many people early on but as the day went on they were finding us and it was getting pretty hot by now too, so we headed home for a afternoon siesta.

We came back down late afternoon to see the cloud forest. A huge rock under a class dome filled with plants and walkways and waterfalls. Incredible and all those people who slept in this morning were there. Few too many for us a d we heading up to Satay On the Bay for some food. It's a hawker centre not far from the domes. On the way a group of otters came out of the water and across the walkway in front of us. They were so cute and funny chasing each other across the walkway.

Had some delicious satay sticks with this delicious peanut sauce, I feel really sorry for people with a peanut allergy they are really missing out. They want to sell you ten or more of everything but Graham had a lovely time convincing this lady to just give him five so we could try a few different ones.

The domes have a night display as well and we called back in there to see them all lit up. It's a different perspective but not a patch on daylight. A walk along the harbour and we were in time for the nightly light show, big crowd and it was pretty spectacular too. By this time we'd walked about 16 kms so time for a taxi back to the Hotel!

Back to our favourite neighbourhood shop for coffee and fruit again the next day. I love how when you go back a second time they greet you like a long lost friend. The old gentlemen at the fruit bar told us we should visit little India, so thats the plan this morning. He told us how to get there on the subway so we tried our luck buying tickets. It was pretty simple really, bit like Hong Kong they have a great subway system. We got there no problem and had a look around the market. Hundreds of flower garlands hanging in all the stalls. They must have some huge greenhouses somewhere to grow so many. And sari shops, Indian women must have hundreds of saris. I was so tempted to buy some material, they were such beautiful vibrant colours. One of the tailors we were talking to told us to try out the vegetarian restaurant a few doors down. And you know how we love to eat so we didn't take much presuading! Delicious Samos and some sort of bread filled with veges and dipping sauces for everything, Yummo!

Got the subway back downtown then and found Raffles Hotel. Wow pretty popular place, but holy moly they must be making a fortune. We had a Singapore Sling and it was delicious but it cost more than all the food and drinks we'd had for the last 48 hours. We did do our best to get get our money's worth out of the free peanuts and Wifi though.

To top off the day we headed back to Chinatown for one last meal and couldn't go past the Chilli Crab. Omg it was the messiest thing I have ever eaten, and we both just about needed a bath afterwards, not to mention a change of clothes. Since we had already checked out of our hotel that wasn't an option, poor other passengers on the plane that night, they're going to be smelling chilli sauce the whole flight!Read more
TravelerThose gardens are fabulous.
8/23/17Reply
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London
August 20, 2017 in England ⛅ 19 °C
2 seven hours flights later and we arrived in London on Sunday morning. The second one was streets ahead of the first, makes a difference having the exit seats. I'm a Qantas fan after this trip, we sat opposite a lovely air hostess who gave us some tips on where to get a good lunch, the easiest way to pay for the underground, and some sights to go see. Unfortunately she couldn't get us through immigration any quicker and we had to take our turn with a thousand of our fellow travellers. I'm so glad we don't have to see another airport now for seven weeks.

We found the underground and our hotel without much trouble and got rid of the luggage. We don't really have too much when you see what some other people drag around, must make it hard for them, but I was glad to dump it.

We took the underground back to Paddington where our friendly hostie had told us about a lovely local pub to have Sunday lunch at. The Duke of Kendal, It wasn't far from the station and the Sunday roast was just as good as she promised. Had a chat to the publicans Grandad who was a shoemaker and made all the ballet shoes for the Royal ballet. Plus a couple of pairs for Princess Diana.

We were trying to figure out how to get to Big Ben and in the end hopped on the tour bus for a while, nice way to get around and see most of the sites and have a bit of a sit down at the same time. Eventually we got off at the Tower of London. Amazing place was so much history, went on a tour with one of the beefeaters, well worth it. Then a river cruise back down to Westminster just in time to hear Big Ben ring for five o'clock. He's being turned off for four years for maintenance so we were lucky to hear him today.

Graham really wanted to see St Pauls so back on the hop on hop off bus to get there. They were just about to have evening service when we arrived and we stayed for that. It was lovely, never thought I would go to a service in St Pauls let along take communion.Read more
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London day 2
August 21, 2017 in England ⛅ 17 °C
Some days things work out, others not so much. This morning was not so much. We had it all planned to go to The Natural History Museum today. We found it no problem, but we were too early ( big surprise I know) and it wasn't open. So we thought we'd hop on the tour bus to fill in the hour, turned out we picked the extra long tour bus and it was Monday morning so lots of traffic, we did see quite a bit of area we missed yesterday though. Eventually we decided to get off and go back on the underground, except the line we needed was down. Grrr so off we went to find a bus, again with the traffic. By the time we got back to the museum it was about 11 and the line to get in was three blocks long. No way were we doing that, the museum will have to wait for another day.

Plan B was to visit Kew Gardens. Turned out to be a great idea. The day was a bit overcast so it was nice and cool for wandering around the gardens which are just beautiful and absolutely massive. So much to see around every corner! We had a lovely four hours out there, and although there were lots of people in the gardens it's so massive they just disappear!

It was late by the time we left and thanks to some advice from the ladies on the counter of the gardens and the train we found a great little pub in Richmond for dinner!Read more
TravelerStealing the tomatoes! Shame on you!
8/23/17Reply
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London Day 3
August 22, 2017 in England ⛅ 20 °C
So today we were going to make sure we didn't miss the Natural History Museum so we were off early and were there about 9. Not another soul in sight. Graham went off to get some coffee and cake and I stayed to guard first place in the queue. Plenty of friends came to join me soon enough and we had a lovely chat to an English couple who were there with their granddaughter. She was about 4 and had been to the museum heaps of time. Their daughter had told them they had to get to the Whales and the Dinosaurs first. So as soon as the door opened The little one was off and even though grandma and grandpa Werner too sure she knew where she was going, she got us to the whale in record time!

Wow what an amazing place, the displays are pretty spectacular, but the building itself is absolutely stunning and was really the highlight for us! After a couple of hours we were museumed out and the crowds were getting thicker so we headed off to Leicester Square to get some show tickets. There are so many shows on in London, how on earth do they all manage to sell all the tickets? Anyway we found some pretty reasonable ones for the Book of Morman.

Went for a walk around to Trafalgar Square and then Piccadilly circus! Lots of street performers, some pretty clever ones! Plenty of crowds too by this time. Time to go rest up for the show!

Book of Norman was hilarious, we loved it! The Prince of Wales theatre was quite a bit smaller than I expected but we had good seats and a great view of the stage. Plus they sell you everything from wine to ice creams at interval and let you take them back in.

All the theatres in the West End must finish at the same time so it was a bit of a battle to get back home on the tube but we made it!Read more
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London Day 4
August 23, 2017 in England 🌙 15 °C
This is our last day in London and I realised last night we hadn't seen Buckingham palace. So the plan is to head in early before normal tourists get out of bed, but we're are a bit over the crowds so giving the changing of the guards a miss. It is a massive place, was all I could do to get it all in the camera lense. Wonder what the queen thinks every morning when she looks out the window at all the tourist down here. Anyway she's in Scotland at the moment and no doubt is coping with a different set of tourists. So while the queen is away you can tour a couple of rooms of the palace. I thought that might have been fun until I saw the line for it. There is a queue for everything here and as you probably all know I'm not the best at waiting in line, so we gave that a miss too.

Headed over to have another look at Westminster Abbey and the Silent Big Ben. He looks the same except for a bit more scaffolding holding him up! We hadn't been for a ride in a London Black cab yet, so we jumped in one to take us up to Borough Markets. Graham loves to talk to taxi drivers but this one wasn't having any of it. Didn't even bother to answer after he knew where we were going! Except of course when he wanted some money!

Borough Market OMG what a lot of lovely food they have at that market! Lots of taste testing going on. A friend of mine told me once when her daughter lived in London with a friend anytime they were strapped for cash they would come to Borough Market for a free feed! So we did a Dani and had a bit of everything until we got to a whole pig complete with cracking and that was it, I had to have a plate of that!

This pace is London is taking its toll and we had to come back for a rest before venturing out tonight to see The Girl from the North Country! We had a bit of time so we braved the line for The London Eye! You do get some great views but it's all a bit sterile!

We walked up to Waterloo looking for somewhere to eat before the show, tried two pubs both packed and couldn't find us a table. We were just walking past this little chinese place and a man in the doorway told us it was the most popular chinese for miles. It was packed inside, but someone was just leaving so we got s table pretty quickly. Tiny little restaurant and bloody hell so noisy but the food was great. Never know what you might happen upon!

It's been great to see all the sights of London and we've enjoyed it all, but we won't be sorry to hopefully leave the crowds behind for a while!Read more
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Over to The Coltswolds
August 25, 2017 in England ⛅ 21 °C
Picking up a hire car in central London, umm not really sure what I was thinking! Turned out alright though, it was only a few blocks from our hotel and pretty easy to get out of town thank goodness. The hire place was very interested in us, they had never had anyone hire a car for 40 days before so we were a bit of a novelty. They did their best to try and convince us to upgrade to a merc but for an extra 60 pounds a day, that's a lot of wine and beer so we managed to stay strong, although Graham did look longingly at it when we left. They did give us a new car though with only 400miles on the clock.

Gps told me it was an hour's drive to the Coldswold. Sure if every other car on the road wasn't there maybe, it was pretty good once we got on to the freeway but still took us a couple of hours. We stopped in Stow-on-the-Wold on the way and had a bit of a wander around and some lunch. Pretty little village with supposedly England's oldest pub, although I think there are a few places vying for that claim.

We found Chipping Campden where we are staying for 3 nights without much problem, finding a park near the hotel was a different story, but we managed it in the end. It's s pretty little village too. All the building are original or the facades are at least and it looks much as it would have three hundred years ago!

There were a few tour bus people wandering around but they all disappeared at about 4 o'clock. Then it was just the locals and the people staying in the village.

After a wander round town and a chat to a few people about where is the best place to have dinner, turns out its where were staying! So back we go had a couple of drinks in the bar with a few oldies and their dogs, and then Indian in the restaurant! Is it weird to have Indian at an old English pub? Was pretty good though!Read more
TravelerMake sure you go to Burford, Bourton on the water and Upper and Lower Slaughter, my favourites in the Cotswolds.
8/26/17Reply
Traveler What a lovely pub!!
9/6/17Reply
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Quintessential villiages
August 26, 2017 in England ⛅ 14 °C
We took a little driving tour of a few of the villages in the Cotswolds today.Moreton in the Marsh, Bourton on the Water, and the Slaughters. Gorgeous places where it looks like time stood still. Well it would if it wasn't for cars and buses but they are lovely towns and beautiful old buildings. My favourite was the Slaughters, there are two little villages very close together and it was very quite and laid back.Although they are having their annual fete on Monday and expecting 10000 people. So guess it won't be too quite that day!

We check out a little brewery near Bourton on the Water. Had to go around the slaughters a few times to find I with a bit of help from a couple walking their dog.t. It just had a small front shop but the girl in there happily got us some beer to taste. It was pretty good and we came home with a couple of bottles.
Tried our first cream tea. Which is Devonshire tea as we know it in Moreton on the Marsh. Clotted cream too, another first.

On the way home we came across an open garden and pulled in to have a look. Burton House Garden, beautiful, and so peaceful. It's only open for 3 days of the week, the owners are there the rest of the time, so we were lucky we came across it on the right day. Acres of flowers, topiaries, gardens and gorgeous trees, and a beautiful tithe barn.

The lady on the counter gave us a little lesson on the tithe barn. Tithe means tenth and the farmers had to pay the lords a tenth of what they grew. Most of which they didn't eat and threw back into the streets when it was rotten. The poor peasants who were starving would eat it and a lot of them died from the bacteria in the rotten corn. They then blamed the young girls of the villages and accused them of being witches. The girls then had to draw a perfect circle with some sort of leaves in the middle to prove they weren't witches and you can still see some faint ones there still!Read more
TravelerOh looks like you found my favourites! Gorgeous aren't they.
8/26/17Reply
Traveler Beautiful scenery
9/6/17Reply
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More of the Coltswolds
August 27, 2017 in England ⛅ 12 °C
Found some smaller villages today. Stanton, Leavton, Dumbleton, which sounds like it's a place the Wombles would have lived. All very pretty especially Stanton, it had a lovely old pub at the top of the town. We stopped in Broadway for a bit of a walk and bought some fresh strawberries and cream from the local church stall, then went up to Broadway tower for some great views over the countryside.

Driving around the Cotswolds is like turning circles, you keep seeing the same things again and again. We set off then to find Hidcote Gardens, another gorgeous garden, which was set out in different rooms. 10 acres of them!

Got back to our room just in time to watch a wedding at the church across the road. Nice view we had from the window in our room. I was nearly going to ask the photographer if they wanted to come use our perch. After putting our feet up for a while we set of to find Dover's Hill and then The Fleece Inn! Dover's Hill is a natural amphitheatre and great lookout point, and The Fleece Inn is a six hundred year old pub, probably another contestant in the oldest pub contest, it certainly did look the part!

It's Saturday today the middle of the bank holiday weekend and it's pretty busy, but we've managed to avoid most of the crowds so far, except in our village where today it's a bit of a challenge getting a park. Came home through Evesham, which is a much bigger town and then on to Ebrington where we're having dinner at the Ebrington Arms!Read more
TravelerAren't the pubs lovely? You've managed to find quite a few so far!
8/28/17Reply
TravelerHa ha they seem to be a magnet!
8/29/17Reply
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Getting to Cornwall
August 29, 2017 in England 🌫 15 °C
We spent a night in Stony Stratford where we stayed at the Bull Hotel and visited the Vaults Bar, one of the longest running acoustic music session in England. A fun afternoon and we met some lovely people. Nice old coaching town full of very old pubs and we got around to a few of them!

Long drive today down to Cornwall, and it's the last day of the bank holiday weekend so traffic was pretty heavy, we didn't really get held up though. We stopped in Cheddar to have a look at Cheddar Gorge and of course to try out some cheddar cheese and cider. A lot of the cheddar is matured in the caves along the gorge. The gorge is very pretty and very popular with hikers and climbers.

Another couple of hours past there and we crossed the River Tamar and were into Cornwall. Our host had send us very specific instruction on how to get to our Airbnb and we found it without too much problem. Beautiful little farm with a gorgeous view and some friendly dogs and horses!Read more
Traveler The cheeses look yummy!!
9/10/17Reply
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Shipping ports and headlands!
August 30, 2017 in England 🌧 11 °C
Nice tour of some pretty shipping ports today. We started off in Looe, Cornish pasties for breakfast, then on to Polperro for coffee. Had some delicious mussels in Charslestown. Walked out to the Dolman Peninsula when we'd had enough of people for a while. We weren't exactly dressed for a hike but it wasn't to far or too strenuous. Beautiful views over the coast from there. Took a bit of a shortcut coming back through a field full of gorgeous Dexter cows. Well we thought they were all cows until this big black bull came around the corner. Luckily he was more interested in one of his lady friends and we hightailed it before he got concerned about his privacy.

Finished the day in Mevagissey for icecream so and fish and chips. You see a theme here. I think we tried all of Cornwall's favourites!Read more
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Doc Martin, Castles and Witches!
August 30, 2017 in England 🌧 14 °C
Raining this morning when we set off, about a fifty minute drive over to Port Isaac, bit of a mix of motorway, smaller highways and tiny little lanes. It had stopped raining by the time we got there at least, still pretty overcast though. What a gorgeous little village, you can see why they picked this one for the tv series. Lots of pretty streets leading down to a picturesque harbour. We'd done our usual trick and were there before a lot of the shops had opened. That works pretty well for us though because you get to see a bit before the crowds arrive. We hiked up to the top of one of the cliffs overlooking the village, beautiful views from up there and the rain held off and the sun tried it's best to shine through. We finally discovered what a Bacon Bap is too. Bit like a toasted bagel with bacon.

Next stop was Tintagel, home of one of King Arthur's Castles, or the ruin of it anyway. Beautiful headland and more gorgeous vistas! Nice old post office in town too, which is restored to its former glory and on display. It started to rain again just as we got back to town and we'd worked up an appetite after all this walking so tried out a hand picked crab sandwich, yummo!

Then on to Boscastle, another pretty little harbour, only really small this time lined with steep slate cliffs, and an interesting witches museum. Lots of protected harbours in Cornwall so I'm assuming the seas get pretty high and rough at times!

Set the GPS to home and this time it let us through every small lane in Cornwall I think. Omg talk about squeezy, the hedges and rocks walls are whizzing past and nobody slows down, not even the little old ladies.ma couple of them left us for dead. Anyway we made it back with a few more grey hairs to show for it! Now to sort some dinner, there's no lack of pubs so I'm sure we'll be right!Read more
TravelerThose little laneways are all part of the adventure, Karry! Were you sucking in your breath as the cars passed? Love the photos, especially the post office. Like the new head gear too!
8/30/17Reply
TravelerI was sucking everything in Lan 😂
8/31/17Reply
TravelerSounds wonderful Karry. 😀
8/31/17Reply
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Forgotten Cornwall
August 31, 2017 in England 🌧 16 °C
Last day in Cornwall and since we'll be driving a bit tomorrow we didn't want to stray too far. Nice driving trip around the Rame Peninsula. More beautiful coastal views. A couple of very pretty unspoilt villages, Cawsand and Kingsand, nice swimming beaches and some brave souls were in there. Very quiet and laid back places with some more pretty lanes. Had a great breakfast where they charge you 50 p for each item you want, cheapest breakfast I've ever had!

Headed around the point to catch the ferry for a cruise around Plymouth Harbour, nice ride but stark contrast to this side of the harbour. Plus an old Cornish guy told us if you go across the river " there be dragons over there". Thought we better not chance it!

We found lovely Edgeworth Gardens and had tea and scones in the garden, very English and the sun had come out again by then so it was lovely!Read more
Traveler Beautiful clear water in the sea!!
9/10/17Reply
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Stonehenge
September 1, 2017 in England ⛅ 14 °C
We're leaving pretty Cornwall behind today and heading up towards Wales to collect our narrow boat. But first we want to visit Stonehenge and Bath. About a two hour drive to Stonehenge but it was worth it. Nature turned on a lovely day for us and it looks very majestic out there in the field by itself. Well apart from the 200 people surrounding it. We took the iconic photos and had a look in the museum and the Neolithic display which was really good, mostly because they had people in the huts explaining what everything was, makes all the difference.

Then on to Bath, only an hour away but back in the city traffic. Having a car in the city is not an advantage! Finally we found a car park and then the Roman Baths. They are pretty amazing and the British Heritage have done a lot of work. We tagged on to a free tour of the baths which was amusing and very informative!

Oh course after reading all those Georgette Heyer Novels ( I loved those books )I had to have a look in The Pump Room and see the famous Spring. It's a fancy restaurant now and after missing lunch it all looked pretty appetising so we stayed for high tea. Oh my it was delicious and now we don't need any dinner either which is just as well as cheap it wasn't!

Getting out of Bath was even more painful then getting in but in the end we made it to Keysham about 10 kms out of Bath. Booked into a hotel here for the night. Feet up for a few hours.Read more
Traveler Yum!
9/2/17Reply
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Narrowboat time!
September 2, 2017 in Wales ☀️ 18 °C
Off to Bettisfield today to pick up our Narrowboat, about a two hour drive from where we spent the night near Bristol. We stopped in Whitchurch to visit a little market in the Main Street, bought some cheese, pepperoni and sour dough and a couple of pork pies! What more could you ask for! There was a narrow boat show on not far from town and we called in to have a look at them. Some pretty cute ones!

They were waiting for us with the boat already when we got to Bettisfield. And after a few instructions and demos we were off! Beautiful day for us to set off, the sun is shining and it's quite hot! Took us a while to get the hang of steering this thing, because it so long it doesn't take much to put it off course! But after cruising down to Ellemere we were doing pretty well. Lots of bridges on the canals too and they are only just wide enough for the Narrowboat so that's pretty interesting trying to line them up!

We stayed the night in Ellesmere, walked down the canal and had a lovely chat to a young guy who was entertaining his daughter catching a few fish in the canal! Think she was more interested in collecting rocks and showing them to me really but she did like to hold the little fish he caught and chuck them back in. She was only about three and giving me heartaches dancing around the edge of the canal! Dad didn't seem the least bit phased though!

The next morning and it's a different story, the skies look very threatening and we had a few hours to do today so we made an early start before it actually started to rain. Luckily we'd packed raincoats and beanie and scarves, what a contrast to yesterday, it is freezing today and a constant drizzle. We stopped about ten for a cuppa and to wait for the worst of the rain to pass.

Once we set off again it just drizzled the whole way to Chirk, we had a bit of fun getting through the locks. I was the one working the locks and was supposed to be listening yesterday when Nick explained it to me, umm don't think it really sunk in. Oh well luckily when we came to the first one there was a few people in front of us and I got to see how it all worked. Seemed like there was plenty of people to help so I wasn't too worried but they all disappeared when it was my turn and left me all alone. Luckily I'm a fast learner or it was pretty simple and I managed to get it sorted.

There are two locks very close to each other and at the next one I had to help these two ladies who had no clue what they were doing! Ha ha reminds me of work, watch one, do one, teach one! Then some old dude asked me if I was the lock keeper, Yep, fake it till you make it! we made it to Chirk and after tying up we walked uptown to look for a beanie for Graham (he left his at home somehow), but we forgot it's Sunday so nothing was open except a gorgeous tea shop where we had tea and the the most delicious chocolate cake, almost better than I would cook myself.Read more
TravelerBinging back memories! Wish I was there too!
9/6/17Reply
Traveler Your boat does look very narrow, but also very long!! What a adventure you're having!!
9/10/17Reply
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Over the Aquaduct
September 4, 2017 in Wales ⛅ 20 °C
The day looked much brighter setting off from Chirk! Not many boaters get up early either it seems and we were all by ourselves going over Chirk Aqueduct and then into the Chirk Tunnel. The aqueduct is 70 feet high and beside it is a 100 foot high viaduct. A lovely warmup to the big event later in the morning. Goodness that tunnel is so long, about 1377 feet to be exact, which doesn't sound like much but took ages to go through. Very eerie too in the early morning with the mist rising off the water!

The day was brightening up nicely and we came to the Pontcysylite Aqueduct built in 1805, 125 feet high and spanning a 1000 feet across the valley. I was just praying that they really did build things to last back then, cause it didn't seem like there was very much keeping us up there.

It's a eerie feeling floating across this skinny little waterway so high up and only a thin metal railing on one side. Not that I looked down that side I was firmly planted on the walkway side. Even Graham got a bit freaked out I think.

Another couple of hours cruising through a really pretty section of the canal and some really narrow one way sections we arrived in Llangollen. What doesn't sound anything like it's spelt, which seems to be a feature of most of the Walsh language. I don't know how the kids ever get the hang of it!

Llangollen is a really pretty little town with some cute shops even a couple of op shops, lots of pubs and the gorgeous River Dee running through the middle of it. We parked up in the marina and then headed into town for lunch. Don't think we've had a bad meal since we got here and today didn't disappoint either.

Took the bikes off after lunch and headed up to Horseshoe Falls. Glad we had the bikes or it would have been a bit of a hike. It's not really a waterfall at all but a weir to feed the canal from the river, so a bit disappointing really. But we called in for a drink at the Chainlink Bridge and enjoyed some beautiful views of the Dee River thundering past and watched the steam train stop across the river, so not a wasted trip.

Rode back down to the boat and had an hour or so chat to the neighbours, who are farmers and their narrow boat is their escape for a few weeks and weekends a year. Now off to find some dinner. Ha ha must seem like all we do is eat and drink but really that is one of the best parts!Read more
TravelerAmazing aqueduct
9/8/17Reply
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Back to Chirk
September 5, 2017 in Wales ⛅ 17 °C
Leaving Llangollen this morning the sky is looking a bit greyer than yesterday. The neighbours were heading off early so they would get a clear run down the narrow sections, and when we heard them go we thought we may as well follow. Turns out quite a few people had this same idea and the one way section had more of a holdup than yesterday at lunchtime. Never mind it didn't take long and we had a nice run down to Trevor.

We pulled up at Trevor and walked across the aqueduct, till almost halfway (ok well maybe I only made it a little way) man it's high and even where there's a railing the gaps are huge.

Another eerie, foggy ride across the aqueduct, and on then down to Chirk! We parked were we hoped was the closest place to the Castle. We've been in the Uk for three weeks and haven't seen a castle yet. We have seen them just haven't visited one. Had a toss up whether to get the bikes off or just walk. Seemed like it would all be uphill, cause nobody builds castles in the valley do they? So we opted to walk.

Found the gates ok and then followed where we thought the signs pointed, after a little way, no more signs and we weren't sure if we were on the right track or not. We flagged down a Jag going past, who just waved and keep going, Arsehole!

The next car a cute little convertible Merc, pulled up for us and yes we were on the right track and would we like a lift. You bet we would, lovely man! Thank goodness, it was still a fair way up to the castle.

We saw the Jag guy when we got there and Graham made himself know to him. Told him we were only after directions. Ha ha he kept trying to talk to us every time we ran into him.

Our national trust membership got us free entry, Yah. this castle is 700 years old and what a beauty it is. They had all the staterooms open and volunteers in all the rooms to give you a bit of information, or answer any questions. It was amazing and we throughly enjoyed it, the staterooms, the tower, the dungeon and the gardens.

We spend about three hours there, which is well above our usual attention span! We'd lost our friendly driver though so had to figure out how to walk back to the boat. Getting direction from one of the gardeners, it seemed like we could walk straight down the hill to town. Wasn't quite that simple, but certainly quicker then following the road!Read more
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Up and Down the Monty!
September 7, 2017 in England ⛅ 16 °C
So today the plan is to go down the Montgomery Canal. Bit more involved, 8 locks and 4 of them are in a staircase, so you have to book in and be there at a certain time.

We got ourselves booked and arrived in plenty of time. The lock keeper even opened the gates a little early for us. It was interesting getting through the staircase. We were the first ones down and swapped over in the middle with the first one up.

Another lonely little lock by itself, which was only shallow but took forever to empty. Then three more and of course all the usual skinny bridges. If anything these ones seemed even skinner. Took about 2 and a half hours to get down to Maesbury, where the canal ends. This canal had just been restored in recent years and Maesbury is as far as they got!

It's very quite down here with hardly any traffic, which is just as well, the canal is pretty narrow in a lot of places. They keep telling us the canal is 4 boats wide, I wouldn't like to test it in a lot of places. Restoration is underway on the reminder of the canal and we took a walk to have a look at it in the afternoon.

It's a bit of a nature reserve down here, but a bit disappointing for us. It's not nearly as pretty as the rest of the canal. Lots of hikers and bird watchers though so must be something in it. What it does have is a fantastic pub, where we had a great meal. Graham had duck, best he's ever had which is saying something and I had Faggot. Had to have it just for the name. It's a bit like a pork rissoles with liver and heart so pretty meaty but very tasty.

Back up the canal again the next day, through all the diy locks and oh no we weren't first in the queue. Turns out that's a bit of a problem, the water in the middle has to be balanced out between the top and bottom locks or the boats start running aground. There was a lot of "Oh Dears" from the lock keeper when we were in there and we had to wait for a while till they put some more water through. Eventually we got through and then motored up to Ellesmere for the afternoon.

Goodness Ellesmere gets some canal traffic, we cruised all the way in and couldn't find anywhere to park until right in town where someone said they were leaving in an half an hour or so. The canal arm ends in sort of a triangle so we pulled over to the off side to wait till our space was ready, in the meantime this huge Narrowboat came down the arm way too fast, I thought it was going to plow straight through the boat at the end. It did give it a bit of a bang but managed to pull up in time. Needed the help of several people on the wharf to turn it around though.

Old mate left and we pulled into his space, locked up and took a walk around town. Only saw Tesco last time we were here so it was nice to see a bit more. I had a lovely time looking in the charity shops, only wish I could take some of the stuff in there home. The China is amazing!

Guess what off to the pub again for dinner!Read more
TravelerThe canal scenery is lovely.
9/12/17Reply
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Last day on the Kingfisher!
September 8, 2017 in Wales ⛅ 16 °C
Last day on the boat, we have some washing to do and then only a two hour trip back to Bettisfield! Washing done and a bit of housekeeping tidying up the boat, (we have spread our belonging from top to bottom of this thing). We doodled back up to Bettisfield getting there just after lunch.

We had half a day to fill in and decided to head off to Chester for the afternoon. Now if we'd talked to the boat owners they would have told us not to drive right into the city but to take the park and ride. But Gung-ho as usual we headed in. Wasn't too bad, except we missed the car park, but we did find a park, legal or not I don't know but it was nice and close so good enough.

What a pretty city centre, it's called the Rows. They have kept all the Tudor half timber buildings. The shops are on two levels but if you look up past the street level it all looks original.

Chester started life as a Roman fort in the first century with an almost complete wall complete with gates and tower around the old city, a huge and I mean massive cathedral, a Roman amphitheatre which is still being excavated and a castle.

We walked around the wall, checked out the towers and the city gates, visited the cathedral, and admired all the rows. The only disappointment was the castle which is just a shell really which you couldn't really get close to.

Headed back to the boat about five, miraculously our car hadn't had it wheels clamped, traffic was a bit worse coming home, but once out of the city centre not too bad. Lots of cars going in though. Have to finish off all the cheese, beer and wine on the boat before we hand it back tomorrow.Read more
TravelerLoved Chester. Pretty impressive, isn't it.
9/12/17Reply
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Dublin
September 9, 2017 in Ireland ⛅ 15 °C
Off on the ferry to Ireland, goodness this thing is huge, and I think they go across 4 or 5 times a day. That's a lot of cars and people. The seas were a bit rough but it was a very smooth crossing. Found our way into our B and B, Dublin is pretty easy to drive around except the traffic lights are so slow. Once we'd settled in we got a taxi into the city to try out some Guinness and dinner. Had a fun couple of hours in the Temple Bar, drinking and singing, I even liked the Guinness. Then found a nice Restaurant across the way for another yummy dinner. Don't think anyone in Dublin stays home on a Saturday night cause it was packed in there. So many pubs and restaurants all of the full to overflowing.

Next morning and we off to the Guinness Storehouse, for a tour. It was great and really interesting, plus you get a free pint of Guinness at the end, who doesn't love that. After some lunch and an hour wandering around their huge gift shop (at least the Guinness had some time to wear off) since we were on a Guinness theme we got the maps up and decided we'd head down to Kilkenny. It's only about an hour and a half and it was a pretty easy drive.

There are a lot of people here and we couldn't really figure out what they were all doing until we got up near the castle and the road was roped off. Turns out the Cannonball road race finishes at the castle today. it's a charity race for make a wish foundation. Ha ha it was fun watching them come in, 160 hot cars and a huge crowd, two little boys next to me were so excited they were ready to wet their pants when the first one finally came through! "Oh My God Oh My God" one of them kept saying and the other one who was only about five gave me a running commentary on what they all were. That was good cause I didn't have a clue!

Found a couple of pubs with some live music to finish off the evening. Good day!Read more
TravelerSo many pubs, so little time!
9/12/17Reply
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Kilkenny to Kenmare
September 11, 2017 in Ireland ☀️ 14 °C
Started off the day with a walk up to the Castle. A couple of the super are were still there this morning, including some dude who had locked his clothes in the boot somehow so was wandering around in his undies and bathrobe. Must have been freezing it was only about 8 degrees.

We were just going to look at the outside of the castle and the gardens but it was so impressive we went in. It was handed over to whatever the national trust version is in Ireland in the 1960's and they have spent a lot of time and money restoring it, beautiful job they've done too.

We're heading over towards the a West Coast this afternoon, about a two hour drive. Got the Navman set on smaller roads so we had a pleasant drive through hills, farmland and the Killarney National Park. I read somewhere it is better to start the Ring of Kerry from Kenmare, so we saw the first 20 or so klms of it this afternoon. Nice drive through the National park with waterfalls and gorgeous views. Even had someone playing the bagpipes out in the hill. His fingers must have nearly fallen off with the cold, but good on him!

Kenmare is a nice little town and we found a B and B at one of the pubs to stay at. I thought England had a lot of pubs, it's got nothing on Ireland. This little town which is only about as big as Biloela has about twenty!

We had dinner around the corner and listened to some guys with a mandolin and violin for a while and then back to our pub for an awesome night with Cormac singing all our favourites!Read more
Traveler Is he trying to make a sale?
9/13/17Reply
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Ring of Kerry
September 12, 2017 in Ireland ⛅ 14 °C
The plan today is to drive the Ring of Kerry, we already did 20 or so klms of it before we got to Kenmare last night so at least we have a head start.

The day is not looking too bright. First stop was the Staigue Stone Fort, up this little skinny track for about 4 klms, buses can't go in here so that's a bonus. It was amazing, 2500 years old and all the walls and some of the rooms are still intact. Big enough to house the chieftain and his family and probably most of their village. There were steps built into the walls and you could climb up to the top, pretty spectacular views they would have had, it was a tad nerve racking on the highest one!

Lots of pretty views as you drive along, nice little harbours and a wood turner we called in to see, where Graham scored some wood to take home. Unfortunately about lunch time the rain came in and never really stopped, it was pretty much a white out for the rest of the afternoon. We did see a few of the views between showers, and one spot where the rain stopped for a bit with a gorgeous rainbow. I was so glad we'd seen a bit the day before and got to the Stone Fort before the weather really set in.

We gave up then and headed for Dingle. It rained the whole way so I'm not expecting the Dingle Peninsula to be too marvellous either. It is a cool little town though with lots of pubs, restaurants and music. And windy, we went for a walk before dinner and nearly got bowled over. Holy Moly talk about the Wild Atlantic Way!

Another great feed and then we wandered around and listened to a few sessions and one group who we thought were going to be wonderful, had a big crowd and took forever to get themselves organised! They were deadly boring, so we headed back to the pub we'd had dinner at were there was a couple of guys playing and singing. An Irish dancer came out and joined them for a few songs, he sure could move. It was great fun and very entertaining!Read more
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Dingle Peninsula
September 14, 2017 in Ireland ☀️ 14 °C
Looking out the window this morning, it's not looking too bright, but by the time we'd packed up and had breakfast it was improving with patches of blue sky peeking through!

We're heading off to drive around the Dingle Peninsula hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more than yesterday. We did have a few showers here and there but it was mostly clear and the wind had dropped off a bit thank goodness.

The Dingle Peninsula is quite a bit more dramatic than the Ring of Kerry. Beautiful scenery all the way around and lots of places to stop and take photos. More stone forts, they are everywhere around here. Makes you wonder why they would have wanted to settle on the windy hillsides and not somewhere more cosy.

Stae Head is gorgeous, you walk out onto the end of the peninsula with all the sheep and look down over the cliffs into the bright clear water of the Atlantic. Freezing cold and windy but lovely views!

I'd seen a photo of somewhere on the Peninsula and nearly missed it. We asked the waitress where we had lunch, " Oh yeah that's Dunquin Peir this is, you'll be needing to go back a bit" ha ha she sounded exactly like that!

Luckily it was only 5 klms back so didn't take long, think lots of people miss it, only a few of us there to see the lovely headland. It's where the ferry leaves for one of the islands and it's rarely used by the look of it.

More gorgeous views all the way back to Dingle where we would have been happy to stay another night, but all booked up.

Pouring rain when we pulled up in Tralee. This is a working town by the look of it, not many tourists around. Still lots of pub but not much food or accommodation. We went into one pub and asked for rooms, after calling a couple she sent us to a B and B down the street.

Sweet young girl in the tea shop there was so thrilled to have us, we didn't have the heart to turn her down. " You'll be wanting a private room then?" I didn't know there was any other kind!! Ha ha ha It was cheap anyway which is about the best thing you could say for it! It's a good story for another day. The look on Graham's face cracks me up every time I think about it!

Back to our friendly bar maid for a Guinness and a recommendation for dinner. OMG the food was delicious. I keep waiting to be disappointed with a meal, but it hasn't happened yet!Read more
TravelerBeautiful photos.
9/15/17Reply
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Cliffs of Moher
September 14, 2017 in Ireland ⛅ 13 °C
Coming up to the Cliffs of Moher. We take the ferry across the River Shannon into County Clare. Takes a big chunk out of the driving and it's an interesting addition. They have it down pat on that ferry, no mucking around. The trip only takes about twenty minutes and the cars and buses are on and off in no time.

Lovely scenic drive up to The Cliffs. We have a gorgeous day for it, blue sky, not too much wind and sunshine. They are just as huge and majestic looking as I imagined. Lots of people there, but it's a big place so doesn't matter really.

Had lunch in little Doolin about 10 klms away. We had a chat to a couple of young girls on a bus tour. Sounded like it was a lot of driving and not much stopping. Drove down through The Burren after lunch, totally different landscape, much barer, big rocky wind swift mountains.

We were heading to Galway tonight but when we came through Kinvare it was starting to rain so we stopped her for the night. I wanted to try an Irish coffee, haven't had one yet and I'd seen a sign for them just down the road so off we went to get one. It's pretty good, and while we were drinking it three guys at the next table had their instruments out and entertained us for a couple of hours!Read more
TravelerGlad the rain is gone.
9/15/17Reply
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Sleive League
September 17, 2017 in Ireland ☀️ 13 °C
After the very grey day yesterday we woke up to picture perfect blue skies today.

Drove out to Sleive League Cliffs. How gorgeous are they? Absolutely amazing and we had the best weather for it!

Heading over towards Belfast to a place called Downpatrick) to see aGuitar factory in the morning. Pulled up in the Main Street thinking we'd find somewhere to stay, only place there was a dumpy looking hotel with washing hanging everywhere and very dodgy looking people sitting out the front. That's not happening.

So after searching the Internet and the gps we found a couple of b and b's rang one who didn't answer but the second one did. Paddy's Barn it was called. Off we go to have a look. It's about a mile out of town, pulled around the back when we finally found it, It didn't look too promising either. About five mangy dogs running around and building stuff pulled up everywhere.

We went in anyway, and it was gorgeous! Chock full of people having dinner and finishing off a christening party. The chef owns the house behind and runs a the Pub and the B and B.

The B and B was beautiful and immaculate thank goodness. Back to the pub where Alex and old guy we'd been talking to when we arrived bought us a drink. Had a great chat to him and then a beautiful dinner.

We chatted to 2 young couples at the next table for a while and they told us some spots to visit tomorrow and then bought us a whisky! Over the Whisky we heard the story of Lilly, the pubs ghost! Luckily she stays in the pub and not the B and B. They tried to get Gabriel ( the pub owner) to tell us the story but he said it had to wait for the morning!Read more
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