Reset search
Making memoriesMaking memories
SatelliteEdit route

Making memories

March 2018 - May 2024
Setting off on a 7 month trip with my hubby John. 6 months in Europe and 5 weeks in Asia on the way to and on the way back. Read more
Currently traveling
+8
  • 187footprints
  • 16countries
  • 2,241days
  • 1.4kphotos
  • 0videos
  • 59.0kkilometers
  • 49.3kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Rell01Making memories
    2
    Day 8

    Day 9 Bath ohh Bath

    March 27, 2018 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Off to Bath today and the weather is just awful, cold ++++ and wet and very miserable after yesterday’s sun, even though it was cold!

    I don’t do cold very well since losing my weight! It’s something to do with the op apparently. Many sleevers have low cold tolerance post surgery! But I am trying to cope as best as I can!

    We had planned to walk to the station to catch the train but as it’s so awful we drove there instead!

    Made it ok lucky I was sticky beaking at another couple and see what they were doing as they were heading to Bath as well, or we would have ended up in a London instead we were on the wrong platform... all rectified after calling out to them across the track to see where they were heading, then once we realised a mad dash up and over to get our train! Once on the train there were all these ticket things on seats, mind you the train was very full.... we didn’t know what they were and without glasses these days I can’t see a thing. So we sat and hoped for the best! I found out on our way back that they are reserved for people who pay for them, but not always the whole way might be from one town to the next! I thought about this and decided it must an English thing a bit OCD in that people don’t like change and have to have same routine right down to their seat on a train.... me with my English heritage now realises where some of my silly idiosyncrasies come from! Bit sad really that a simple train journey and people need sameness, I am not that bad! I hope! Mind you I sit in nearly the same seat at church each week, if not the same seat the same area! Near the door so I can look out, when I should be concentrating.

    We made it ok got out of the Stn and just as we were to cross the road in the miserable coldness saw a Hop on Hop off bus so ran to it and paid to do the trip as walking wasn’t looking real fun.... sadly though you couldn’t see out the window real well so very limited pics and there was no way I was sitting on top just far to freezing!
    It was worth doing to hear the commentary about Baths history! Back in the day when Bath first became the people would be taken in a special chair that would carry them to the hot mineral baths and back home again, talk about pampered! They were literally taken from their beds to the baths without having to get out of bed and were taken back to bed again, by the carries! What privileged lives they sure had!

    Anyway Bath is an Interesting city again I missed getting pics of the amazing Circus circuit unreal buildings even by today’s stands they are unreal, the weather was just too yukky to get a good shot!

    After the trip on the bus we got off and wandered around, finding sights I wanted to get pics of and finding new sights! Had to stop as it was just so cold for a warm cuppa at a lovely little cafe warm and toasty didn’t want to leave! Both had a delight as it was too tempting not to, couldn’t eat all mine so took for RON. In our wandering as we got off track and a little lost, but in doing so found this amazing old church door I saw on the bus I couldn’t take any pics of it as to wet on the windows. So as John was working out how to get back on track I could take my pics! Only thing is the footpath is so narrow I had to keep stepping on the road to get my pics and had to time it between cars going by.... I managed it but not something one should do I know very dangerous and as we would say at home crazy bloody tourist what were they thinking!

    After looking for quite a bit John decided we had to use the rest of our ticket to do the other 1/2 of the tour call the country tour the other was the city tour, so on a bus we got again only this time as the rain had stopped and the clouds were parting. But the cold up top was unreal, I did brave it got a few pics but didn’t enjoy it as much as I would like to being so cold. The guy commentating was unreal, he never drew a breath. John and I got off the bus laughing our heads off at just how much he could talk! To be honest we were mentally drained from just listening to him go on.... we decided to look for an English pub for lunch just needed to be warm and cosy and English pubs are just that! I love the way they decorate their pubs here so homely and quaint.... so many interesting prices to look at so very different to our cold bare pubs!

    After our meal of soup for me and steak baguette for John time to head home, so back to the train Stn, a lot bigger than Bradford on Avon....
    Again the train was packed, so finding seats difficult I got one on a reserved spot but turns out it was for the Stn after ours thank goodness John had to stand...
    I was so pleased to be back in Our little cottage warm and cosy. I had to repack my suitcase as I couldn’t find snitching every time I used it. Sort out our food issue, as there will be no fridges from here on sadly. UK doesn’t have fridges in the room unless you pay dearer for your room or request one then you still pay for it. I discovered this on our last trip here when I had to juice every morning.... most nights I had to get ice bought to the room to keep my drink cool or place it in the fridge in the reception area.

    Soup for dinner as easy to do, repacked then off to bed after a little TV for a change! The days are flying...    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    11
    Day 9

    Day 10 The weather and the Abbey

    March 28, 2018 in Wales ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Today we set off for new horizons, however the weather is just terrible, wet freezing and miserable.
    We packed up our goods and shackles, poor John having to carry them out to the car getting very wet.... but not as wet as their poor postie here in his long shorts and thin long sleeved shirt and a cap on his head, not rain coat, no over coat..... I decided he must have been numb so couldn’t feel just how cold it really is!

    Said our thank you’s to our Host Marsha and off we set down the Hwy! John had plotted a map off the fwy so hopefully we can find some sights! So pleased we did as we pulled up for a cuppa at a Farm Cafe and while there they had heaps of info on sights coming up, this is where we found the Glastonbury Abbey Boucher...... so resetting the Nav we headed to Glastonbury. Was that change worth it unreal sight to visit. They think it was built in the 1100 century but not totally sure.... as history hasn’t been as kind with info for this place as it could have been. Legend also have it that King Arthur, Guenveur are buried here. but the story also goes the Abbey was badly burnt and the Monks were broke they feel they told the story about Arthur to get people to visit the Abbey hence bring money to keep it going.... So truth or fiction the tale still goes on....

    From here we headed onto the awful freeway, but made our way down to the bottom end of Wales coastline to Weston Super Mare long name not sure why it’s called this but meant to be like the Goldcoast of Wales.... unreal place to visit with its fancy hotels, huge promenade and massive pier into the ocean, also what looks like a man made island jutting out into the ocean with fancy hotels on it!!!! It often gets call Weston Super Mud as the waters are so muddy and yukky looking it has huge tidal changes each day going out for a very, very long way!

    This was our first place to have English Fish and Chips over looking the amazing modern pier. After lunch we had to head off accidentally heading the wrong way finding an old pier totally in ruin. It’s called the Birnbeck Pier and locals are trying to have it restored it dates back to 1864 and has an amazing history in itself.... looked so sad it state if disrepair. I took a heap of pics and found some great graffiti while there so a few pics of this and off we set for our hotel, for the next 2 nights...... I was so sure it was for 3 nights, but sadly for 2 so our looking around here will be a bit rushed sadly!

    On arrival at our hotel first look it was like our cheap hotels at home 2 levels and not flash, but the Italian at the desk was friendly and helpful. Our room was neat clean, twin beds this time and yep no fridge. But because it’s so cold here and there is a little entrance way between the main door and another door into our room we are using it as our fridge hope it works feels cold enough!
    Had a walk to Lidel like Aldi to get some plastic plates and cutlery but no luck, so went next to it another lot of shops and very little in the line of what we needed to just have to do with what we can for breaky plates in the AM!
    Had dinner at the hotel restaurant but very bland, as John Says you get what you pay for!

    Another day down, had some great highlights on the way!    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    1
    Day 10

    Day 11 Ohh what misery

    March 29, 2018 in Wales ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Our only day in Cardiff to have a look around and wow the sun is out with clouds but out! Here we at Hotel Campanile Room 17 working out our plan after having breaky in our room, with disposable cutlery a collapsible bowl I bought along and the front foyer section of our room as the fridge! And yep the food in our fridge bag is sure cold enough! Once we had our energy supplement for the day, muesli for John and little toastie biscuits for me with ham and cheese what more could you need, off we set! The plan was to do the Hop on Hop off bus, but once we found a short term parking spot I front of the magnificent city hall building we set off on foot to fond a tourist info building. What we did find instead is the Cardiff Castle which we had planned goi g to today, only once we saw it realised we had been there on our UK trip less than 2 yrs ago..... how bad are our memories....
    Both of us were very embarrassed that our memories are so short we couldn’t remember we had been in Cardiff before... at least we did remember once we saw it again. But pretty bad to go to it again to remember and not even remember we had been there until we saw it!

    So with this info now tucked into our minds we decided that maybe the hop on hop off bus wouldn’t be such a good idea. Instead we would head to a near by village to another castle and do some shopping. John wants to buy me a longer puffer coat for my birthday.
    So off we go down the Hwy to Caerpilly Castle stopping at a smaller shopping centre on the way... we had thought it would be bigger than it was.... however it did have a cheap store so we could finally get a shape knife or so we thought... this is turning out to be a difficult task, no one seems to sell serrated knives or even sharp knives are difficult to purchase.... so with soap for John and some window wipes for the car we set off for the Castle again. As we drove to the site our minds were blown away as it was so huge and amazing well worth the coming. We decided to have a cuppa first mistake that was, as the heavens decided to open while cuppaing and we forgot our umbrellas. I had even said to Joh last night I best put my umbrella in my backpack you never know when we will need it. Then like the Castle episode must have just forgot and stuck it back in my suitcase, as you do when the weather is so unpredictable as it is here!

    Fortunately I had a plastic disposable raincoat in my backpack, and John was able to buy one thank goodness as we couldn’t have looked at this Castle at all without them, for this wasn’t some little shower it was a heavy storm that ended up going most of the day, only stopping as we drove home then commenced again as we made it home!

    The Castle was just unreal, a total ruin except for a few bits restored, but mind blowing how big it really as, how thick the walls were just unreal.....
    Heaps knights had built the castles after the Roman nobles had invaded Wales from England to protect themselves they built these massive strongholds..... but once this had finished the Parliaments of the day become scared the knights would hold too much power so started to blow up the castles... they didn’t succeed totally but did make a huge mess and dent to these once magnificent buildings!

    By now we were getting pretty wet, Johns sand shoes were saturated, my sleeves from holding my camera up and trying to hold my plastic head in place where dripping... my camera had a few hitches even though I keep wiping it must have got some water in it.... so note to self and a stern warning from John to be very careful with it as this is just beginning of the trip. I have to get some sort of a set up to use the camera in this awful weather or I won’t get any pics when the weather turns like it did today. And after seeing the weather tonight on TV it’s the going to get worse..... sadly even snow predicted!

    Off to another shopping centre once finished found a knife but in all honesty they only have a couple.....decided to have lunch here as well and like most cheap places the food was just awful, I couldn’t eat my soup, too cold even after they nuked it!

    Next we set off for another Castle, Castle Coity..... being in the car was a bonus it gave us a chance to dry out a bit and get warm..... got to this Castle which was situated in a little village. The walls of the castle were backing onto all the homes around it... kind of surreal to be honest for us, but guessing normal for them, to have a massive Castle ruins in your backyard, As you do......we also noted that it was 5 mins to closing time so we just made it.... again it blew us away and even more so as this one was free.... but huge and would have been another magnificent structure in its hay Day! The weather is just so cold so hard to concentrate but we did long enough to see it is glory. So pleased we came to this one... there are just heaps and heaps of castles in this lower part of Wales I could spend days wandering around the country exploring all these amazing buildings... hope to see some more tomorrow as we head north. Shame we have to head north, but to see more we do.

    We found a shopping outlet on our way home, so off we set to buy John a pair of waterproof boots and me a coat. John’s looking produced new boots, inner gel soles, and new jocks cause silly him packed all his old ones and they were totally had it.... that due to a man packing not the wife... as for me well darned if I know where they buy their long puffed coats.... everyone’s seems to have one but can’t find where they buy them. Looks like no birthday present for me as John planned.

    Got back to our room to warm up.... John didn’t want dinner as he had had some heavy meals today. So we came up with a plan to put my little bit of soup left in a plastic container inside the kettle after boiling it.... so in it went x 3 boils later and yep out she come all hot and yummy.... worked like a treat only due to the fact the lid would open enough... so soup had I set I myself up to upload all my pics but such a big day and I needed shut eye. So off to bed for this little bird. Another day not loading pics, can’t leave it too long or the job becomes a nightmare sorting out days!    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    1
    Day 11

    Day 12 The road is long and some Narrow!

    March 30, 2018 in Wales ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Saturday Buck House Hotel Rm 5

    So off to our next destination today, heading north towards the top end of Wales..... the fridge being the front foyer worked a treat, bet the next place doesn’t come with such an expensive refrigerator......

    Our plan was to weave our way up looking at various spots I had found on the Castles Map....
    First stop Merthyr Tydfil now say that fast, we were looking for an old tunnel..... we did find it but it had been filled in with mosaics. Seems there are about 21 former tunnels that ,any are trying to get restored for use by Bikes or for tourism. But like many of these old fellows people don’t see their future potential until they are done. it would seem on some research this one is over 2ks long that’s unreal, all done by hand built in mid 1800’s. Interesting history but a total disappointment on getting to it!

    Tried to find a number of others but either past by the signs and there is no way of turning back in these roads or we had to go off road which John was not too happy to do as it was only narrow enough for one car, muddy, wet and no way to see oncoming cars..... We even had to back up at one stage for a car not good with tight hedges with spikes buts sticking out don’t want to damage the hire car do we!!!

    Next was a quick drive around A Castle now a very well restored Manor.... looked worth a visit just didn’t have the time sadly.... so pics from drive buy is all I did! Not sure of the name of the village this one was in sadly forgot to write it down. Then we hit Brecon Beacons Nation Park.....and wow we have snow drifts of the side of the road and snow capped mountains. What a view with open plains, rolling mountains and snow... and cold cold when you get out of the warm car...
    onto Brecon to look at the Brecon Castle ruins now attached to a very posh Castle Brecon Hotel. Again a look from the outside it stood next to a lovely old bridge so got 2 for 1 here..... then up the Hwy or should I say weave through the smaller villages to have lunch at Newtown for lunch... Again nothing special so far the food has been very bland and uninviting.....
    Another castle up the road at Welshpool was Powis Castle total restore filled with tourist.... another one that would have been worth a visit if time permitted..... last castle of the day was Chirk Castle like Powis restored and now a major tourist attraction. We also came across a double Aqueduct with the Shropshire Union Chanel going across the bottom one.... you couldn’t get to a spot to take a regally good pic of the double feature it was.... it’s unreal to see at 70 feet high and 710 feet long, with a canal tunnel at the end 450 yards long.... we are in UK here no metric sorry......
    We walked from one side to the other into England one end and Wales the other end..... very interesting.

    Well our day of looking has come to an end and we need to get to our hotel.... the nav took us our all the back roads think we would end up in the digglies. But we arrived at. Buck House Hotel, it’s an old English or in this case welsh hotel. And yep had to carry all our huge bags up little tight stairs to our compact but comfortable room over looking the Chapel and cemetery on the other side of the street....
    The locals all checked us out, as we had to parade in and out of the dinning room. Did take our bags through the front door so no one could see how much we really have...

    The noise in our room is like being with a Bill and Vic in the Dandenong’s years ago in an old pub there.... Very noisy and lots of music coming through the Lounge below.... See how we go for sleep tonight. A meal that again was pretty bland. Back to upload 3 days of pics..... what a pain the computer kept having a glitch so unable to complete this project. I had myself in one hec of a state by now, upset gut from peas and unfinished project. So bed time I think today has had enough.....    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    1
    Day 13

    Day 13 & 14 Castles, Abbey & busy roads!

    April 1, 2018 in Wales ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Sunday-Monday! Buck House Hotel Room 5
    The last 2 days have been really full on with lots of driving to see sights! Distances are far but due to traffic, narrow roads and people +++++ everywhere as it’s Easter weekend, the journeys have been slow.... that’s good in one way as I get to take pics easier and bad in another as we have had long full days getting home around 7pm so we are very tired.....

    We are staying at Buck House Hotel a Room 5 this time. A quaint hotel a few 100 years old.....

    Easter Sat saw us head out to the northern Coastal area of Wales.... we managed to see a couple of Castles from the outside as too expensive to go to all of them, so we decided to circumnavigate some and only see a couple from inside!

    We tried to find the first castle Ewloe Castle only to get a bit lost on a muddy track that was very difficult to use putting mud all over our boots then trying to get down a slippery slope we decided that this Castle wasn’t worth falling in the mud, so we set back for the car. It is raining lightly today so makes it a bit hard looking...

    Next stop was Flint Castle this one was a freebie thank goodness, so a quick whip around before heading to the next one up the road....Rhuddlan Castle this one blew us away as we came across the marshes towards it... what a sight, we also got to go into this one... looking around just before crowds arrived. From the top of the castle you could see the river flowing towards the sea, also all the township around as with nearly all the castles now surround by suburban sprawl.

    Then onto Conway, tourist Mecca.......What blew us away especially when we drove towards the Conway Castle was its sheer size, absolutely unreal. We felt so small against its huge features just driving towards it.... with 100’s of people around today, it became impossible to get a parking spot to stop and look so sadly all I could do was take pics from the car! Not ideal with something of this magnitude really needed time to look slowly, this was time we hadn’t planned on. Conway is on the coast so we were able to see some of the coastline.... as everywhere else the ocean goes out a long way and all you are left with a murky mud flats.... the odd boat high and dry. This makes their coastline look unattractive to us, but I guess to the brits it’s the norm....

    Across to towards the eastern point of Wales we stopped at Beaumaris Castle this one was crawling with people as well. We did find a spot to park, at a cost... set off to look and realised it was just far too crowded and too expensive so a look around the outside, tried to find a lunch spot but gave up on that as well.... people, people everywhere.... so back in the car by now it’s 3pm and getting hungry so lucky I bought a bit of fruit and some bickies so we munched on them hoping to find somewhere to eat.... We arrived at the Eastern most point if Wales Holyhead to look for some Roman ruins, driving around and around the very tiny narrow streets of Holyhead with no signs to show us where to go we gave up, on food and finding the sites.... So setting the Nav for home headed back down the Hwy this time instead of through the villages. Driving through the villages are unreal as you get to see better scenes but much, much slower. Got back in Tim fir a meal, I chose a prawn cocktail knowing that it wouldn’t be like home.... but in all honesty it was terrible.... it didn’t last too long in my tummy at all.... Got to talk to Kristian, Kate and James for my about to be Birthday here in the AM, but my birthday at home now...

    Getting meals in Wales has been just awful, tasteless gluggy food.... to be honest we haven’t had one meal you could say wow that was lovely....how can you stuff up mashed spuds, well they did at our hotel... not sure what they did but it was stodgy thick and a big lump on the plate with no flavour... even the chips are flavourless.
    We eat to sustain ourselves definitely not for enjoyment...

    Our 2nd day of sightseeing here was my birthday. Starting with breaky at the hotel, wow oh wow the scrambled eggs were amazing the first tasty meal I have had.... sadly could only have a bit! A walk along the Dee river here in town after breaky.

    Bonus if today is the Sun is out Yeah..... so I took a few pics of the bridge again with the Sun on.

    We set the Nav for Valle Crucis Abbey, in the Snowdonian NP. Ohhh wow what an amazing day of magnificent scenery. Snow capped mountains, deep valleys, craggy Rocky Mountains, all adding to the unreal views... Pretty villages again crawling with tourist plus, plus.... Heaps of people tenting it.... not sure how they cope with it in this weather... plus 100’s of people walking everywhere, over mountains, down in the valleys, along the canels and fast flowing rivers.... so much to take in as we drive your mind is in over drive...

    We made it to the Abbey well worth the visit.... we meet an Australian woman who has been travelling since Aug she won’t head home until a July.... she has been to so many countries, started her trip as a volunteer at a Bamboo Camp for Elephants.... She told us it was the most difficult thing she had ever done, they worked them really, really hard all were women over 50 paying good money to be there and all for what was from the sound of it slave labour.... She then went to Africa tripping around then Europe where she would have stayed longer only to realise she had clocked up her Schengan Visa Days all too quickly... it really is a problem for the long term traveller who wishes to see these countries and has the money to do so... part of the issue of crack down now is all the refugees with no money and no homes... there has to be away if sorting it out so travellers can stay linger and be legal...

    We did stop for lunch at a village called the Crown Inn.... ohh my glory the meal it was honestly like pig slop.... looked like it and tasted like it. It really is becoming a waste of our money eating out here hopefully the food well I prove up north...

    We drove heaps through the valleys and mountains as the scenery was just so amazing. Getting home late again, but feeling better than yesterday as mainly scenery compared to traffic of yesterday’s run.... nothing amazing happened for my birthday, Johns not into birthdays like I am. So pretty much an ordinary day other than him asking did I enjoy my birthday... what was I going to say No... of course I did but always lovely to share it with others... Thank goodness for FB they know how to make you feel loved with all the wonderful wishes....

    Day done another just horrible meal, sadly I couldn’t eat again. I will be losing more weight at this state of affairs as the food really has upset my gut something chronic... Just have to make up with it after we hit Europe!

    All in all unreal feats of man made buildings, unreal natural scenes it has been a great day all in all for my birthday.... Thank you John for bringing me here to see it all.....    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    Day 14

    Day 15 White Wonder!

    April 2, 2018 in England ⋅ 🌧 1 °C

    Tuesday-Days Inn Killington Lake Room 21

    Slow start today..... joy of joys looked out our window across the cemetery to the chapel and snow abounds.... Wow how wonderful it is.... the scene it just so pretty..... when they predicted Snow I really thought they were like home with predicted rain, talking through their hat! But they were spot on.....

    My time this morning was taken up with catching up in 2 days of diary... I best not do that again it really puts you behind... plus the computer is playing up when trying to down load my 100’s of pics. So once again I have a melt down, John trying to remain patient with me but ready to chook me, finally takes over the process.... He finally understands that there is a glitch in the set up and figures out how to go around it... but still doesn’t change the fact I lose it every time I hit a wall with the photo down loading process..... So I have to pull my head in so to speak. Enough personal disclosure!

    So once packed, off we set only to get about 2 mile down the road and we hit a road block on the back roads of the area.... well it turns out in the UK farmers have right of way on any of the roads.... the local farmer in this area was shifting his cows obviously to get the milking done... and a line of cars were behind him as he walked them up the road.... not one car tried to go around. At home all the cars would have zipped around the cows and away, but no not one behind them went around all travelling at 10 kms an hour as we went along them. Cars and trucks coming the opposite direction did go past but very, very slowly.... interesting to watch the respect they give to their farmers. I saw a sign at one of the stops we made a few days ago, telling the public that the Farmer was the life blood of the UK that they have right of way and were to be respected.... shame our government doesn’t have the same respect for our poor farmers who do it tough so often.....
    Anyway the cows eventually made it to their milking shed thank goodness so off we speed....

    The Hwy was mayhem, with 1,000 heading him from the Easter break.... but what made it difficult was the weather was just awful, misty, raining, cold and miserable +++..... the traffic going in the opposite direction to us kept coming to a stand still, you could see them at a stop for miles! Be frustrating on that side of the Hwy..... heading north didn’t seem as bad!

    A stop at a roadside service centre for late m/tea, ohh my goodness it was packed with 100’s of people.... this service centre was like a mini shopping centre, cloths shops, grog shops, pokies, mini super market and fast food.... had our break then off again..
    Got nearly to Kendal then off the busy Hwy finally and I to the quaint township of Kendal.... found a shopping centre to stock up before going to our hotel.... after all this stoggy food we needed some fruit.... love their little supermarket very neat and well set out.... got our stores had a wander down the street before heading to our hotel.
    First realisation is it is on the Hwy no where near town, second realisation is it is at a Service centre, filled with 100’s of travellers and no one stays in this hotel for yep we had booked it for 4 nights.... not 3 like we thought.....
    I wanted to cry, I firstly said to the girl, bet no one books here for 4 nights, she looks at me and says they did think it strange..... then when I asked the girl was there a restaurant, nope sorry just next door at the fast food outlet.

    The room I will admit is great, plenty of room, unlike others we have had, and yes has a view over the snow capped mountains and the lake... bonus!

    On going next door for lunch we quickly realise there is definitely no fresh food all fast food, sandwiches, rolls, wraps and Maccas.... but no fresh veggies, salads or even soups.... So lesson is really research where your going to stay even check out eating spots before booking.... the pic on the website does make it look amazing with Lake views and that to a point is real.... just made it look like a lovely Manner.... but as we know and well understand we pay cheap we get cheap. That’s the trade off.... so suck it up baby!

    The room is pretty quite really considering we are next to a major highway, and there are people coming and going... we can see the bunnies and there are heaps, darting all over the lake banks... the little buggars have dug 100’s of holes everywhere you really will have to be careful when walking or you’ll fall down a one of the many holes out there!

    Anyway it is what it is so as time goes by I am sure it will be like any of the other hotels we have used to date just as a base to head off from....
    Trouble is I have an expensive taste with a budget account, so I have to cope with what we have.... warmth and views what more do you want.    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    1
    Day 15

    Day 16 Ohh but when it shines!

    April 3, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Wednesday Days Inn Killington Lakes Room 21

    A slow start today no rush, the weather is awful again and the plan is to just look around Kendal....

    So with our own breaky under our belt we set off to find the first Laundromat we have used in the UK
    First place we found turned out to be a big industrial washing machine makers.... no help with our washing unless they want to do some pre trails in their machines! Finally found one and it was manned by a lady who was helpful but a bit Surly.... tried to go for a walk while the machine which cost £5.00 which is $10.00 for one load... decided to do just one load and do the rest the whites by hand! Anyway back to the walk we set of with no umbrella mistake No 1 always carry your umbrella when it’s overcast in England... got down the road and down she came, tried to get some shots but even a local commented, it’s not the best day for photography love....
    So back we head, having to kill time in the Laundromat... once washed we placed them into the drier, but had to keep putting in £’s as they wouldn’t dry. It wasn’t a huge wash so worked out after a bit the machine just sucked your money with no drying really done. so packed our goods decided to dry the most of it which was semi done back in our room in the towel heater...

    Then off to look around the shops and discover Kendal... it’s a pretty town and what I love about all these places is as you walk along you see an alley and it opens into another whole world... behind the front walls are intriguing little other interesting shops and pubs, cafe’s and other quaint sights! I will admit I didn’t wander down any just toke shots from the openings but you could see some of the intriguing sights from there!

    Lunch we had at the supermarkets very upmarket cafe.... but somehow we both ordered food that wasn’t quite what we planned. They did taste ok but here we had the chance to eat something really nice and yep we stuffed up....
    Anyway as John says it’s only food and you only need it to sustain you.... he doesn’t quite see food like I do as a passion....

    Had a wander looking for a big long coat for me decided to try the 2nd hand stores, ohh my goodness Kendal has about 10 of them all for each worthy cause... Cancer foundation, Heart foundation, RSPCA, Salvation Army, Oxfam, my goodness I have never seen so many... and to be honest they aren’t that cheap, pretty exy really.... I did find a coat not the type I wanted but a red one not real thick but looked good and was longer so John said get it, it was £7.50 which is $15 so not cheap by our standards like Vinnies.... I do wandered if some of the charities which I know need the money are out pricing themselves with so many cloths so cheap these days.... but I guess for most people it can be about the fact you are supporting an organisation. For others it’s about surviving life!

    After all our looking around and stocking up on a few grocery item, we set off to find Kendal castle and yeah the Sun has come out. Wow what a difference it makes with the sun out.... things look alive not dead and dreary....

    Found a way to the castle you have to climb to it from all accesses and there seem to be a few a according to Tripadvisor . So off we set on these awful muddy up hill climb. John toke the short cut, straight up the hill, I started and kept slipping. I could see I was going to be on my bum in the mud so backed down and went the correct but longer and safer way! Once at the Castle it is set on a hill overlooking all of Kendal great spot to view everything. Has had a huge mote around it, now sadly not as deep and the castle itself mostly in ruins... but still has most of its walls around it and some parts of 2 corners which had turret’s, one still barely there. What made this one so interesting is the curved ceilings if the lower rooms hadn’t seen that style before in any other of the castles. Ohh by the way it was a bonus Free to see....

    It was so muddy around the castle from all the rain some spots were just too wet to access. Sadly it appears this Castle has had some very basic changes done for people to access it.... but nothing more. I see the steps into the turret was through Heritage Lottery Money... there was rubbish over all the sides of the mote walls and rubbish bushes growing all around 2 sides of the castle. Considering it’s fair smack in the middle of the town and hundreds of people must visit it, the care factor really seems minimal, sadly for it reflects on the town.

    We have noticed the sheer volume of rubbish laying around the UK has been huge, like there isn’t a real care factor... the highways are just littered all along and plastics bags etc you can see why banning would help, but I feel it’s not the total answer to the rubbish issue world wide... maybe have to get near like Singapore which is pristine. Anyway I can only do my bit and make sure my rubbish goes into a bin....

    Headed back early for bit of RnR.... cooked my soup in the plastic container in the kettle again works a treat... Day done!    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    Day 16

    Day 17 Rain Rain go away!

    April 4, 2018 in England ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Wednesday Days Inn Killington Lakes Room 21

    Another day of rain, but like the Brits, don’t let the weather impact your life...
    So off we set for a day of sightseeing..... most of it was in the car due to the rain situation.... As you drove around soon realise that nothing stops a Brit from enjoying the outdoors.... rain or sunshine they are in their droves out there enjoying the Mountains, Dales, Lakes and anything gives them that outdoor experience... all in their wet weather gear. the mountain outdoor stores are making a killing over here... even saw linesmen working away in the rain... all go here no matter the weather.

    The scenery today has been unreal, huge mountain ranges with waterfalls tumbling down the sides from all the rain, patches of snow still here and there!

    We stopped at Windermere on the way, to go to Beatrix Potters display, but too many in the line up in the rain and we are squibs so had a cuppa and headed on... like all the towns around this area there is so much to see and take in so many quaint little villages it was overwhelming to be honest if you wanted to spend ages looking you around would not be disappointed in anyway. Each place had something to offer by way of a sight.

    We drove over 3 passes today, sorry forgot their names just know the roads felt a bit like a goat track and seemed to be heading to heaven.... Passing other cars on these roads is a bit of a feat in itself but we all managed, lots of prayer I can tell you as we did....

    Our stop for lunch was at a quaint hotel by itself on one of the back roads... great spot to stop.... had our first Ploughmans wow was it packed and very yummy, meat, cheese and salad items. All our staples in one plate finally hit jackpot.

    Trying to actually see the Lakes was a total disappointment, unlike Aust and many other countries we have been too, Lakes are for the people therefore you can actually look over the Lakes even stand by them. But not so where we have been today, bar one.... all are totally built in, the only access to the Lakes is if you stay in one of the many hotels, campgrounds etc along the lake shores.... you can see, them as you drive by but there is no parking access to stop and really look at them. So most of my pics were are we drove by through the very wet windscreen... another point is the sheer volume of people at each of these areas is unreal.... I suppose when you have a small country and millions of people it’s bound to be so....

    We are so blessed to have the wide open spaces we do and the opportunity to really spend time in them.... By the time this big trip is over I am 100% sure John will have already planned his next desert trip just for peace and solitude!

    We made it back in one piece, I had the rest of the ploughmans we didn’t finish John had can you believe it a can of Spam..... Spam ohhh my goodness not sure how he could have but he did... No kissing him tonight I hate the smell of spam, even made him wash the can so the smell didn’t permeate the room.... awful wife aren’t I.....

    I so wanted to spend time in Keswick it looked so lovely, but by now our day was getting late the rain wouldn’t stop so onwards we went... like Windermere it looked like so many interesting shops, a bit of a Malaney with heaps of Art shops could have wandered for ages... but nope couldn’t stop!

    The days are flying by.... I am missing others to chat with, even though Johns good company it’s different conversation you have with friends that you miss when away for a long time... But it is what it is so suck it up again princess I say!    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    111
    Day 17

    Day 18 The glory of Sunshine!

    April 5, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Thursday 05/04/2018 Days Inn Killington Lakes room 21

    So today is the last day to explore this lovely part of England. We were told before we came here that we would love this area and we have, it’s rugged natural beauty of the Mountian’s, streams, quaint villages, funny headed sheep and of course the high light for me snow capped peaks!

    Had our breaky and set off to explore the western southern end of the Lakes District. Driving from Windermere outskirts, around the Lakes down to Ulverstone, ending at Barrow in Furness to see The Furness Abbey, before heading back another route to Ambleside, Windermere, Home.

    This was so different to yesterday’s run, not the huge mountain passes we went through, not the running rushing streams, but Lakes large and small, Snow Capped peaks in a distance from the Snow last night, low lands of farming, moors, mud flat beaches, and quaint village after quaint village.

    We did stumble and I mean stumble across a huge Priory with what appeared to be some sort of Asian church beside it, so after having speed past John turned around and we headed up the drive way to check it out! On arrival we arrived in front of this massive gothic mansion/manner we had no clue what it was, but there were cars everywhere so off we set to have a look....
    discovering a Coffee shop we thought as it was late morning tea/ early lunch let’s stay and have a cuppa! But before that we thought we would check out the Asian Church.... we it was as it turns out A massive Buddhist Temple... taking a few pics, we head into the Mansion for a cuppa. on coming in there were a lot of people behind the coffee shop counter all very busy and most with shaved heads, so straight away I realise this is all owned by a Buddhist group! The food was very basic, the service with a smile and there were people everywhere within the coffee shop at the tables out front of the Mansion and inside. Getting a spot to sit was a trick in itself! I decided to have the carrot and lentil soup.... bad plan very tasteless... John had scones Jam and cream and hit the jackpot very tasty... at our table were heaps of handouts on Buddha, the World of Peace friendship group and the many retreats on offer here! Interesting to look at, but not for me thanks.

    Once I decided I could take one more mouthful of the tasteless soup, I set if to have a bit more of a look. As I walked into the foyer which was once full of trainee Priests it now had a huge Buddha type statue sitting there in all her glory, with banners now over the magnificent stair case promoting the cause! It just seemed totally odd with stained glass windows above the staircase, crosses still in the mouldings of the excising building and all of the Priory’s past history for all to see with Buddhist’s touches here and there! The whole place did leave me felling quite cold and sad, but to those there it was a place an enlightenment and peace.... there were many staying in all the old quarters, many sitting in the garden with their shaved heads being part of the enclave, if that’s what it’s called when you are in a Buddhist retreat.... to see this once former establishment that was to the glory of God.. now to the glory of a false God has left me feeling very sad.... For those of you who may not see it that way, I won’t apologise for my passion of following The Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour who did died on the Cross for me and for you, but has given me new life through his rising to life.... to see so many establishments that are now being left by churches and taken over by other new age religions we see the
    State of the church, but not the state of the Risen Lord and what being a Christian is about. I have to remind myself it isn’t buildings that God is in but us, still it’s a wake up call to see just how big a change is occuring with so many old religious buildings being changed.... I do believe God has allowed this to occur but it is sobering to see!

    Enough of my religious rant for today, into the trip.... so having left the Priory behind we find ourselves by the sea. We had stopped to look at the sea for a few minutes and buy an ice cream when I spotted this very tall skunk building in the distance. So off we set to look at this finding a very quite pretty village literally along the sea wall. Turns out the tall thing was a very tall brick we think sea maker even though on land on the beach thats more grass lands than beach, it looks like it could have had a light in it at one stage so maybe used as a form of a Lighthouse as well.... John said it has a lean on it I didn’t see it as all my pics have a lean to one side I am constantly fixing so probably looked straight with my natural lean.....

    Then we spotted in the distance a castle ruin and set off to see it as it was on a tiny island near a fishing village, but once in the village you couldn’t see the island from where we could get access so gave up and headed onwards...

    Next stop the Furness Abbey, this was once a massive set up with a huge wall all around the hill above the Abbey, access through aches on most sides of it that being it was once called St Mary’s of Furness dates back to 1123 it as once the second most wealthiest and powerful Cistercian monastery in the country! It was disestablished in 1537, wow that’s a long time ago... I just love the history of these places.... around the shed if it was a lovely old pub that has been from the looks of it recently bordered up.... we were to,d by some locals a few days back, many of the old pubs are shutting up shop with the fact people can by their grog in the supermarkets now and cost of living.... on the other side of the Abbey was a lovely little stone house now a cafe so we stopped for a cuppa before the long drive back....

    The drive home was better than the drive over as it took us back into the hills p, seeing areas like Fairy dells all the bright green missy areas around the trees and under the trees on mounds that made it look like any moment the fairy’s would appear...
    Small Lakes we could actually park near to have a look.... again quaint villages that had so much character it would have been wonderful to really look around....

    All in all another wonderful day of sights and pleasures.... How blessed a life The Lord has given me, I feel very humbled to be able to see just half these sights. But to see as many as we do, I am very grateful....    Read more

  • Rell01Making memories
    2
    11
    Day 18

    Day 19 Scotland Here We Come!

    April 6, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Friday Bruce Hotel Glasgow Scotland Room 118
    A woke to a semi sunrise but the view over the lake was just so tranquil, shame to leave the view! The Days Inn even though in an awful spot to access things was a very comfortable, roomy hotel. The beds were super comfortable, great views and yes I am a bit sad to leave this spot as it really is very peaceful!

    Off up the Hwy we set heading to our first stop The Broughham Castle, near Penrith at a Village called you guessed it Brougham. What a beautiful setting it was sitting right n t to a pretty flowing stream, on a green green field... But sadly it was to early to go into and as we had a long way to go today we couldn’t wait for opening time.... so lots of pics from a distance, good thing I have a great lens on my good camera.... could get in close for some shots... sadly the iPhone only does long distance shots....

    So after capturing some lovely pics off we set for our next destination, Carlisle Castle this was an interesting strategic stronghold for the most besieged town in Britain being so close to the border, it had many battles fought, held Mary Queen of Scots for sometime, The Jacobites even took I over for a period, it later were executed for their evil ways and what they did to the local folk. As the years went on it become a military barracks, now is still in Army control with the Cadets being housed in some of the out buildings. We hav a cuppa here and the young guy who served us talked none stopped about the best coffee and how every Aussie he has dealt with all love their coffee know heaps about it and are very particular about how they have it and how it’s made.....

    Once we had our education lesson on Coffee, he as a really nice fellow but did chat a lot, we headed into the Military museum, really interesting in that it had for every war Britain has fought some before WW1 they had displays of tools, artillery, cloths+++++ used by soldiers over the centuries and years.... very, very interesting. The last display was about the wives of service men over the years going back into the 1800’s where wives even went to war with their husbands.... some having an extreme hardship in doing so, but it kept the marriage together..... during some of the years men had to be in the services for over 7 years before being allowed to serve. Now husbands and wives of military personal are home based no travelling g with hubby or wife on deployment. They say that with internet etc there is no need, but you do wonder if the divorce rate and mental health rate maybe less if somehow families could stay together as they did years ago... I know war is tough in any circumstance but maybe the armed services need too rethink how and what they do with armed personal for there mental health as too many these days are suffering terribly!

    Next stop off to Lanercost Priory, wow was she a beauty in her day.... yep took heaps of pics then had to move into The Roman Fort of Birdswald and Hadrian’s Wall.... coming across old sections of the wall and part turrents along the road as we made our way to the Fort section. Once there wow this section of Hardian’s wall was fantastic.... so much of it here compared to what we saw on our Cosmos UK trip 2 yrs ago.... this makes that section look nothing compared to how much is along this section which is I well preserved. Even goes through some of the little farms along the ridge line it follows we discovered as we headed of...

    Everywhere you go even in Whop whop you have to pay to park they slugged us £4 here which is $8 makes it so expensive to just park at each spot... plus the payment into each Heritage site starts to add up very much indeed... So by the time we hit the Roman fort and you could see a fair bit of it from the fence line Joh was over how much it would be... if we paid for this one it would have been $80 for the day just in sites let alone food costs and parking costs.... my sightseeing is starting to add up and with our little budget have to plan sites to visit, try to get freebies is possible... it’s just there are so many sites in the UK your mind boggles, too many to choose from and decide best value for money... if we were both still working and this was on,y a holiday for 1 trip then we could go for it... but this is 7 months worth of an adventure so have to do some more research on value for money sight seeing.....

    So with no plan to spend at the Fort also because we were by now running out of time as we still had a long way to go to Glasgow, we decided to have lunch instead.... I know if we could make our own lunches it would be so much cheaper but without fridges in our hotel rooms that becomes a bit of an issue keeping g stuff fresh to use. I am struggling with what we carry with us now trying to keep it cool enough not to go off...
    So where we can we share a meal as I don’t eat much sharing can work most times.... I know John would rather his own sometimes but he is good and shares what we can both eat....

    Once feed we speed off down or should I say up the highway towards Scotland.... so many hills still have patches of snow on them makes the drive pretty.... Once we cross the border it’s not as green as England last time here it was so green... and the houses look so different....

    We finally get to Glasgow on peak hour traffic time so getting to our hotel is slow. We finally arrive to a very big hotel all covered in green moss and it’s a modern cream building, it looks so yukky and dirty. Anyway we park and head inside... wow it’s big and has heaps of different restaurants or so it seemed... Once booked off to our room 1/2 the size of our last very compacted looking over a very dirty back parking lot, big hopper bins and the rest of the other buildings. Not quite the views of Days Inn but it’s home for the next 3 days so we will make the lost of it... only had to pay £7 a night extra for us both to have breaky here bonus... guess the proof will be in how it is for that price but worth paying when it’s only $3.50 a night each...

    As we came I spotted a door that that said shopping centre. So we set off to investigate... my glory it’s massive shop after shop after shop.... restaurants, picture theatre and so many e-cigarette shops I couldn’t get over it... so we are set to do something different in this place everything at our fingertips a but different to the Days Inn...

    Out to dinner at the Hotels pub, Grumpy Jacks, food pretty ordinary service great... looks like a left over from the 70’s in its decore and the music they had on was from the 60’s, a bit like stepping back in time!
    Now to plan what to do in Glasgow!    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English