SOTR-Europe bound | FindPenguins

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Day 22
Friday, September 21, 2018
27 °C
Altitude: 35 m
Italy Colosseum 41.89021, 12.49223141°53’25” N 12°29’32” E
Colosseum
September 21, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 27 °C
Day 19
We had pre booked a tour of the colosseum so bypassed the queues to join our guide for a look at the Belvedere- the upper floors and a great view of the whole structure without the crowds.
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Day 23
Saturday, September 22, 2018
26 °C
Altitude: 72 m
Vatican City St. Peter's Basilica 41.902167, 12.45393741°54’8” N 12°27’14” E
St Peter's Basilica, Rome
September 22, 2018 in Vatican City ⋅ 26 °C
Day 20
Wake up to Rome- our last full day and we got up early and went our seperate ways.

Johnny to join Fabrizio for an early morning run through the city streets and I headed off to St. Peter’s Basilica. WOW that place is amazing- it is impossible to relay the size and grandeur -just WOW.Read more
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Day 23
Saturday, September 22, 2018
26 °C
Altitude: 64 m
Italy Piazza della Repubblica 41.902784, 12.49636641°54’10” N 12°29’47” E
Rome
September 22, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 26 °C
Day 20
Later we regrouped to wander where the ancient Romans trod (and in the paths of the jigsaw we recently completed): the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. According to a widely accepted legend, ancient Rome was founded by brothers Romulus and Remus in 753 B.C and historians estimate that the rise of public events in the Roman Forum first took place around 500 B.C., when the Roman Republic started.

We spent our last evening eating and drinking all our favourite things: aperitivo, caffe granita, vino Rosso, dinner at our favourite restaurant, ice cream from THE BEST ice cream shop..... then bed before we head back to Manchester for the second time in 3 weeksRead more
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Day 24
Sunday, September 23, 2018
26 °C
Altitude: 64 m
Italy Piazza della Repubblica 41.902784, 12.49636641°54’10” N 12°29’47” E
Arrivederci Rome
September 23, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 26 °C
Day 21
We said a sad goodbye to our cute little apartment, Rome and the ‘European tour’ part of our trip, and caught an early morning cab to the airport to head back into the UK- this time a little further than the limits of Manchester airport.

So what did we think of Rome: Loved the history which is still evident all around in the buildings and the ruins that are hidden in and amongst the city as normal life goes on around it, loved the places we have visited and the people that we have met, loved the beautiful food we have found out of the ‘tourist’ areas. It is a very large city and with that comes noise, litter, lots and lots of people -who are generally so focused on their own agenda that they have little regard for others around them and chaotic traffic- Vietnam was great for teaching the art of just stepping out at a crossing and going for it.

Would we come back? I think not, it has not been a city that has captured our hearts and perhaps it is not our destiny as we were unable to get close enough to the Trevi fountain to throw in our coins.

Rome: 66.4 km 92, 638 steps in totalRead more
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Day 24
Sunday, September 23, 2018
11 °C
Altitude: 173 m
England Delph 53.551691, -2.00827753°33’6” N 2°0’30” W
Family
September 23, 2018 in England ⋅ 11 °C
Day 21
Arrived at Manchester Airport and thought “wouldn’t it be funny if we saw somebody we knew” and then heard “isn’t that Johnny?” as we exited customs only to turn round to see his cousin Susan and her husband Anthony 😳.

Also by chance I learnt my cousin Julie and her husband Tony were in the country for a few days from South Africa, and so with all the planets aligned the three cousins (Julie, my sister and myself) were all in the Northern hemisphere at the same time and able to catch up for a quick drink at the evening family gathering. Fate doing its thing 😊

We had the most amazing time catching up with family we had not seen for a very long time, and one not even born when we had left, at Cross Keys in Uppermill, with Kalebh and Jordyn who had flown in the day before. Some hadn’t changed a bit and others almost unrecognisable. It was so lovely to see Kalebh getting on so well with his cousins. Johnny enjoyed a pint ( or several) and I was introduced to Gin.Read more
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Day 25
Monday, September 24, 2018
11 °C
Altitude: 271 m
England Delph 53.560912, -2.01419953°33’39” N 2°0’51” W
Saddleworth
September 24, 2018 in England ⋅ 11 °C
Day 22
So our new home for our UK stay is THE MOST beautiful stone cottage in THE MOST beautiful location set amongst rolling hills with babbling brooks and sheep and cows leaning over the fence line and a resident pooch called Spike. And best of all, this luxury 5* accomodation hasn’t cost a penny - thanks Hayley and Simon for your hospitality and Summer for your bed 😘. Oh and our car - a MASSIVE Landrover Freelander which I am NOT looking forward to driving down the narrow lanes - and if I come across a car coming in the other direction I am just going to look petrified in the hope they will do the reversing.

After a meaner down the country lanes I headed into Manchester for a catch up with my school friends and Johnny went for a much anticipated run on the Pennine Way which was “bloody fantastic” and then caught up with his family for Sunday Lunch.

Tonight’s gin tasting session was home made sloe gin with apple and cinnamon.Read more
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Day 26
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
13 °C
Altitude: 70 m
England Piccadilly Gardens 53.480759, -2.24263153°28’51” N 2°14’33” W
Manchester
September 25, 2018 in England ⋅ 13 °C
Day 23
‘Meeting and Eating’ that seems to be our newest activity.

Today we caught up with mum, dad and Pippa before heading to Manchester again- this time for a catch up with my nursing friends- Oldham School of Nursing and BUPA buddies which was just awesome- thank you Marc and Carl for arranging the venue. So sad Val, Cheryl and Vikki couldn’t make it 😢.

Caught the tram from Shaw through Derker - OMG that was eye opening - Melbourne friends Frankston is nothing to complain about 😳.

Coming home around midnight the temp was 3 degrees ❄️.Read more
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Day 27
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
16 °C
Altitude: 157 m
England Boundary Park 53.555147, -2.12845653°33’19” N 2°7’42” W
OAFC
September 26, 2018 in England ⋅ 16 °C
Day 24
Off to Wales today but with a quick stop at Boundary Park- home of Oldham Athletic and highest football ground in the league.

Memories of Anglesea came flooding back as we crossed the Menai bridge. A quick stop to unload at the Honey Cottage, our home for the night, before heading to Nebo near Penysarn to collect Mervyn and then off for a pub lunch at the Pilot Boat- passed on many occasions whilst visiting but never previously gone in.Read more
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Day 27
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
15 °C
Altitude: 26 m
Wales Bull Bay 53.410658, -4.34569353°24’38” N 4°20’44” W
The Horrocks Clan
September 26, 2018 in Wales ⋅ 15 °C
Introduced Jordyn to the Horrocks’s old and young - some not born when we had left and was wow’d by the self taught Lennon on the piano. Thank you Zoe for your home for the evening and you hospitality.Read more
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Day 28
Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 11:59 PM
10 °C
Altitude: 18 m
Wales Caernarfon Castle 53.139139, -4.2769353°8’21” N 4°16’37” W
Caernarfon
September 27, 2018 in Wales ⋅ 10 °C
Day 25
On to Caernarfon with the Horrocks clan to show Jordyn around a real castle.

Jordyn amazed Melvyn at how quickly she picked up the Welsh language 😜
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Day 28
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Altitude: 72 m
Wales Bangor 53.229521, -4.12998753°13’46” N 4°7’48” W
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlll
September 27, 2018 in Wales
Day 25
Did the tourist thing and made a visit to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch before heading back over the Menai Straits to Bangor - City of Learning - for a brief catch up with Summer between lecture.Read more
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Day 29
Friday, September 28, 2018
11 °C
Altitude: 181 m
England Shaw 53.580129, -2.09142153°34’48” N 2°5’29” W
Tata ash and dumplings
September 28, 2018 in England ⋅ 11 °C
Day 26
Johnny and Kalebh tried out the local barbers, then took Grandad to Etihad Stadium for the City Tour, and Nana went out with me for a lovely lunch at Albion Farm.

Introduced Jordyn to ‘tata ash and dumplings - which must be eaten with a spoon, HP sauce, red cabbage and beetroot and the obligatory dumpling butty-dumpling squished on half slice of buttered white bread with HP sauce -don’t think she was overly impressed and less so with Kalebhs favourite Soreen malt loaf.Read more
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Day 30
Saturday, September 29, 2018
11 °C
Altitude: 173 m
England Delph 53.551691, -2.00827753°33’6” N 2°0’30” W
Uppermill
September 29, 2018 in England ⋅ 11 °C
Day 27
Today Kalebh and Jordyn left us for the next part of their adventure- I am sure they will have an awesome time relaxing in the sun from their pool access room and swim up bar in Thailand.

Hayley and I took advantage of the beautiful day and walked into Uppermill via the canal for lunch and a mooch around the shops whilst Johnny went for yet another run this time on Marsden Moor.

Finished the day with a lovely meal at Dinnerstones with Hayley and Simon- thank you so much for your generosityRead more
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Day 31
Sunday, September 30, 2018
11 °C
Altitude: 194 m
England Oldham 53.54093, -2.11136653°32’27” N 2°6’41” W
Magical Reminiscence Tour
September 30, 2018 in England ⋅ 11 °C
Day 28
Started the day with a 6km run (walk) along the canal.

Then set out on a magical reminiscence tour of our old haunts: through Uppermill, Grotton (popped in to say Hi to our lovely florists), Springhead, past Alts and Holts estates to Abbey Hills and Tate Street (our first home) through Glodwick, Lees and up to Austerlands and Brown Hill Drive (our last home), on to The Roebuck Inn for lunch, then through Scouthead and Lydgate with a stop at Greenfield to pop into Tesco’s (up and down the aisles pointing out all the things we remember but cannot get).

Whilst at Brown Hill Drive we bumped into our old neighbours who updated us on the last 15 years- it was a lovely area but seeing it now has made us sad but very glad we left when we did 😢Read more
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Day 32
Monday, October 1, 2018
10 °C
Altitude: 173 m
England Delph 53.551691, -2.00827753°33’6” N 2°0’30” W
'in' with the country crowd
October 1, 2018 in England ⋅ 10 °C
Day 29
'In’ with the country crowd at the pony club watching Hayley compete in her first show jumping comp with Cola, and they came 3rd 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Attempted Dovestones but the car park was full of tourists going for a Sunday stroll 😳 - will have to try to give it another go before we leave.

Walked into Uppermill with Johnny to spend the afternoon with my school friends Joanne and Rachel chatting over coffee and cake, whilst Johnny pub crawled it back home - found him a few hours later just a little tipsy still walking back up the lane 😜

Spent the evening at The Diggle - dinner and drinks with Hayley and Simon and their friends.Read more
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Day 33
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
13 °C
Altitude: 227 m
England Diggle 53.571857, -1.99229553°34’19” N 1°59’32” W
Those skies!!
October 2, 2018 in England ⋅ 13 °C
Day 30
Breakfast with the family then a pamper sesh with pedicure whilst Johnny went on ANOTHER run - a final skidaddle up to the Rams Head- cut a little short due to the weather 😢

Couldn’t leave without a curry so caught up with Chris, Sally and Ellie for dinner and a lovely meal at their favourite Indian.Read more
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Day 34
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
11 °C
Altitude: 123 m
England Windermere Railway Station 54.380685, -2.90678554°22’50” N 2°54’24” W
Road trip through 3 counties
October 3, 2018 in England ⋅ 11 °C
Day 31
Road trip with Chris Evans through 3 counties: Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, and the M61 car park, to the Lakes.

Lunch at The Queens Head Hotel, Troutbeck- a haunt of ours from the past with its four poster bed bar- little bit posher than we remembered but it has had a complete restoration since a fire 4 years ago and only reopened earlier this year.

Stop at Kirkstone Pass Inn- a 15th century inn 1489ft above sea level, Ambleside for afternoon tea of blueberry scone with jam and cream and a mooch around Bowness on Windermere. We even managed to find the little hotel that we honeymooned at 26 years ago.

Returned to make dinner for Hayley and Simon and introduce them to chevapchichi.Read more
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Day 35
Thursday, October 4, 2018
13 °C
Altitude: 173 m
England Delph 53.551691, -2.00827753°33’6” N 2°0’30” W
Final Goodbyes
October 4, 2018 in England ⋅ 13 °C
Day 32
Last full day
Morning walk around Dovestones reservoir- where has all the water gone? 😳 Found Indians Head and then Celebration Wood which overlooks the water and where Johnny has decided his final resting place will be.

Lunch with Mum, Dad and Pippa, and sad goodbyes until next time 😢

After trying to squish everything back in the cases ready for our flights back to Australia in the morning, we decided to head to the Cross Keys Inn for dinner by the fire -we started the UK part of our trip at the Cross Keys so it seemed fitting to end our trip there.

Ended the day feeling more than a little crappy with sinusitis and cold symptoms, so dosed myself up and headed to bed hoping to wake up feeling a bit better😷Read more
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Day 35
Thursday, October 4, 2018
13 °C
Altitude: 173 m
England Delph 53.551691, -2.00827753°33’6” N 2°0’30” W
Dovestones
October 4, 2018 in England ⋅ 13 °C
Loved the trail markers at Dovestones reservoir
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Day 37
Saturday, October 6, 2018
22 °C
Altitude: 25 m
Australia Melbourne -37.813628, 144.96305837°48’49” S 144°57’47” E
Turned left instead of right.....
October 6, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 22 °C
Day 33/34
Eventually arrived home after 24 hrs traveling and 5 weeks away.

The journey back started Thursday morning (UK time)- woke feeling dreadful: full of a cold, sinusitis, temp- definitely NOT looking forward to a long haul flight feeling like that😳.

Said a sad sad goodbye to Saddleworth and our family. Very sad to be leaving but knowing it was time to go home as I was finding myself slipping into Oldham speak 😳. Thank you Simon and Hayley for your amazing hospitality and for taking time out of your day to fight with the traffic to take us to the airport.

So after traveling over 1000kms what are our memories of England: a mish mash of motorways criss crossing the country, very narrow roads and laneways, parking in either direction on the road, football madness, awesome country pubs, milkman who deliver milk in bottles to the door and of course fantastic times with friends and family.

After dosed myself up with drugs at Boots we settled into Singapore Airline’s lounge with a glass of pink champagne and bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes 😜 waiting for the first leg of our flight.

On boarding we turned left instead of right and was shown to a little pod that was to be home for the next 14 hrs: jacket taken and hung up, huge leather seat (which opened into a bed), full sized cushion and more storage space than I knew what to do with. Settled in, legs stretched out, glass of champagne in hand, waiting to take off thinking this might just make flying whilst unwell bearable. Started the marathon movie session with a Singapore Sling -would be rude not to given we are flying into Singapore- and the noise cancelling earphone were awesome.

Lunch on white linen table cloth with linen napkin, cutlery, crockery 😳- smoked salmon starter, roast chicken then hazelnut ice cream, with glass of bubbles.

After dinner laid out the bed and settled down with pillow and dooner to finish the movie ‘in bed’.

Breakfast of fresh fruit and crepes with coffee in a mug before landing. Never has a 14 hour flight passed so quickly.

Arrived in Singapore Friday morning (local time), quick shower to freshen up and then relaxed in the lounge whilst waiting for the final leg of our journey.

Business class on this leg of our journey took over the upper level and was not quite as personal or as posh, we were definitely spoilt during the first flight, but comfortable just the same and we finally arrived in Melbourne Fri night local time and with a great drive home tucked up in bed before midnight.

It’s been an awesome 5 weeks and now to save for the next adventure.Read more
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Trip end
October 6, 2018