HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!! We have done a river cruise, walked around palace and did some night shopping at a market. ( HUGE) Surprisingly we still have some money left but our suitcases have somewhat shrunk in the humid city and have struggled to get them closed. Now waiting for shuttle to air port for final leg home to Chch.
TIME TO SIGN OFF NOW.
Marie, Malcolm and Sandy.
Drove to Stonehenge today and walked around the rocks with thousands of others. Then onto Avebury which was much nicer ( less people ) and were able to wander amongst two big stone rings which encircled the village.
That night we had a lovely evening with Mike and Gill ( Sue Lintons family) at a little english pub half way between Reading and Newbury ( where we were staying for final night in UK).
On our way to Heathrow we spent a few hours in Windsor. Enjoyed a tour of town on Hop on Hop off bus. Delivered car safety back to airport then on our way to Bangkok.
Another quiet day as Sandra and Marie still feeling poorly and Malcolm starting to cough and splutter also!!! We went to Wells and explored the cathedral and surrounds. This cathederal has become Sandra's favourite one visited so far. Smaller but perfectly formed!! It has a mechanical clock that is the 2nd oldest in Uk and shows the position of the planets and phases of the moon.
Then on to Cheddar gorge where a glacier carved out the limestone cliffs during the ice age into a gorge 138m deep in places. There are lots of caves and a 9ooo yr old human skeleton was discovered here in 1903. Along with the caves and canyon, Cheddar is also famous for the nations favourite cheese ( cheddar ofcourse!!) And it has been produced here since the 12th century.
On our return to our travelodge from Painswick we made a short diversion to the old Gloucester dock yards. The 1820s warehouses now xvery tastfully converted into apartments and eating establiments on the lower floors.The girls pictured on the last lock on the river severn.
From Cheltenham to Bath today on route to Warminster so a realitively easy drive today. A visit to the Roman Bath House filled in several hours. What an amazing place to think that the original baths were built by the romans 44AD above the natural hot springs of the city. We then enjoyed a stroll around the central city and along the Avon river ( viewing Pulteney bridge which is lined with shops like Ponte Vecchio in Florence) and up to view the Georgian houses on Royal Cresent and around the circus (a ring of 33 houses divided into 3 semi circular terraces) .
On our way to our new accomidation at Warminster, we had a short stop and stroll along the Sumerset coal canal (1805_1893) recently reopened at the junction of the Kennet and Avon canal at the Dundas Aqueduct.
On everyones agenda when they visit Straford upon Avon is Shakespeares house so thats what we did along with so many other tourists. We were jostled through the actual house but the museum part was less crowded. Afterwards we had a leisurely stroll through the little streets and along the Avon river. Since we had travelled a long distance that morning from Scarborough we decided to call it a day and continued onto Cheltenham.
Because both Marie and Sandy are feeling poorly with the flu we decided to have a quietish day visiting the village of Painswick after reading about it in the Lonely Planet book and we weren't disappointed. It was an unspoiled village again just picture perfect and the only visitors were us. The churchyard had 100 yew trees that had been clipped like giant lollipops. Nearby we visited a Rococo style garden, the only garden of its type in England. Designed and built in the 1740's and restored beautifully.
What a day we had. We wanted to visit as many Cotswold villages as we could so planned a 60 mile circular road trip and ended up visiting 15 villages, stopping at all but 2 for photo opportunities, walks and cuppa's. Marie and Malc had already been here twice but it was my first visit and I really was blown away by the chocolate box streets and houses. Photos do not do it justice and we have had trouble deciding which photos to put on the blog.
This is my second attempt to write this as I somehow deleted the first copied I had finished so here goes. Our day in York was busy. First we took a leisurely stroll down the Shambles. Several little cobbled streets with building overhangs nearly touching one another. Very picturesque but lots of tourists. Next we moved onto York Minster. This has to be my favourite cathedral so far. A huge building with amazing stained glass windows. We managed to easlily spend several hours here and could have spent longer but time did not allow. To finish off the day we walked along a part of the old city wall. Lovely views from up on top. We saw some lovely back yard gardens and also saw many gardeners busy in each of these places so I guess the owners just sit back and enjoy their gardens.
A long drive to Scarborough via Huttoft in Lincolnshire to visit the ancestoral village of the Lill family. Our next stop was the seaside town of Bridlington. Another assault to the senses with penny arcades, food outlets and trashy souvenir shops. Our accommodation in Scarborough is a self catering apartment which we are enjoying. Our taxi driver Malcolm has been very busy taking us to Robin Hood Bay. A delightful old fishing and smuggling village. No cars allowed so had to walk down a tiny winding street to the beach. On our way back up hill to the car we were fortunate to come across a display from the Yorkshire Birds of prey sanctuary and saw up close many different owls and falcons. What a treat. Next stop was up the coast a bit to Whitby where we visited the Abbey and the Captain James Cook museum. James Cook served his 9 year apprenticeship here in Whitby and the museum was housed where he boarded with Captain Walker and his family. Then it was out into the country amongst the heather covered moors to Goathland ( TV's Heartbeat's town of Aidensfield) where we had half a pint in the Aidensfield pub.
Drove across country from Norwich to Nottingham to watch Phillip play cricket . First game of tour with Reed cricket club. Weather could have been brighter but we stuck it out then found our accommodation right in the centre of the city so ventured out for a stroll around the town. For a sunday night the place was buzzing with loud music coming from the many bars. Could have had something to do with Monday being Bank Holiday. Next day was raining (surprise, surprise) but it didnt stop us from being at Nottingham Castle gates before they were open!!!! Had a great tour of castle, museum and the underground caves which Nottingham is known for. There are 100's of man made caves under Nottingham. We then went in search of Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forrest.
We were sad to leave our cottage in Duddenhoe End as we had made friends with 3 geese who tapped on our windows every morning , and a cute miniature schnauser called Pepper! Anyway we hit the road to Norwich via Lowestoft on the coast.This is, we suspect, a typical English seaside resort complete with pier and pokie arcade, deep fried food outlets and huge icecreams. ( these we did sample and only 50p) Sandra was intrigued with the colourful beach huts along the beachfront.
We found our accommodation in Norwich thanks once again to Gloria Garman. It turned out to be a B and B along the lines of Fawltey Towers and we have the attic. Very grateful to Emmanuel who carted our suitcases up 2 sets of very narrow stairs. There are 3 beds all lined up , like at boarding school!! Anyway, it is perfectly situated and we were able to explore Norwich by foot in the early evening. We visited the cathedral, city hall and the Royal Arcade , where the Colemans mustard shop and museum is and also Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant. There weren't too many people around at this time and it was a lovely evening.
Saturday saw us driving up to Cromer, another beach resort and then we followed the coast all around to Kings Lynn. We were intrigued by the boat quays which are miles from the sea. On low tides the boats are high and dry in narrow channels. And the car parks are miles from the beaches also and people walk with all their picnic gear and wind shelters etc out to the water.
We headed north to Ely today to visit the Ely cathedral and weren't disappointed. This huge and ornate cathedral dominates the skyline and is dubbed 'ship of the Fens' because it is so visable across the flat countryside. Ely became a cathedral in 1109 - there had been a place of worship here since 673AD. Marie and Sandy managed the 288 steps to the top of one of the towers and we would have had a wonderful view to far away Cambridge if it hadnt been cloudy and drizzling, but what we did see was well worth the climb. A marvelous stained glass museum within the cathedral was great. Unfortunately we didnt see a great deal of Ely city as we had already spent over 3 hours in the cathedral and then didnt see it all but we wanted to visit the American cemetery at Cambridge before it shut at 5pm. After one or two wrong turns we got there at 4.30pm and were so grad to make it in time for a very quick walk through. It was stunning, with a 427ft memorial wall and 3812 crosses and star of David headstones all set out in an immaculate setting of trees, hedges, lawn and rose beds. The crosses were arranged in rows of 90 deg arcs.
