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We have had no WiFi coverage for the past 3 days so here are our combined blogs for then. Heading off this morning for Hadrians Wall. Will update the albums next stop.
Wednesday 6th July
Woke this morning to a very light drizzle. Had our breakfast and packed up and loaded up the car. Boy are we now slick at packing! It was easy to get out of town and onto the motorway north. Not as much traffic as there was the previous day’s motorway driving. Stopped at a Costa truckstop about an hour into the trip. Wasn’t much use getting to the B&B at Bowness on Windermere as we couldn’t check in until 4.00pm and couldn’t even park on the premises until midday. We actually got to the town at 11.30 and parked at the information centre and got all the guff on the Lakes District. Up to the B&B and parked the car and were allowed to take our bags in and Jannie changed her shoes. Off down to the village to have lunch. There are heaps of eateries in this town so choosing someplace is the mission. What to eat??
After lunch we went down to the wharf and there was a boat ready to leave for Ambleside, which is at the top of Lake Windermere. The trip to the north end of the lake took about 35 minutes and we saw some lovely properties and in the distance were some of the mountains although they said that the highest one that we could see was only 2600 feet. Just a high hill. We got off the boat at the Ambleside Pier – just a handful of buildings and a couple of icecream stalls. We went off to the left of the pier for a bit of a walk – the sun had come out but the wind off the lake was a little cool. We came to a park and took the pathway around the outside and can to a paddock with a gate. Went on through and followed this sort of worn track through the long grass. Cows everywhere. Through another gate – the track wasn’t so well worn. Because of all the rain that they had had the day before there were wet patches that we had to skirt around. Jannie leading, less well worn, (I think that everyone else had gone back) through a very wet area. Hold my had says Jannie. Next thing we are in a bog. One step – water in my right shop, my left shoe found an island. Jannie in the meantime was shreaking that she had wet feet and was sloshing her way through at a rate of knots. Carefully picking my spots ended up with a damp right foot. Back across another paddock and had to skirt the stone wall until we came to another gate and walked back to the wharf.
Heard one of the crew off the boat tell the people coming off that the village of Ambleside was about a mile up that road. No-one told us this so we turned around and walked up the road for ages and finally came to the cutest village and was bustling with people. The shops were buzzing and there were some lovely galleries. Walked up and around the village and then down another street towards the lake although Jannie wasn’t sure that we were going in the correct direction. Got back to the wharf and had to wait for 15 minutes for the boat back to Bowness. This time the boat hugged the opposite side of the lake and several things were pointed out to us on the way back. One of those was the house that was owned and used by Donald Campbell during the period that he was setting world water speed records of somewhere in the region of 300mph. Apart for nearly running down 3 Japanese young person in a row boat who were too near the wharf where we were to get off. Lots of waving by the crew – and by the Japanese in the row boat but we eventually tied up and got off. Walked again up the hill to our B&B. This B&B is somewhat different form all of those that we have stayed in. We are not in the house, and not up the stairs but in a cabin out the back next to where we have parked our car. More like a motel.
Thursday 7th July
Well we have been away for a month now and what we have seen!
This morning at breakfast we got to talk with 3 couples – all poms on holiday. Breakfast was all we expected! We had decided to go across the lake to Hilltop and Far Sewrey. This is where Beatrix Potter lived and they have made the house and shop so commercial, everything was expensive. It had been raining of and on all morning. Sometime the rain was so heavy but with brollie and raincoats we set off. The ferry trip didn’t take that long and we were met on the other side of the lake by our bus. Small bus, only had room for sixteen people and I think that there were about 14 on board but – 4 dogs! Got up to Hilltop – not very high and nothing to see. Certainly nothing like Hilltop on the way to Akaroa. It pissed down the moment we got out of the bus and there were people everywhere. We gave the house a miss and went to the café next door for a scone and hot chocolate. A small tub of jam was hardly enough to put a covering on the two sides of the scone. Pretty miserable and we weren’t the only ones to think this as a young English couple called the waitress over and asked for more jam and cream. More!! Out came the po faced manager and after a few minutes she came back and slapped another container of cream on the table and stormed off. Back to the bus stop to get the bus to Hawkeshead. One of the couples at breakfast recommended this place as a cute wee village – well it was ok. All of the shops here and there weren’t many were mainly about hiking, tramping and all of the gear required. Most of the prices were really cheap compared with this sort of stuff back home. Back to the bus and off back to the ferry. There was a character of a ferryman who had been to New Zealand in the 80s and had worked near Cromwell, fruit picking, and had been to Manapouri and had hoped for a job there but not to be. He chatted to us all the way back.
Found a pub for lunch and afterwards we set off to walk to Windermere, a hike uphill of 2 miles. Windermere is not near the lake and is really the business district of Bowness/Windermere. There is a walk that we wanted to do up Orrest Head. This is a big hill that overlooks Lake Windermere so that you can see from one end of the lake to the other. Lake Windermere is the biggest lake in Britain, 10.5 miles long and a mile wide at the widest part and has an average depth of only 14 metres, it’s not that big compared with our lakes back home. It was a long drag up to the top of Orrest Head which is 784 feet above sea level. The views were 360 degrees and lovely! We took lots of photos. There were lots of people up the top although we saw very few on our way up and only a few on our way down. Back down the streets all the way back to our B&B – luckily it was mostly all downhill. Feet up and watching the television before shower and dinner.
Friday 8th July
We decided that we were going to do the walk down the other side of the lake from Wray Castle to Ferry House a trip of about 4 miles. First we had to get the ferry up to Ambleside where we were to catch the cross lake ferry to Wray Castle but when we got to Ambleside Wharf we caught this little electric bus up to Ambleside itself. The bus was built in 1951 and was originally a milk van. The chap who ran it bought it and converted it to a passenger bus and just took people from the wharf up to Ambleside and back. It was great – not fast – no noise to speak of – no windows – was cold as but hey it was just the thing you do whilst on holiday. At Ambleside we had a coffee and scone and looked at the galleries and at a wonderful book shop. Lots of books that we could have bought and heaps on cycling and on the Tour de France. Thought of the boys and their bikes particularly Mike as he has had this thing about the Tour for years.
Walked back to the wharf and waited for the cross lake ferry. The ferries are lovely old wooden boats and seat about 40 inside and about 15 on the foredeck. The ferry followed the shoreline around to the Castle Wharf. There were lots of stone boat sheds that had doors right down to the waterline so that you just drove the boat inside and closed the doors. Some of the more elaborate boat sheds and one that had rooms upstairs, were pointed out to us and this one sold last year for £1.2million. We got off the boat at the cutest jetty and stone castle along with about 16 other people and the 3 or 4 dogs. The walk was 4.5 miles and followed the lake from the Castle Wharf to the Ferry House. It was a reasonably wide track that passed firstly through farmland and then for the majority of the way through bushland. We were told that it takes a leisurely 2 hours to stroll the pathway. We set off and after a half mile were in the lead of all the people who had disembarked. Jannie set the pace. A couple of “Humbugs” later we came to a sign letting us know that we were half way and only 2.5 miles to go. Because we were in the bush it did get quite chilly when the wind blew and the sun was shut out by the tall trees so we had to keep putting on and taking off our coats. On we walked and meet several groups of people coming towards us – every group had a dog or two. Getting closer to the Ferry House, Jannie said that it was 2.50pm and that the next ferry left at 3.00pm. We increased our pace and could see the ferry approaching the wharf. We had to skirt around a bay and then onto the road to the ferry. Around the corner we went and the ferry was just pulling away from the wharf - missed it by 100metres. Saw a flash of lightning out in the bay and then the instant crash of thunder just as we got to the ferry shed. It got so dark and then down the rain came. Several others arrived soaked. This group of girls who had all gone through university together were having a weekend away. Hell they didn’t look any older than Lucy – all had degrees, one was doing her masters, another had just spent a year in NZ. We got talking to an English couple who have a son, aged 24, in Christchurch who is in charge of one of the demolition squads. They told us that he was working on one of the buildings in the CBD and the two most recent quakes demolished both buildings either side of the one that he was working on.
Got back to Bowness and trudged up the hill in the sunshine to our B&B. Hadn’t been here more than 10 minutes and it bucketed down. Hope we can get to dinner between the raindrops tonight.
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