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On Tuesday 24 April, we headed back to Howden for a few days to catch up with some good friends of ours from Australia who were staying about 20 minutes from Howden in Tick Hill. Jason and Sonya Lowe and their 3 year old daughter Abby, as well as Sonya's mum Julia are over here for a few weeks visiting relatives and doing a bit of sightseeing.
We decided we'd all visit Castle Howard together on Wednesday and then head to a few English pubs for a pint or two! This was one of the coldest days we've had since we've been here and it was such a shame, as Castle Howard had some lovely grounds to explore and a kids playground the girls would have loved, but it simply wasn't possible. So after exploring the inside of Castle Howard, off to the pubs we went! We first headed over to Beverley as Loche and I had been told of a pub there that still used original gas lighting - The White Horse. We had a few beers here then headed to the St Vincent Arms for dinner. A few miles down the road was the pub Loche and I had visited weeks before with the rellies from Howden, and we were keen to show Jason some great ales and hospitality - The Boot and Shoe is a very old, quaint English pub with very low ceilings. Jason and Loche had a great time there with the publican Kev who stayed true to form and let Jason pull a pint (with Loche watching closely behind).
The following day, Thursday, Loche, Cara and I said our final goodbyes to everyone in Howden, hooked up the caravan and headed down to Lincoln where we were staying in a caravan park on the River Trent for 4 days while we spent a bit more time with Jason and Sonya. That afternoon we went to Tick Hill to visit them and have the girls feed the ducks in the nearby pond. Then to dinner at another pub!!
The next day we checked out the Doncaster Markets where there is such a variety of food and clothing and knick knacks for sale. That night we had dinner at Julia's cousins house - Chris and Karen, who made us feel very welcome in their home.
Sunday we all went to Lincoln - a few people had mentioned to Loche that Lincoln is worthwhile seeing so we thought we'd check it out. After trying to turn down a few one-way streets the wrong way we eventually found the historic part of the city with the old cathedral and cobble stone streets. It was beautiful, but still very cold and raining quite heavily. We had some lunch and then had a look through the cathedral, before making our way to a nearby pub for some warmth and a drink. Yes, there is a pattern developing here!!
The following day, Loche and I headed off for Ipswich to catch up with some more relatives and Jason and Sonya were heading up to Scotland for a few days. We have planned to catch up in Southampton for a week from the 9th of May. The caravan park we were staying at in Lincoln was on the River Trent and there had been a lot of rain in this area over the past week or so. At high tide, the river flooded the main road going into the park. On our way out, with caravan in tow, we had to go through these waters to make our way down south. The water wasn't very deep, but I got most of it on video footage, which I will put up onto this site. While filming it, I didn't consider how I was actually going to get through the water without a car! After jumping a few puddles and falling into a hedge, I made my way across to the other side with my waterproof boots passing their first real test.
We've now been in Ipswich for a few days catching up with William and Maureen. William is Loche's grandfathers cousin and has been to Australia many times. Yesterday was my birthday and I spent a lovely day doing a bit of shopping before we headed out to dinner by the water.
Today, Thursday 3 May, we drove across to Felixstowe which is on the beach and is where the docks are. We did a tour of the old fort there that was built in the 1600's and used in both world wars. We had fish and chips for lunch and they were such large portions, we've decided we don't need any dinner. We are due down at Southampton on Wednesday the 9th of May and before then we plan to catch up with some more rellies in and around London. We plan to be in France around the 16th / 17th of May.
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