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Up early to rain (noooo!) and the coldest day in May so far. Great! Headed out to the Adrenalin Jungle and suddenly the dark clouds parted sending sunshine pouring in and providing us with great weather for our archery attempts!
Here was the moment we were all waiting in anticipation for and the claim that inspired the trip…Fletch was all set to recreate history and shoot an arrow through an arrow, a one in a million feat he had accomplished at age 13.
First arrow…shot past the target and into the netting.
Second arrow…netting bound as well.
Third arrow…another miss!
STA Travel will be sending Fletch the bill for the trip.
Despite his shaky start he did make a great come back but he wasn't able to beat our athletic winner Stace, one for the girls woohooo! Fletch did manage an honourable second.
Onwards to Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood's 'hood' where Issy the site manager took us for a wander. We saw the 'Major Oak' the oldest tree in the Forest at 1140 years old and is basically on life support. Big structures hold up the tree and it is monitored every day. Legend has it the tree is where Robin Hood would hide from the sheriff. The oak was previously known as the c*** Pantry' because roosters were kept in its hollow trunk for c*** fighting. Random!
Back to the city where we enjoyed another meal at super cheap Weatherspoons. If you're in the UK and on a budget this is the place to go for hearty meals!
Next stop were the City of Caves, which I have to admit can be a bit difficult to find as the entrance is in a shopping centre! If you're planning on visiting them (and you should!) head into the Broadmarsh shopping centre and once inside follow the signs. We met our tour guide Margaret who was our best tour guide so far (hilarious woman) and who explained the uses of the limestone caves since the time of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. People lived in them, worked in them and used them for storage. A tannery was even located in the caves and we enjoyed a graphic account of the uses of poos and wees in the tanning process! Not to be missed!
We bid Margaret farewell and headed for Nottingham Castle to pay a visit to the new Sheriff of Nottingham, a lovely lady called Penny. She posed for photographs, answered some of Fletch and Vaughan's hilarious questions (check out their Edge podcast for the interview) and even let us try on her robes! We had a look around the castle, which we had been told some people found disappointing but with a general lack of castles in New Zealand we were totally impressed. It is without a doubt more of a palace than a castle but impressive nonetheless.
The last thing to do in Nottingham was sample some of the nightlife. We headed to the oldest pub in the UK (1189 AD), Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which is carved out of the castle rock and enjoyed some yummy food and drinks. A must in Nottingham.
Final stop of the night was Pitcher and Piano, a place we'd seen on our earlier tour with Ade (ie Robin Hood). The venue is a very impressive church which has been turned into a bar, with the stained glass windows and many other features remaining from its previous use. Another must in Nottingham!
Off to Cardiff, Wales tomorrow, can't wait for that Welsh accent!
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