More pics

I haven't posted all of the pictures from my trip on here, but I am putting them on my photobucket site if you're interested. Make mouse go clicky now!

The World of Beatrix Potter

On the morning that I was leaving the Lakes District, I stopped in at the World of Beatrix Potter attraction. I hadn't realised until the day before that you could actually visit Hill Top Farm, her home, so that's on the list for when I go back.

This place is basically a children's attraction, but it was fun! All 23 of her stories are brought to life, with models of all of the characters. The detail is incredible; every costume and scene is an exact replica of the pages of her stories.

The hairy cow

When I was leaving Ambleside to go to Carlisle, I followed the route that my Tom Tom took me, rather than going straight out to the M6. It took me up over Keswick Pass, a narrow, twisty, steep road, that provided some awesome views of the area. It also led me past a property (see if you can find it on the first photo below), that had long-haired cows. They're actually highland cattle, but I didn't know this at the time. Could you imagine what it would be like if I was the person who decided on names for animals? Between the hairy cows and the 'cow sheep goats', it would certainly be interesting!

Carlisle Cathedral

The cathedral was built in the early 1100s, during the time of Henry I. Most of the original building is now gone; having survived several centuries of poor weather (which has lead to almost every pillar leaning in a different direction, as there are extreme wet and dry seasons), it was eventually captured by Bonnie Prince Charlie and his army, and was pulled apart so that the stone could be used to fortify other buildings. As the English regained ground, they imprisoned those who had desecrated it, eventually torturing and killing them inside the building. Makes sense, doesn't it? In revenge for what they did to a holy place, the English tortured and murdered people inside it.

Ignoring all that, I got to go inside the cathedral, although couldn't take photos inside as the gift shop where I needed to pay the fee was closed. It was amazing to see it all. What a difference between this cathedral and St Monica's!

Carlisle... really this time!

I finally made it back to Carlisle after my visits to Gretna Green and Hadrian's Wall. I shot through peak hour traffic to the car park near Carlisle Castle, knowing that I'd be cutting it fine if I was to actually go into the castle. Sadly, I didn't make it. I got to the outside of it, and the guy told me that they'd closed ten minutes before I got there. When I told him that I'd been caught up in the M6 traffic, he left me go into the courtyard to at least see part of the castle, even if I couldn't go inside.

Back towards Carlisle

Once I left Scotland (I still laugh when I say that), I started heading back towards Carlisle. I didn't quite make it straight away though, as I saw a sign for Hadrian's Wall. I'd quite forgotten that it was up there, but couldn't resist the temptation. It was only about 20 miles from the motorway, and I figured it was worthwhile.

I got up there, not realising that I'd be traipsing up a sheep paddock to actually get to it. I had the wrong shoes on, and damn near slipped up on the way up to it, which would have meant landing in a big pile of poo. Luckily I didn't actually fall!

It was cold as a witch's you-know-what up there, with the wind blowing and me not being accustomed to much below 20 degrees. The view was once again amazing, and the thought of standing on something that had been built nearly 2000 years ago was something else. I can't even begin to fathom how these things have lasted so long, and when you think about the fact that it's about ten times as old as European settlement in Australia, it's really quite a feat.

My car, although hard to see, is the one on the right. As I said, it was a bit of a walk up that paddock!

Carlisle... sort of

The next day I left early, planning on heading up to Carlisle to see the castle and cathedral. It was about 40 miles or so from Ambleside, so I figured I'd have plenty of time to see everything and go anywhere else that I saw along the way. Well, the best laid plans always seem to go awry.




There was a big accident on the M6, resulting in the whole motorway being blocked in both directions. This being England and not Australia, there's always another raod to take, however given that it's the main road between well, London and Scotland, that means there was a lot of traffic clogging up the roads. It had gone from 3 lanes in each direction to one each. As a result, that lovely little 35 minute journey stretched out to 4 hours. It's times like that that I wish I was a bloke - I saw quite a few of them jump out of their cars and pee behind the hedges, and by the time I finally got to Carlisle, things were a little desperate!


I decided that I wouldn't go straight to the cathedral and castle, but to continue on up the road another 10 miles, and come back to Carlisle afterwards. Why continue on? Well, I discovered that I was only 10 miles from Scotland! What's a girl to do? Naturally, I went. I was only there for about twenty minutes, but the fact that I drove to another country was exciting enough for now. I went to Gretna Green, which is full of marriage houses. Back in the day the English decided that you could only marry if you were under 21 years of age, if your parents consented. This law didn't apply in Scotland, so there were lots of runaway marriages. Gretna Green was the closest town to the English border, so it became the place to get married when your parents wouldn't allow it. The marriage houses are still there, and are still in use. I feel that I should clarify - although I went to Gretna Green, I didn't get married.

Once again, I couldn't park anywhere, so I took this photo from the driveway of a hotel. I couldn't park anywhere near the "Welcome to Scotland" sign either, but I really did go there!

Also in Keswick...

I had joked before I left on the trip that I would make a visit to the pencil museum. Yes, you read correctly, the pencil museum. I was only joking, but I came upon it quite by accident in Keswick. Sadly (not), it was closed for the day, but I made sure to get a couple of photos to at least prove that I'd been there. Guess I'll have to go back to see the world's largest pencil!

Keswick

After Rydal Mount, I headed over to Keswick (pronounced "Kessick", as I was rudely informed). By this time of the day I'd been all over the place, and wasn't desperately keen to go anywhere else, but I figured that I might as well, seeing as I'd come so far to be there. In the end it turned out to be a great decision, as I took a turn off to follow the Stone Circle road, on the other side of the lake from the main road. It was a little hairy at times, as it was only just wide enough for two small cars, and I passed both a mini-bus and a lamborghini, which just about caused me to drive off the side of the road (stupid git obviously decided that he owned the road, and everybody else needed to avoid him).

There were some spectacular views along the way, but unfortunately I couldn't stop in most places to get good photos.

Crossing back over the lake, I passed what is known as a folly. I didn't know that at the time, so to me it was just a random building off to the side of a bridge. The sign on the gate stopping people from getting at it was from the water board, so you can see why I was confused about it!

Rydal Mount

Once I got back from Penrith and Orton, I decided to go on to Rydal Mount, a former home of William Wordsworth. It was his favourite home, and he lived there for 37 years. It was where he lived when his daughter Dora died, and where his wife planted the daffodils that were the inspiration for his famous poem. He landscaped the gardens himself, and they've preserved exactly as he had them.

I couldn't take photos inside the house, but the outside was worth it.

Penrith

I had gone on this trip without really planning specific things to do, except for a couple of places to visit. I had decided to see what the weather was like, and see what else I found when I got there.

So, on the first morning, I found myself on the way to Penrith, which supposedly had great markets. Unfortunately the markets weren't on that morning (a fact that I couldn't find written anywhere), but it was a nice place to visit all the same.

If you can't read it, the sign just above the door says that this business was first established by James and John in 1380 (although clearly not in its current form).

From there, I headed over to Orton, home of a chocolate factory (no surprises for guessing why I was going there). I turned off the main road, and just about ran over a sheep. Yes, a sheep. I laughed when my parents nearly did the same thing in Wales (although Barbara was later killed in a viscious hit and run incident), but it damn near happened to me. It would have done some damage to the Corsa that I'd hired! For those who don't know, a Vauxhall Corsa is the equivalent of a Holden Barina (Vauxhall is Holden over here).

I continued along the road a little further, and saw what I at the time called the 'cow sheep'. I haven't seen too many sheep in my life, and most of the ones that I have seen have been white. I saw all kinds on this trip, and took a photo of these two animals as I'd never seen that sort before. It was only when I uploaded the photos to my computer, and zoomed in to see that they were actually goats. They didn't look like it from a distance though, so now they are to be known as the 'cow sheep goats'. All kinds of new things in this country!

Ambleside

I stayed at a lovely B&B in the town of Ambleside, in the heart of the Lakes District. It was fair way form the motorway, but worth it. The road took me past rolling green hills and the most spectacular sunset (which I don't have photos of, as I couldn't stop anywhere). The mist was just starting to roll in as the sun went down. I drove through the town of Windermere, and past Lake Windermere, before coming to Ambleside.

Coventry Cathedral

On the way to the Lakes District, I decided to stop in Coventry to see the cathedral that's there. It was built between the late 14th and early 15th centuries, but is now in ruins after being bombed in World War II. There is a new cathedral beside it, but the old one remains hallowed ground.

This is the remains of the altar in the original cathedral.

This is the window of the new cathedral. It has various depictions of angels etched into it.

There's more photos on my photobucket site if you're interested.

Lakes District

I spent the weekend up at the Lakes District, up in the north west of the country. It was stunning, particularly seeing as it's Autumn and the leaves are all changing. It was amazing to drive diagonally across the country on less than a tank of fuel! There was a lot of things that I didn't have time to do, so I know that I'll go back (although perhaps I'll wait until after Winter). I also want to go back to places that I passed on the way, like Stratford and Warwick.

I didn't do any of the walks up there, as being on my own I was worried about what would happen should I fall and hurt myself. I wasn't worried about being found along the trail, as there were so many people up there, but more about how I'd get home again, given that I had a hire car. It's something else to go back and do!

Without the fog

I tried before I went away to post these photos, but for some reason couldn't upload anything. This is what the view is like without the fog.

Do do doooooooo lookin' out my back door!

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door oh boy -


Ok, so I haven't been to Illinois, but the photos are taken of the view out my back door. Well, the first one is. The second one is from my bathroom window, and the third is from my bedroom window. Woke up this morning to a pretty thick blanket of fog. Common it may be, but for a lass from North Queensland, it's still something to get used to. Hence, I took photos.

The hunt for the squirrel

I totally forgot to mention this earlier. If you've read my other posts, you'll know that I went to Brownsea Island in the hopes of seeing the famous red squirrels, but that I didn't manage to see any. Well, as luck would have it, I saw a normal (common? Not sure of the specices!) squirrel when I was on the way to work the other day. It ran right across in front of the car, and I nearly caused the lady driving to crash, because I yelled out when I saw it, thus startling her!

I add this sighting to that of the fox, which I saw a few weeks ago when I was coming home late one night. Now all I need is a badger and a mole!

Mini break!

Half-term holidays are coming up, and I'm going on my first mini break! I was supposed to go to Wales, but we had a slight scheduling change, so my family won't be there when I'm on holidays. What's a girl to do? Simple - pick from the huge list of other places to go!

I'm going for 3 nights, staying in a cute little B&B, and I shall no doubt be immersing myself in the region, channelling Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge and co. Perhaps I'll even row out onto one of the lakes, in the hopes of meeting Mr Darcy!