Day 18 - Learning 'scouse'

Day 18 - our last one in Liverpool. We spent the morning at the docks, had a coffee with the Fab 4 then visited the excellent Museum of Liverpool. We visited the Egg cafe for lunch (ahh the irony) and then back to the Cavern so I could get my t-shirt! Back to the flat to pack and have a quiet night while Zac went to training. Tomorrow we head to Bangkok for a rest then home!.

 

Farewell to the Old Dart - it's been fun!

Day 17 - Oxford, my love

Day 17 was lots of fun! We met up with Annie and Warren in Oxford for a tour of the Bodleian Library. Before the tour we had lunch at the Turf Tavern where we all got a good education in the important things. During our tour of the library I was confused by the tour guide's accent (think Joanna Lumley meets Joan Crawford) so I asked Annie - her reply "I think she's just drunk" - Classic Annie! We were both excited to hear part of the library was used in the filming of Harry Potter - the Infirmary. Of course we immediately became sick and had our photo taken.

After saying our goodbyes we headed back to Liverpool to have dinner with Zac's English family. A great night was had with Rob, Vic and Sam Cooke. Best English pub food I've had on this trip with wonderful company

Day 16 - Leek : fruit or vegetable?

Day 16 we travelled to Leek for Zac's hockey match. The first half saw Bowdon dominate but lots of missed chances and lots of send offs for both teams. With Bowdon up 2-0 at half time it seemed they would take the game easily but that was not the case. The Loud Leek boys played a tough niggly style and there were many more cards with Bowdon twice having only 9 men on the pitch. Leek had a few sent off as well. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. Zac didn't see a lot of the ball but was good with his touches. Tonight we are staying just out of Oxford ready for a big history day tomorrow!

Day 15 - Rest day!

Day 15 was a quiet one - thank goodness! Mick went with his boy to watch him coach his school hockey teams while Carly and I stayed home to catch up on study, sleep and coffee. We went to the Central Perk to hang out with our friends (Lily you would've loved it). Tonight was dinner up an upmarket pub and we were photo-bombed by the security guard. Tomorrow it's on to Leek to watch Zac play, then to Oxford to catch up with the gorgeous Annie and Warren!

Day 14 - Carved by a glacier

Day 14 was full on! On advice from our B&B owner we took the mountain road across to the west coast of England. Words cannot describe the wonder of the mountains and valleys carved by long gone glaciers we drove through. A-MA-ZING. We stopped in a tiny town along the way and were able to listen to the final quarter of the Swannies flogging North Melbourne (nice).

 

 

Then it was on to Munster, sorry Muncaster, castle and a look through this stately home dated back to the Romans. It is also the home of an Owl Sanctuary so we watched a bird show. Tonight back in Liverpool the kids took us to the Cavern which is the venue the Beatles played at over 200 times and is famous for discovering them.

 

Day 13 - A walk in the woods!

Day 13 - we headed off to Keswick for some hiking. Our first track was seriously like walking through the children's book 'Each Peach Pear Plumb'. Along the way We met sheep and visited the mysterious 'miniature' Stonehenge (Castlerigg). Then the best ever navigator (me) got us lost trying to find our second walk. We got to drive around an unexpected lake then eventually found the place we were looking for. Still confident in my navigation abilities I proceeded to get us lost in the woods but eventually we found more sheep to lead us out! Dinner was a let down as we had it at a pub waiting for the live artist to appear but even the staff didn't know there was someone performing. The blackboard said it was Julio Iglesias.

Day 12 - A hat wearing Aussie

Day 12 and we braved the Autumn English heat wave (25 degrees) to go walking in the Lakes District - please note I was the only person wearing a hat. We also visited the excellent Beatrix Potter museum. Just returned from dinner at Beresford's where the staff could be described as ancient and aggressive - hilarious evening with Mick Brazel making many friends including the dessert menu!