The Lake District

It was another Bank Holiday and this time we had planned to get out into the Countryside for some Rambling (that's English for "Tramping")with Tom and Gini. We met up at Euston (with what looked like half of the rest of London) to catch the train to Windermere. Train was pretty packed but we eventually managed to get settled in and we were off. Several hours later and we arrived in Windermere and head off to our B&B "The Archway". We were greeted by our excellent hostess and then it was off to bed for a good sleep before a day a of walking the next day.

The bed was good but the highlight of this B&B was definitely the breakfast. We had a choice of about six different options and when they came out they were HUGE, and tasty. We would have to do plenty of walking to walk that off. After looking at a few different options in Tom and Gini's book we decided to stay local and do a loop track that starts and finishes in Windermere. We started off with a climb up Orrest Head which was a nearby hill. If the clouds hadn't been so low we would have gotten great views of the Lake District. It was still good to be out in amongst nature again though. We continued on through the local paddocks, never quite sure where we were going but with Paddy Dillon guiding us we managed to find our way without too much trouble. We continued up into the hills and had a good view over Troutbeck which we later discovered was the inspiration for Postman Pat. We continued to climb dodging rain showers along the way until we finally started to make our way around and back towards Windermere again. We stopped for packed lunch, which was all a part of the stay at the Archway. Lunch was in the same style as breakfast, HUGE. With tasty homemade sandwiches, sausage rolls and Kendal Mint Cake (solid mint flavoured sugar covered in sugar) we wondered if we were actually going to do enough dinner to walk off the food...We continued on our way back to Windermere and eventually arrived back at the Archway, wetter and tireder than when we began. If breakfast and lunch wasn't enough there was also a very tasty cake sitting there for us too eat too. They sure know how to eat well in the Lake District! And to keep with the theme we went out for what we thought was British Cuisine but actually turned out to be French. Still tasty though.

The next morning it was more walking. This time it was to Grasmere where we went for a walk around two lakes, Grasmere and Rydal Water. As we arrived there was some sort of AMP show on with tents and animals and people everywhere. But we weren't too be distracted, we plowed through and set off down the road towards the Lake. Unfortunately the rain showers from yesterday had consolidated and we were basically walking in steady rain which got heavier and heavier throughout the day. Lucky we are from NZ so don't mind walking in the rain, and lucky we had our jackets too....This was a much mellower walk than the day before with it being largely flat around the back of the lakes. Nice walking through the woods and fields though and seeing some of the HUGE houses up on the hill. We stopped at the Badger pub for a beer on our way back. Not one we would recommend as a first choice to visit but good to get out of the rain. Then we journied up the hill and along the old coffin road back to Grasmere. It was an interesting old path that had flat rocks along the way. Apparently they used to carry the coffins from Rydal, where it starts, to Grasmere where the cemetary was. By the end we were pretty soaked but we couldn't pass Grasmere by without stopping in for some famous Grasmere Gingerbread. Made since 1854 it isn't like normal gingerbread. It is kind of like a slice/biscuit with bits of ginger all through it. Different but tasty. After some munching we jumped in the car for some more exploring. We journied onwards to Keswick. Right in the middle of the Lake District. It was still pretty drizzly but we had some time to head up to Castlerigg which is a stone circle, a la Stonehenge, only smaller and this one you could walk up to the stones. There were a few droopy heads on the way back to Windermere for some well earned rest.

The last day in the Lake District we decided to give the walking a break and do some touristy things. The girls were very keen to go and see Beatrix Potters House, which is not a themed place, rather it is the house where she lived and wrote all of the Petter Rabbit and friends stories. It was quite interesting but very dark as they tried to keep everything authentic to early 1900s. After that we went for a country drive where we came across a little gem in Wray Castle. It isn't actually a castle, rather it is a house built in 1840 to look like a castle. It was very cool and we had a good time looking around the outside. Unfortunately it was closed because it is currently for sale so we couldn't look around inside. Ever wanted to live in a Castle? Now is your chance. Then it was off to the tiny town of Ings for lunch at the Watermill Inn and Brewery. There we had some tasty lunch and enjoyed ourselves drinking the all thee different dog branded brews such as Collie Wobbles, Wruff Night and Isle of Dogs. This pub was very cool and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in the area. We had heard that Windemere and the towns around the Lake District can be quite touristy but we hadn't experience that at all...until we went to Bowness on Windemere. It seemed that that was where ALL the tourists were. The place was thronging with people, tourist shops and activities for people to do. Nonetheless it was nice to have a walk around and see what it was like down on the Lake front before we had to journey back to London. Unfortunately our trip home wasn't without event. We thought we would see if we could get the train back an hour earlier. Unfortunately there was no early train, and the later trains were all delayed. So it was several hours spent on the platform at Oxenholme playing cards as the heavens opened and POURED more rain than we had seen all year. Unfortunately everyone else had the same plans so by the time we got on the train it was packed. The joys of holiday travel. Luckily we were so tired it didn't really matter and we still had a really good outdoors holiday.

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