April

We celebrated April Fool’s Day with Ian, down at Ziloufs where he was having his birthday party. Alas nobody went along with the request to come dressed as a rabbit. The cocktails were flowing freely and we had some good yarns with all the usual gang. Old Fashioneds were definitely the sponsor of that night. After the gang headed off to a gig down at the Relentless Garage we decided to pike upstairs with a few hangers on and polish off a few more drinks in the luxury of our own lounge.

After the resounding success that was Yum Cha we decided to have another go at. This time we were joined by Tree (who was in NZ last time) and Perry, who couldn’t make it last time either. Anna alas had to work but we made a point of eating plenty to make up for her not being there. This one fortunately didn’t turn into a session of afternoon drinking as Perry and Tree both had to go home and do some marking, being teachers and all. Perry never quite got to his but that is a story for a later blog entry…

It being time to take Iceberg for another spin, we took the longest trip yet with a drive up to Sheffield to finally see Rae. We had only been in the UK two years after all…Other than some questionable directions from TomTom on the way up the drive was easy and we arrived in Sheffield earlier than we had expected. We caught up over a cup of tea with Rae before turning in. The next morning Rae took us a bit south to the Peaks District for some walking and sightseeing. We were a bit surprised at the lack of “Peaks” in the Peaks District, it being more a series of rolling hills but it was still good to get some country air and check out all the crazy rock formations over the hills which climbers were energetically clambering over. The weather was also brilliant. Blue skies and not too cold. Excellent for walking. After a tasty lunch and a drive around the area Rae took us for a walk through the forest, hoping to see the bluebells. Alas it was still too early but we still got another good walk over some farmland in before heading back for a tasty dinner cooked by Rae and a movie before a well earned sleep. After a full English breakfast cooked by Rae the following morning we said our farewells and drove into Sheffield to have a look around. The town itself had obviously had a lot of money invested in it over time and it was really nice and relaxed. We spent some time wandering around the Winter Garden, which is a massive greenhouse in the middle of town before doing a bit of shopping and investing in some good knives for when we travel around Europe in our van. The weather was again really good so we drove a little bit out of the centre of town and parked up in Sheffield’s botanical gardens for a lunchtime picnic and reading on the grass and catching some sun. It was then time to pack up the van again and head back to London.

The rest of April was busy too but our adventures get their own separate blogs…

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