Old Stones (not rolling) and Beatles

Saturday 7th November

Hi everyone,
Well we enjoyed Padstow, another fishing village on the Cornish Coast – this village is also made famous having the Rick Stein’s restaurant there – whilst we didn’t eat at his restaurant we did buy a lunch from his delicatessen. From Padstow we drove through to Stonehenge – well everyone has seen the photo’s of the old stones in a paddock – true you do wonder how they got there and why are they there but while they are large old stones they are not as big as we thought they would be – but hey we got the photo’s to prove we were there.
From Stonehenge we drove through to Bath and had a couple of nights there – we enjoyed wondering around the old town and whilst we didn’t have a soak in the Roman Baths that are 2000 years old (they are only for looking at now) we did have a soak in the new Baths that are the only natural thermal spa in Britain. We also visited Sally Lunns house which is the oldest house in Bath being built in 1480. In 1680 Sally Lunn moved into the house and started baking and selling her famous Sally Lunn Bun. The house and recipe for the buns are protected by the Heritage Trust – we can recommend the bun with melted cinnamon butter on it – very nice.
From Bath we drove east to Devizes which is known for its canals used by the narrowboats and for having 29 locks stepping up a reasonably steep hill – we watched a narrowboat going through a couple of locks and fair to say you have to be pretty fit to do this and it is definitely faster walking. We had watched a programme on TV a couple of years ago about the amount of people hiring boats and cruising the canals, after now seeing them it doesn’t seem to be a relaxing time on the water.
We then drove through the towns and areas of Hereford & Gloucester into Wales. In Wales we spent a couple of days in Llandudno a popular seaside town and also Conwy where we enjoyed exploring the castle which is 800 years old.
We then drove through to Liverpool and were down a dead end road, rain pouring down, starting to get dark and no campsite until a kind English guy told us where there was one and he even escorted us the 7 km’s to the gate, we’ve met some awesome people on our travels. We stayed in Ainsdale , between Southport and Liverpool, a 40 minute train ride into Liverpool central. We had a great day yesterday at the Liverpool Maritime Museum which had a great area devoted to the emigration of people from throughout Europe through Liverpool to places such as New Zealand, Australia, America and Canada in the 1800 & 1900’s. We also visited a Slave Museum and no trip to Liverpool would be complete without a visit to the Beatles Story. The Beatles Story was really interesting and fun – we now know all there is to know about the Beatles and their songs…Did you know Hey Jude song actually started off being Hey Jules but didn’t sound as good – it was a song written for Julian Lennon (John’s son) when he found out his parents were separating – some useless info for you!!!
We are now sitting on a ferry travelling from Liverpool to Dublin, Ireland. The trip is 8 hours long and unfortunately will arrive ½ an hour after kick off for the Rugby – All Blacks vs Wales match. I am sure we will be able to find a bar in Dublin and watch the end of it. We have had a bit of rain in the past week or so so hopefully Ireland can come up with a little better weather.
A little about driving:
We have a big New Zealand sign on the back of the camper and it is amazing how many toots and lights flashing we get as we drive by – we even had a car start to pass us on the motorway, matched our speed and when we looked closer there was a young wee fellow holding up a soft toy kiwi at the window. A couple of cars flew past us in the Czech Republic motorway beeping and waving. We also have people walk up to us in carparks & camping grounds all over Europe asking “are you actually from New Zealand”, a question we have heard so many times. In Wales we got lots of extra toots with the rugby playing today. We have discussed this phenomenon with several locals and they agree it is better to travel Europe with an NZ sign than let people assume you are just another Brit on holiday.
The narrow roads can cause some eye-blinking when we have to ride up onto footpaths, many many times pull both mirrors in, wince when trucks come past at speed and then realize your mirror is still intact. We spoke to a guy who bought a brand new camper a week ago and his mirror was already taped up after being clipped by a truck. Yes we did get through the archway in the photo, yes we did meet an oncoming car in the hedge lined lane and yes driving is a little stressful at times and is not for the faint-hearted, especially in a wide camper.

That all for now…. Update again soon…. to be sure, to be sure, to be sure (in an Irish accent of course).