WALES

It was great catching up with Marilyn & Richard - our first night we talked & laughed until 1am. Next day a visit to the beach & the mouth of the Ogmore River.

Rich took Cliff for a coastal walk after lunch. Cliff was surprised to find guys surfing & Rich pointed out some human bones protruding from the cliff side (they are apparently from an old cemetery)  Marilyn cooked up a tasty feast for dinner & then off to visit a little village

over stepping stones to Ogmore Castle which was constructed over 900 years ago

Rich & Cliff

Cliff said I belonged in the dungeon - nasty man

After a great couple of days we farewelled Marilyn, Richard & Wales to catch up with Rob & Doug in Coventry. 

ON THE WAY TO WALES

On the way to visit our friends Marilyn & Richard who live in Ogmore by Sea & Sandy & Pat who live in Cardiff - our Welsh opponents for quoits & all round great company from our cruise. Unfortunately Julie & Steve (part of the Aussie quoits team) were unable to join us - they were busy enjoying Spain.

We travelled through beautiful Welsh countryside

Time for a break in this cute little pub in the village of Llanuwchlyn 

Passed through Snowdonia national park.

We stayed overnight in the Buckley Arms Hotel in Dinas Mawddwy. It was owned and run by a lovely English couple, Gay & Keith. It was an unexpected surprise  - Cliff enjoyed it so much he sat up until 2am drinking & talking to Keith about high voltage testing (Keith was an electrical engineer)

a quick stop to look at the beach

lunch in the pretty seaside town of Aberystwith - great fish & chips

We were surprised to find a full size talking dialect on the promenade

On the road again - time for a rest break in the little village of Crickhowell

We finally made it to Ogmore by Sea - it was a little chilly when we arrived

Lunch was at the Watermill Inn with our Welsh friends

Sandy, Pat, Marilyn, mwah, Cliffy & Richard

A great day was had by all - would have been a complete team if Julie & Steve had been able to make it.

LAKES DISTRICT PUBS

Yes!! Finally a day of rain  - well, enough rain for Cliff to agree to no walking. Time for a drive to check out some of the pubs around the Lakes District. Almost all of the pubs were white rather than stone like most of the buildings. 

We had a great ploughmans lunch at this pub "The Wild Boar" and this time I didn't eat all the ham :-)

The Unicorn pub - 400 years old and the oldest pub in Ambleside.

"Golden Rule" this pub only 195 years old

Another white pub - not sure I can keep up this pace & with Cliff sampling 2 pints in each pub it was time to wander the streets

We discovered some beautiful buildings

Our street

our final night we spent back at the Unicorn pub listening to one of the local guys playing guitar & singing - it was a great way to farewell Ambleside.

AMBLESIDE Part 2

No rain - another great day for a long hike - Cliff promised me this walk would be on a low path, no steep tracks along mountain ranges. Beauty - off we set on an extremely pretty walk along the river.

Everything was so green

we did have to walk up a bit of a hill & came across a very interesting cave. The water was full of little fish & they enjoyed Cliff's banana.

we came to a cross roads - down to walk along the lake or up to walk along the side of the mountain range - which path do you think Cliff decided on?

Yes! - after 8 kms we made it to "Tweedies Bar" at Grasmere for a very nice ploughmans lunch - Cliff was a little upset - he accused me of eating all the ham - imagine that - well it just wasn't true, I did leave him a little bit :-)

Setting off on our return trip we detoured to do some rowing on Grasmere lake - Cliff said I was a two headed monster - not very nice.

While rowing, Cliff noticed a trail up the side of the mountain - if you look very hard in this photo, you can see it way up of the hill behind Cliff

Once the decision was made -much to my protest- up we went 

AND went 

Everytime I reached a point where I thought this would be the top - it just kept on going - you can see me sitting on a rock half way down - I really wanted to give up

But - in the end the views were worth it - and, according to Cliff, Nessie enjoyed it too.

Next day only one hill - but this one was 9 kms to the pub Cliff wanted to visit 

"The Drunken Duck Inn" 

Believe it or not - This unofficial title dates back to Victorian years when a landlady of the Inn found her ducks lying stretched out in the road and concluded that they were dead. She began to pluck & prepare them for dinner. Down in the cellar a barrel had slipped its hoops and beer had gradually drained from the floor into the duck's feeding ditch. So they weren't dead, just drunk. According to local legend, the landlady, full of remorse for the rough treatment, provided the de-feathered birds with knitted waistcoats of Hawkshead yarn until their feathers grew back again.

Then hey - why not walk to another pub - great - what's another couple of kms.

We did get to see a tiny little fawn hiding in the ferns, it seemed all alone- no mother deer in sight.

After 18kms we were totally exhausted by the time we got home but at least Cliff didn't make me walk over another mountain. Rain was predicted for our last day - I can only hope :-)

AMBLESIDE - Lakes District

Eventually we arrived in Ambleside - once again another very pretty town - almost all houses & buildings in the town are made from stone.

Apparently a great area for walking, so if the weather permits we'll see just how many we do - but first - time to find a local establishment -  the White Lion Hotel looked inviting & happy to say we weren't disappointed.

Next morning - overcast but no rain - so off we set - once again Cliff found a walk - of all places - to a pub - problem being we needed to walk 6kms just to get to the pub - so off we set

Up a very steep road to start the climb to Loughrigg fell (mountain range) one advantage is we had great views of Lake Windermere.

then past Loughrigg tarn (mountain lake) 

The public pathways actually go through private farms - we even had to climb their stone walls

Finally we got to our destination - thank goodness it was on the downhill run  (I hate walking up hill, especially very steep hills)

Lovely pub - as the sign said "Comfort food for hungy fellwalkers" & believe me, I needed some comforting as I still had to walk back :-)

ON THE ROAD TO LAKES DISTRICT

After too many whiskies the night before, Cliff was unsure if he acutally saw a deer with extra large antlers but our hosts Felicity & Chris confirmed there had been a very large stag hanging around the town - plus - the legal alcohol limit in Scotland is .0375 - so it was my turn to drive - I was anxious  - even though we paid for me to be a driver, I didn't actually think I would have to drive. The road through Loch Lomond was absolutely incredible - it is indescribable -  and - the picture does not do justice to the sheer beauty and the size of the mountains. 

Once on the coast the sun was shining so we drove along trying to find a place to stay for the night, but to no avail.  We stopped at Dunure which would have made a great stopover -  sadly they were booked.

and the Dunure castle was a little too shabby to stay - it was lacking walls

So - on we went until we found a little town called Ballantrae - great pub with very friendly staff & pretty good accommodation - we got their last double room plus a very hearty breakfast was thrown in.

A walk along the beach at Ballantrae

 Nessie was feeling a little lost so far from home.

Off to the Lakes District tomorrow.