Snowden mountain Train ride

a train ride to the summit on a beautiful sunny day in Wales

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Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

the place in Wales with the bloody long name

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northern Ireland to Dublin

it was goodbye to Aunty Pat who looked after us for 2 nights.

then we had great weather all the way down to Dublin. We passed through the mountains of Morne, but it proved quite boring compared to the lake district, so we hurried to Dublin and had a wander around the pub area called the Temple Bar. photo of the bar with the same name. it was a bit too loud and packed to take the kids in.

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rope bridge

not far from the giants causeway is a little rope bridge to an island used by the local fishermen for over 300 years. the bridge is new.

it was so windy, Lila was nearly blown of. I was hanging onto her for dear life and quietly shitting myself. Amy just walked no hands with no fear with Ollee in a sling.

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The Giants Causeway

the unusual rock formations of the north coast of Nth Ireland. terrible windy day but it didn't rain. warned
was basically as cold as Canberra today. they don't really have much summer here.

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ferry to Northern Ireland

no pics today as we drove 3 hours up to Scotland to catch the ferry to take our car over to Nth Ireland to visit Aunty Pat, who I hadn't seen since 1987. she still looks a lot like my late mum. could have passed for sisters. even Lila looks  bit like her when she was young.

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last day in Lancashire

it was quite a relaxing day, but still did quite a bit.

- went to the Lancaster crematorium and visited my grandparents. Lila and I scattered the last of my mums ashes there. we decided to do it informally and avoid the costly £85 to have the pleasure to do it with some official.

we spent lunch back on the beach at Morecambe Bay for the kids. it cooled down a lot after the sunny morning. the locals were still in their shirts.

then we drove over to the west Yorkshire Dales and found the famous Ribblehead viaduct built for the railway in the 1800s. we followed our noses for a bit and found another hidden bridge but ended up in some very narrow one lane farm roads. maybe should have heeded the local traffic only sign, but then we would have missed the great drive down the glacial carved valley.

Northern Ireland tomorrow. we take the car on the ferry.

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Lancaster

we had a short visit to my grandparents city of Lancaster.

pictured is the Priory where my grandpa's funeral service was held in 1975. Lancaster castle is next door.

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Morecambe Bay

Morecambe Bay is a popular holiday destination, and is a few minutes up the road from my grandparents old house.

the statues in the photo includes the famous England comedian Eric Morecambe. the lake district is in the background.

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cruise on Lake Windermere

this was a very popular tourist destination.

we were lucky with the weather as it had been raining all morning and all the previous day with forecast for more. turned out to be sunny, but we still needed to rug up.

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Honnister Pass

we finally made it to Honnister Pass up north in the Lake District of Cumbria.

I wanted to go here after I found a postcard from the place my grandparents had sent my mum in the 50s or 60s on their holidays. very dramatic glacial landscape.

Lila and I sprinkled some more of my mums ashes. she's in a few good spots now

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castlerigg stone circle

I found this place by accident with my mum in 2002. it was well worth the visit again for the views. Lila and I sprinkled some if her ashes by the rock in the 2nd pic.

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castlerigg stone circle

amazing views

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good bye mid lands, hello lancaster

we said goodbye to uncle Ian & aunty Rosemary, and the midlands region of England were my grandparents & mother grew up, and where I was born.

we were so well looked after by Rosemary.

we've now arrived in the north west, near Lancaster, after traveling through the beautiful Peak District. unfortunately it was raining hard all the way up so we didn't walk up the mountain to the castle remnants.

we are staying in a nice villa next to the Lancaster canal (see pic). will visit my grandparents old street tomorrow unless the weather fines up and we'll go up to the Lake District.

pouring hard now.

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