aussiedreamer: Thanks for your candid opinion of Billy Elliot. I actually already booked us tickets to see Billy Elliot the Musical in September (I put off the decision long enough!) Since I've only seen one musical before, and my college-age daughters have never seen a live musical, we have nothing to compare it to! But we really liked the Billy Elliot movie.

I have seen musicals put on by high schools...but I'm not counting those! (-;

Good luck with getting caught up with your life so you can get to your trip report.

Ok, I'm back (again) I promise this time to get this finished.

An update..............DD#2 is home safe and sound. Planning to go again as soon as she can. Possibly to work in Europe for a while....sigh.

DD#2 & I had a lovely long weekend in Melbourne. WICKED was superb. We both really enjoyed it....she's now wondering how I top it next year.....sigh.

On to the trip,

We spent an hour or two in Plymouth having a look around, Mayflower step (which we had to ask someone to find..........as we walked past them several times) and then a walk along the waterfront.

Started heading in the general direction of Cornwall from there. Saw on the map that the Eden Project was 'on the way' so thought we would call in. Ummm again not wanting to be 'slammed' I don't get it. We accidently walked in (with a tour group) and didn't pay for which I felt quite guilty about. But after walking around for a while I got over it. Basically a garden centre. Or was I missing the point???? The cost to get in was £15 EACH!!! That seem quite high to us. Please let me know if we just 'didn't get it'.

Headed to Penzance, saw St Michaels Mont and walked over to it. The tide was low and quite impressive. The weather had been amazing and that day was beautiful, warm and clear blue skies. I found the walk up to the top quite hard. Me and Cobbles don't like each other. I think elderly people or anyone with any issues with feet, legs etc may find it hard. (I have some issues with feet and found it quite a struggle). Glad I did , but it was hard work. And I enjoyed the beer at the pub looking back at it, knowing I'd conquered it.

Used the laptop to find a B&B for the night in Penzance. There were quite a few to pick from so we just settled on one. The Con-Amore. Quaint and chintzy come to mind. It was really quite warm I'd say about 24 degs that day and when we checked in the land lady kept talking about the heat and how she didn't want to go outside as it was so hot. We tried not to laugh, 24deg in QLD is a balmy winters day (although today was only about 12 and we are all whinging!!!!)

Headed off for a walk and found a pub on the waterfront. Settled at a picnic table at the front watching the world go by. Struck up a conversation with a lovely young couple. Had a couple of drinks with them exchanging Aus/UK stories. (They told us to make sure we went to Tyntagel......glad we listened, but more later)

The suggested a little Italian place for dinner. Won’t go on too much about it only to say don't do it.......GINOS. Really bad, food was terrible and the wine was off, which they very kindly did not charge us for.

Back to our very 'flowery' room. (flowers on the wall, the bed, the ceiling, the lights, the mirror EVERYWHERE) had a wonderful sleep in a great bed and had a really lovely breakfast.

We decided that we would book into one of Rick Steins B&Bs for the next night and the Seafood Restaurant. So we headed off towards Padstow. Called into Lands End. Woh........nothing was open but we really enjoyed the walk around. What an amazing place, the wind was howling and it was freezing. Still clear skies which really added to a really special place.

Drove to Padstow via Truro and called into St Ives. Found the Portminster Cafe, which is run by an Aussie chef. Theres a show called the Beach Cafe on the food channel here that I had been watching. So it was a bit of a thrill to call in and have morning tea. Our first (of many) clotted cream tea. Just lovely, sat inside as it was a bit cool and blowy. Even managed a glimpse of the chef as we were leaving ;-).

Arrived in Padstow about noon. Parked on the water front at a pay and display station. Walked up the hill to St Pretocs B&B....WOH. All I’d expected, just beautiful. Took a walk around, it’s a lovely place. Walked up the hill and took in the lovely view of the bay. Found our way to Rick’s fish and chip shop, which is right by the Deli. Had lovely fish and chips...YUM and a Chalky's beer. Had a lovely look around the deli, decided we would come back later for a couple of souvenirs. (My sister is a chef and I was under instruction to 'take it ALL in and report back......ok, if I must)

Checked into our room which was just lovely. Had a rest before our dinner.........wanted to be able to enjoy every second of it.

Dinner was at 7 and from the moment we stepped in the door I knew it was going to be good. The service, the decor and the ambience were superb. We decided on the set tasting menu...woh. It was about 7 courses (all small but quite substantial) Just lovely. And surprisingly the wine list was at least 90% Australian...which made it easy for us . We sat in the conservatory for our coffee, looking out as the rain started to fall over the bay. Sigh, it was a really special night and we even got to bring the menu home as a souvenir. Walked back up the hill and slept like babies. Worth every cent.........every cent!!!

Woke and had breakfast in the Bistro. Our best of the whole trip, just beautiful. I guess it was 'just' another full English but there was nothing basic about it. Everything was lovely, especially the Bircher muesli. And they gave me the menu to keep. So we checked out and I just had to stand outside for a while and 'take it all in'.

We headed back down to the deli and bought two of Rick's books, one for me one for my sister. And the lovely thing is they are all signed. I know that some will think that the money we spent in one 24 hour period was a 'silly' splurge but for us, it was an absolute highlight and a memory I will always savour.

Aussiedreamer, I have really enjoyed your trip report.

We were in Plymouth in September 2001, and you couldn't miss the Mayflower Steps. The were absolutely covered in floral tributes and notes of sympathy. Very touching.

Thanks for the kind words carolyn, excuse my ignorance but is Sept. significant to the Mayflower steps? There was nothing to indicate until you got 'on top' of the steps.

aussiedreamer -

So happy that you came back to continue this really enjoyable trip report.

Your dinner sounds like a lovely time. Some experiences are priceless, no?

Author: aussiedreamer
Date: 07/28/2008, 07:36 pm

Thanks for the kind words carolyn, excuse my ignorance but is Sept. significant to the Mayflower steps? There was nothing to indicate until you got 'on top' of the steps.


I think carolyn was referring to the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11th.

Doh, sorry didn't click, of course. My apologies.

Drove to Tintagel (finnaly I know how to pronounce it correctly) woh, one of our fav' stops. Spent a few hours walking all over. It was a 'hard' walk but for me easier than St Michaels Mont as although it was steep the steps were pretty much even. Lots of people were giving up and going back, mostly height related I think. We loved it. Walked to a really remote cliff edge and sat and took in the great view. DH 'had' to walk out on the rocky outcrop..its his thing, has to walk out further than everyone else. Loves it. We really enjoyed the beer in the beer garden at the pub on returning up the hill.

A great day, one of those days you haven't really planned but was fantastic, another great memory.

Headed off in the general direction of Birmingham (although we never actually went there) as we'd booked ahead to a B&B, The Croftt at Hayleys Knob. (£60) Another querky one..........roses roses roses, but it was lovely. The Landlady met us at the door with a cheery "well, what do you want"???? I kid you not, it was really funny. She was actually lovely, just abrupt. Great bed....ok shower. She sent us in the general direction of a pub, we were surrounded by farms so it was lovely to come across a really nice pub.

The Falcon..........the meal was beautiful, Steak for him , spring lamb for me with the freshest peas and broad beans I think I have ever eaten. Washed down beautifully with a bottle of Penfolds.

Really nice breakfast in a lovely breakfast/sun room.

Next stop Stratford Upon Avon, Warwick csstle & Nottingham.

What a treat - great report, aussiedreamer!

We'll be heading to some of your destinations in the Spring. I anxiously await the reports for Nottingham and Warwick.

Thanks!

I'm back................no excuses just life. But I'm determined to finish and fill you in our our wonderful week in London............but before I get ahead of myself back to the trip.

Left our 'chintzy' B&B and drove towards Stratfod Upon Avon found a pay and display and off we went. Bought tickets to cover all the houses etc. Boy we enjoyed it. Joined in with some guided tours. Really made you think how things must've been 'back then', a very dingy dark hard life, but also good to see the New Place etc.

Had a walk around the town found the cutest little xmas shop.

Drove out to Ann Hathaways Cottage, just loved it all.

Next stop was Warwick castle. Gotta say we were a little disappointed. As impressive as the castle itself is, we found it all very commercialised. We did a tour, watched a Falconry display (which was great).

We had 'won' a hotel in Nottingham for the night, Park Plaza £60 on Priceline , so off we went.

Found the hotel without too much trouble and checked in. Nice enough hotel, a little old but we had a nice room and the best part on checking in..............there was a lovely bunch of flowers waiting. My amazing daughters had found my priceline receipt in my email program at home and sent flowers for Mothers day. Just lovely.

Headed off walking, and happened upon the Walkabout Pub (we found out later that its a chain of pubs, but none of the others were as good as this one). Had a couple of drinks and some dinner. Got chatting to the Barman (an aussie of course) and we were asking him where we may able to watch an Aussie football game. The state of origon between Qld and NSW. As it would be televised at midday local time he wasn't sure. but by the time we left he had convinced his boss to open early that day to show the game. Felt bad, we weren't going to be in Nottingham for it.

But it was a fun chatty night, had a great sleep, next stop Edinburgh, one of our favourite.

Headed off to Edinburgh, took us about 6 hours. We think we may have missed a turn somewhere as we nearly hit Glasgow before turning off towards Edinburgh. Made our way thanks to our now trusty Navman, to the city centre and the info centre. Loved the look of the city straight away. Funny how you can 'sum up' a place at a glance, not always correctly.

Spent sometime at the info centre looking for a B&B settle on one that kept getting top reviews. And we can see why. Aaron Lodge, Ted the landlord is a real character and gave us a good rate £60 per night we booked in for two. Checked in and Ted mentioned he would leave us to it but reccommended a pub for dinner, as he was watching a soccer game. So used the lovely big room to take all our luggage in and do a tidy up and a repack. The room was just lovely. Definately one of the best bathrooms of the trip and the bed was fantastic.

We watched the end of the soccer game and headed out to find a pub for dinner. Next thing we know Ted pulls up beside us in his car and insisted on driving us. Which was just lovely. We probably wouldn't have found the right one, Robyns Nest. So Ted dropped us off with instruction on how to walk home via a great old cemetary!

Great pub, great meal and a fantastic walk home through the old cemetary. We loved that it didn't get dark till after 10pm. Had a wonderful sleep in our king size bed c/w terrific pillows.

After a lovely breakfast Ted told us the bus numbers to catch into the city. Very handy, right outside Aaron Lodge. Got on a city circle tour, got off at the castle. What a fantastic day for it, the castle was shrouded in mist and it was cold. REally added to the atmosphere. Comletely enjoyed the whole experience. Jumped back on the city circle bus and the lady doing the commentary pointed out a church where they did great lunches down stairs.

Now if you knew us, you would know that thats not the sort of place we would normally eat. But off we went, down a flight of stairs. It was really busy as there was a book sale going on upstairs. So we shared a table with some locals and had a great mug of soup and bread for £3 each. Great fun.

On a different circle bus now and headed out to the Brittania. Enjoyed the bus ride seeing some of the outlying area. Glad we saw the Brittania but didn't bother to go on board. It was ages until the next cirlce bus came so we took our chances and got on a local bus. No problems. Changed buses in the city and headed back to Aaron Lodge. Sat in the Conservatory and had a cuppa and a shortbread and just relaxed. Went back to the same pub for dinner, lovely again.

After yet another lovely breakfast and a chat with Ted and a promise to report on Tripadvisor about our stay we were heading off towards Inverness.

I did report on Aaron Lodge on Tripadvisor (first one i've ever done) I would highly recommend this B&B and if we ever go back to Edinburgh we would definately stay there again.

Had a lovely drive to Inverness, snow on the mountains sun shining. Just lovely, stopped at a cafe (sorry I don't remember the name of the 'town') by a rambling river c/w ducks, really special. We weren't impressed with Inverness so we typed Glenmorongie (my favourite scotch ) into our Navman and off we went.

I'm so happy that you came back to finish your trip report!

Yes, me too! Can't wait for more!

Arrived at a little town called Tain, saw a nice looking B&B called the Morangie, like an old manor house. And wouldn't you know it, the landlord/manager had not been back long from Sydney. Very friendly and even discounted the rate the girl at the front desk had quoted. We got the room for £80, which we thought was ok for a night in a lovely old manor.

Unfortunately although the room was great and bed good, it wasn't really worth the money.

We checked in got directions to the distillery and off we went. On arriving we had just missed a tour, so we went off to explore Tain and get some supplies, and went back for the last tour of the day. Really enjoyed it, very informative. Especially liked the gift shop ;-) where we bought a 'few' souvineers for ourselves and some fellow scotch drinkers back home. Including our new neighbour who very kindly offered to keep and eye on the house and to be there if the girls needed anything............ money well spent as it turns out!!!!!!

So after tasting some single malts (& realizing I do like a little mixer with my scotch) we headed back to shower for dinner. Decided we would eat in the restaurant at the Morongie. Sigh, not a great plan as it happens. Terrible service , ordinary food and quite expensive. So all in all, the Morongie looked great but didn't really live up to our expectations.

But we had a great night sleep and okay breakfast. But on returning to our room after breakfast I had about 20 missed calls on my phone. I instantly knew, that it was going to be bad news. Funny though when you are so far from home, you don't panic, you can't. The only thing to do is deal with it as best you can.

I immediately rang DD#1 (the instigator of the missed calls) and she rather calmly told me she was racing home from work as DD#2 (who had just got home from work and felt uneasy in the house on her own) had rung to see what time she would be home and while talking on the phone realized all the insect screens in the house had been cut. DD#1 told her to get her phone and keys and get out of the house. she did, and ran to the neighbor, who later told me she took some time to calm down.

He left her at his house and came over and checked the house out. It didn't appear anyone had actually got in. So by now, DD#1 is at the neighbors, and their auntie (who they also called) was also there.

So now I'm on the phone to the neighbour and we decided we should definately call the police. Who very kindly showed up within the hour.

It appears "he" had tried every window in our home, sliced the screens open and tried to lift the windows out. He'd taken remotes that open the garage, keys that were on the inside of the gates (not anymore there not!!!) and had himself a drink from an old fridge we keep in the garage. DNA and finger prints everywhere. So they got him.

Its great how people come through for you. The girls stayed with their auntie for a night, till they decided not to let "him" get to them. Another friend arranged to have all the locks changed in the gates and the neighbor told them to go to his house when they got home from work and he would walk them home. Just lovely. Unfortunatley they didn't sleep very well for quite a while.....really scared them knowing that they had been in bed asleep while "he" was wondering around down stairs. But I do keep telling them how lucky we all were, he didn't get in, not like the 7 other houses he 'did over' that night!

Wont even discuss that I have a large dog!!!! Ok Ok he is 14 year old Labrador, who probably was oblivious to the whole thing. sigh.

So with heavy hearts we headed off for our next stop Loch Ness.

I was just thinking, if I'm not careful I may actually get this report finished ha ha ha. Just to let you know its Sunday afternoon here in Brisbane on Fathers day. Its a perfect QLD spring day, clear blue skies a slight breeze and about 20degs. Theres a distinct smell of freshly cut grass and bacon & eggs (it is fathers day) in the air. Doesn't get much better than this

Anyway on with the trip...............

We love Loch Ness and Urquart Castle. The weather which had been almost perfect the whole trip was outdoing it self this day. Just a magical day. For us the highlight of Urquart Castle and Loch Ness was the staff member who we started chatting to. I asked him (very obvious I know) if he had ever seen Nessie? Well, half an hour later...... apparently he 'had' been sceptical but his MATE at the pub told him about his siting and he was a firm believer from that day on. Cause he had no reason to doubt his mate, so it must be true.

I took a lot of photos, what I would have given for a dark shadow to have appeared on one of them...sigh.

So we set Navman for the Isle of Skye. Why? Why not? What a great drive, definately DH's favourite. Beautiful mountains & valleys, a bit of snow and lots of baron open spaces. We stopped at Kyle of Lachalsh (sp?) for great fish n chips (you english do this very well) sitting on the edge of the dock. Crossed the Skye Bridge which is rather impressive and just kept driving. We went as far as Sligachan (sp?) and decided to head back to a B&B we had spotted.

Woh what a find, just fantastic. I think it was called the Broadford, its just as you drive into Broadford on the right, right on the bay. Just a beautiful little white cottage.

On checking (£50)in and chatting to the landlord and telling him I was now desperate for a laundry he pointed us to an Esso service station with a great laundromat attached. and offered the use of his clothes line for anything I didnt' want to put in the dryer.

So off we went, did about 4 loads of washing at once and headed to the pub to wait. There was much talk of a football game that would be on that night, Rangers vs Russia I believe. So we hung our washing out , did our usual internet research for the next day, while sitting in a beautiful little sunroom and then headed off to the pub for dinner and the football. Woh, another of DH's highlights. What a great atmosphere. We don't know lot about soccer but just to be with the locals was great fun. Unfortunately the Rangers were defeated so the night ended a little sombre. But a great meal and a great night. Slept like babies in our beautiful bed so high I had to 'climb' up to it.

Please if you are looking for a B&B in that area, I can't recommend it enough. A fantastic breakfast in a beautiful dining room overlooking the bay, just terrific.

Our host suggested we drive to Armadale and catch the ferry back, instead of the bridge. Awsome, just spectacular. It was a clear day, but really really cold. The water was like a sheet of glass as we cruised across to Mallaig. And absolutely stunningly beautiful ferry ride.

So now we punch in Glasgow and off we go. We had seen so many sign to say beware of Deer and hadn't seen any, when we saw a nature reserve c/w deer we pulled in. We walked and walked it was just lovely. But alas, no deer.

As we approached Glasgow we stopped and pulled out the laptop and went to a site we think it was laterooms.com and looked for somewhere to stay. There was this place Dalmeny Park Hotel. It looked gorgeous, but it did say regular price £250!!!!! but there was a special for £49 for a regular double or £59 for a four poster double. We didn't think it could be right so we rang for a quote and yep, £250 per night. So we madly booked it on line for the four poster room. What a great find, just lovely, beautiful grounds c/w lovely gardens. The room was amazing stunning actually. We headed to a pub down the road Table Table I believe it was called and had a great dinner.

Spoke to our good friend in Northhampton (expat working in archeology in the UK) and she suggested that we not miss Hadrians wall. So after an okay breakfast we checked out (where they only charged us £49 in the end ) and headed towards Carlisle.

Hope I'm not boring you all too much, but I'm on a roll.

Well, keep it coming then!

BTW, how frightening for your girls! Thank goodness nothing truly bad happened, but scarey none the less. Times like those are when you discover the true nature of your neighbors.

beautiful report.. do you have pictures up somewhere?

thank you,
S

Thanks for the feedback, its does mean a lot.

No I don't have any photos 'up', never really done that, but boy I have some beautiful ones. Maybe when I finaly finish this report (& I will finish ;-))I will do that.

Back soon...............