'Up Over'...The story so far.
2nd Aug - 3rd Aug: Brisbane to Manchester.We flew from Brisbane to Dubai in just under 14 hours, flying over Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. We had seats at the back of the plane but found it slightly noisier due to the engines than we have in the past. Will had quite a good sleep but I only probably managed a couple of hours. At Dubai we were bussed to the terminal by the most circuitous route ever that I began to suspect they were driving us to Manchester. On boarding our flight to Manchester we found a small elderly Indian/Pakistani lady entombed in silken robes as if she was already embalmed sitting in the aisle seat. She did not look up or open her eyes as we tried to get into our seats and we ended up stepping over her. It was a good four hors before she showed signs of life as she slumped forward to sleep with her head upon the TV screen. Will and I were thinking we would never get out to the loo for the whole seven hour flight but after awhile she slumped back into her seat and we leapt up and stepped over her again.I watched 7 films on the flights from Australia; Pitch Perfect 3, Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, The Post, The Greatest Showman, Molly's Game, Wonder and Ferdinand.There was a huge queue as usual at Manchester through passport control but we both managed to negotiate the e-passport gates fairly quickly.We caught a train from the Airport to Wigan then changed to the Glasgow train getting off at Carlisle. Mum was there to meet us.Saturday 4th Aug:Will and I went a walk through the countryside around Mum's house. We went to visit Dad at Wetheral[gallery ids="32688,32518" type="rectangular"]On Saturday evening we went over to my brother Rod's and my brother James came with his family and we all had a Chinese takeaway and a good catch-up.
Sunday 5th to Wednesday 8th August: Edinburgh.On Sunday we caught a train in the afternoon up to Edinburgh. Lewis and Nathan met us at Waverley Station and we went out for a lovely Thai meal. Edinburgh was packed for the start of the Edinburgh Festival. I had planned and pre- booked much of our trip but had not sorted anything out to see and do in Edinburgh. We booked some things on the Sunday night and on the Monday we managed to see four shows. Our first was at The Assembly Rooms on George St and was a juggling show, 'Gibbon', which was very clever. We thought the second show was there too but discovered twenty minutes before it started that it was across the city at George Square gardens. We had a stressful, mad dash across the packed city and made it to the show just in time. The second show, 'Djuki Mala', was a dance show performed by a group of Aborigines from the Northern Territory. Our third show of the day was a musical show entitled 'Thor and Loki' which was very good. Our final show was at The Pleasance near Lewis's flat. We saw Gyles Brandreth shuffle past as we went in. Our final show of the day was 'Richard Todd; We need the eggs.' It was stand up comedy which was a bit frenetic but we laughed.
On Tuesday our first show was a Best of the Fest show where you can get a taster of four shows on at the Fringe. It was very popular and we were crammed into the Spiegeltent. One of the acts was a woman who impersonated other singers and she was brilliant. Our second show was back at the Assembly rooms and was a play entitled 'A Joke' with Sylvester McCoy and Robert Picardo. We had dinner in the evening at Cosmo, an all you can eat buffet style restaurant with dishes from around the World which leaves you feeling ashamed of entering such a den of gluttony!Our last show was 'The Importance of Being Ernest' performed by three Aussie men and it was a hoot!We left Edinburgh on the Wednesday morning and caught the train back to Cumbria.Thursday 9th - Friday 10th August: Manchester.On Thursday we set off at 9.00 am and drove down to Chorley and dropped Mum off at the Preston Temple before Will and I drove to Hoghton Tower near Preston to meet Sherrie and Sue, two friends from when I taught in Germany between 1993 and 1994. We got there at 11.00 and waited in the carpark for the other to arrive. Sue arrived about 11.15 and we waited until 11.45 for Sherrie until we discovered that she was already there and had been waiting up at the Tower since before 11.We had a lovely day catching up. We had lunch and then went on a tour of the Tower lead by Eric, who reminded me of Dobbie, the House Elf from Harry Potter. The tour was very interesting. King James the First had stayed there and it was where he knighted a piece of beef hence the name 'Sirloin'. It would appear, according to Eric, that William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens had also visited at some time in the past.
On Thursday evening we went to my sister Zoe's to see her family and we had another Chinese takeaway.On Friday we took Mum visiting family and friends around where she used to live. We visited Uncle Harry, Auntie Beryl and Cousin Bev, then Auntie Joan and later Grandpa Jim.
My sister Zoe, Mum and Great niece Alexia.
Saturday 11th - Sunday 12th August: Bristol.On Saturday we drove down to Bristol to visit my youngest bother Andrew and his family. The journey down the M6 and M5 took us about five and a half hours though we did stop off at a Garden Centre on the way and there was some congestion due to road works.On the Sunday we had a lovely day. Andy drove Mum, Will and I down to Glastonbury where we climbed the Tor while Mum read her book in the car. We collected her for a wander around the Well of the Chalice and then we drove to Wells for lunch and wandered around the Cathedral. The Cathedral is magnificent and our visit was made more memorable by the choir who were practising inside. We went back to Andy's for a roast dinner in the afternoon.
Monday 13th August: Cumbria. (Today).Today we set off after breakfast from Bristol and drove all the way back to Carlisle. We set off about 10.30am and got home to Mum's about 5.30 pm. We stopped again at the Garden Centre and stopped again for lunch and there was some pretty bad congestion on the M6. It is alarming to see that they are expecting delays until 2022(!) while they upgrade the motorway to a Smart Motorway. The only thing that seems smart to me is to avoid that motorway all together if you can!