Sep 14, 2010 - Bus broke down

Today I woke up feeling a bit under the weather after the drinks I had the night before. However I soldied on and we joined the others downstairs for our usual full English breakfast. I’ve noticed that all of the breakfasts we’ve had so far have had similar food items, apart from the usual toast, fruit and cereal: fried eggs, scrambled eggs, cooked tomato, bacon, pork sausages, roast potatoes or hash browns, black pudding, croissants and dinner rolls. After breakfast, we boarded the coach and it was quite cold and wet. Apparently the coach...

Sep 12, 2010 - More from Lancashire

Well another week down. Hard to believe that I have been in Lancashire for a month. With rain forecast for the weekend I set myself up with DVD's and books. I did manage to venture to Liverpool to look at the Heritage Open Day. Unfortunately most places were not open as they required pre-booking. However I did enter the bluecoat which is a 300 year old building that is now home to sweet shops, gallery and restaurant. I braved the rain to the pier where the museum of international slavery and marine life. It was very well presented and...

Sep 5, 2010 - Blackpool let down, the party is in Ormskirk

Well with most kids back at school the weather remained sunny. Our trip to Blackpool was indeed a let down. I did not get to see Robbie Williams flick the switch for the illumination. In fact the first night of the annual event was a flop- everyone wondering aimlessly and not so much as a count down could be heard. The lights suddenly appeared followed swiftly by a mass exodus. Even the town was tacky, the neon didn't impress me much nor did the Mingers. However Blackpool is yet another experience that I can tick off. As for Ormskirk (the...

Aug 30, 2010 - Living it up in Liverpool- Bank Holiday

The working week has come and gone almost as quickly as the first and I am finding my way around easier but still need some more time to get familiar with systems. The NHS is getting a pretty hard battering at the moment- especially with media exposure. Still with a long bank holiday weekend things are looking up. I have regained by faith in the BBC, it's prediction of fine weather was mostly correct although didn't stop me from missing a downpour on the way to the train station. I really love trains- easy to negotiate and relaxing. In...

Aug 26, 2010 - Liverpool

When we rented a car and toured England, we skipped Liverpool. Except for the fact that the Beatles grew up here, we didn’t hear anything about this crumbling, commercial city that would make us want to visit. In the 1800’s Liverpool was a commercial powerhouse. Cunard and White Star had their headquarters here; many of the Titanic passengers boarded here. Many of the immigrants who went to the New World left from here. Much of the trade brought back from the New World was unloaded here. But as containerized ships took over, the loss of...

May 24, 2010 - Cuckoo in the Quarry

On 8 May we took the Mersey Tunnel into Liverpool, home of the Beatles and parked at Albert Dock with its cast iron columns and 5-story warehouses—a World Heritage Site. Gail waited for me at the entrance to the “Beatles Story” exhibition while I went back for my camera. When I returned there was a line of people waiting to get into the Beatles attraction and “All You Need Is Love” was playing. I came up to Gail and we did a little dance together—women smiled but one man didn’t look too happy about us. Oh well, my missionary work continues...

Apr 29, 2010 - Day 15 - Double Decker ride

After Fran and Mark headed off to work this morning we braved the former murder capital of London (yes, Hackney has that dubious title!) and caught the doubledecker bus into the city. Will loved it! He kept looking out the window saying 'are we on a decker!' and 'oh it's a taxi!' (you can imagine how many taxi's we saw on our 35 minute journey!). We 'landed' at Tottenham Court Road and decided to try our luck at another Sports Direct (it would seem I am someone of a sadist in my shopping habits) - this time we were in luck. I wouldn't...

Apr 28, 2010 - Day 14 - Theme Parks and Theatre

We spent the morning packing everything as best as possible. We seem to have significantly increased the amount of stuff we have - packing to go back to Australia should be very interesting! The boys headed off once the car was packed making their way to Thorpe Park (yes, another theme park!) and Bella and I made our way into the city to pick up our tickets for the theatre performance of 'Wicked'. Once we had the tickets we made our way back to Oxford Street and I had a little drool in the Liberty store then we wandered off to Hamley's....

Apr 26, 2010 - Day 12 - Back in London

After another lovely filling breakfast thanks to the Express Holiday Inn chain we loaded the car ready to leave Liverpool and make our way back to London. I have to say we have been very impressed with both Express Holiday Inn hotels that we have stayed in. They have been more than comfortable (great showers which are hard to come by here in the UK) with perfect facilities for a family, and all inclusive of breakfast. The prices are great - our first night only cost us the equivalent of $88! I have to say that I had mixed feelings leaving...

Apr 24, 2010 - Day 10/11 - Liverpool

Once again, no luck getting out of the door before 10am. I had my cranky pants on big time. It was nice to get in the car and turn the radio on and leave the kids to it in the back seat! We set our ‘Kate’ (GPS Kate that is, not the real Kate) to take us to Liverpool and sat back. Ryan is very taken with GPS Kate and I think I am in danger of being replaced in his affections by her. He is gradually learning to trust her and is realising that, like most women, she is always right. He tried to show some initiative by taking a slip road and...

Sep 12, 2009 - Paul's visit

We were up early again today as we have to pick up Anne’s brother Paul from Liverpool airport. Paul lives and works on the Isle of Mann and is flying over to join/party with us for the weekend. His flight was delayed for over an hour due to dense fog in Liverpool, but once he arrived it was back to Ma’s house for what is fast becoming the traditional ‘bacon buttie’ breakfast. Paul had a surprise for Owen & LeAnne, he had been able to get 2 tickets to todays premier league English soccer game between Liverpool and Burnley. The league is...

Jul 26, 2009 - made it

Well, our "three hour" drive was finally accomplished yesterday afternoon, and here we are in Liverpool. Took us 25 hours! Towed off the M6 by a very nice British AA guy. I was driving when the clutch failed on the car, so that was part of the adventure. The tow truck driver also helped us get our (massive) luggage to a hotel. Then began the epic hunt for a replacement car. They were happy to give us one -- only there weren't any because it was a big school holiday weekend here. Many phone calls ensued. Finally, a car found in Telford,...