London At Last

The last stop of our motorhome trip. We had wanted to park at Crystal Palace Caravan Site but we ended up parking at 3rd Uncle’s place at Eeling. It turned out to be a good decision as baby fell sick in London and we had the support from 3rd uncle and aunt to take care of poor baby.

We didn’t do much in the end because baby was sick. We only managed to walk around Oxford Street and Soho on the first day in London as a family. On the second day, me and wifey took turns going out to meet up with our friends in London while baby slept the whole day.

Here’s Bevan and I at Belgo, an award wining Belgium restaurant in Leicester Square.

This is what I had for dinner, Fish & Chips in Hoegarden batter washed down with Del Konik, a bit overfried I thought.

Miffies staring out of the window sill in 3rd Uncle’s apartment in Eeling while their mistress stayed at home to convalesce.

Here’s the whole family outside the caravan at Flamstead, just before we returned the caravan.

Troutbeck Caravan Site

This was our base for our stay in Ulswater. Troutbeck Caravan Site is one of the most beautiful caravan site during our trip. It is located in a valley surrounded by foothills. The facility is clean and well laid out, although it was more expensive than expected.

Here is our caravan parked at Troutbeck. Wonder what baby is up to…


We took a steamer ride from Glenridding on the northern shore of Ulswater to a little town on the southern shore called Howtown. The hike around Howtown was easy and a slight change in terrain. It is not as rough as the previous days, but pretty in a simple rural way.

Here’s Ulswater from Howtown.

Rydal Water and Grasmere

This is where William Wordsworth, the literary creative juice lived for some time to. Rydal Water and Grasmere was supposed to have provided the inspiration of his many poems.

Family photo with Rydal Water in the background


Grasmere


Big baby drinking milk outside Dove Cottage.

Coniston, Lake District

I have been walking to the Lake District at least three times before and have enjoyed every single moment of it. It is however the first time I come here with wifey and big baby.

This is wifey in with Lake Coniston in the background in her walking regalia.

This is big baby after lunch.

We didn’t really plan our walking route that day as we assumed Coniston Old Man was too tough a nut to crack. In the end, we decided to walk up the path and see how far we went. This is a view from the foothills of the Old Man.

We walked for about 2 hours and reached a lake. Kudos to wifey for the climb as she has to carry the little baby (I was carrying the big baby).
This is a cute picture of wifey and big baby resting by a lake midway up to the Old Man.

It was about 5 pm by the time we descent and got back to Park Coppice, totally neckered.

Haworth, Bronte County

We had hope that we can save some money on accommodation by renting a motor caravan and doing free camping. So after driving 4 hours from Cambridge the previous day, we decided to do try some free camping along a driveway. Anyway we were too tired to hunt for a caravan site which was invariably in some ulu locality.

It was quite an experience as we couldn’t really find a place we think is safe. We actually spent 2 hours searching for a good place to park for the night. It was either too quiet, too open or at some places downright eerie. At least we concluded that we should not try any free camping unless absolutely necessary. The Caravan Site is a place where we can park for the night with a peace of mind.

Fortunately, nothing eventful happened the previous night and we woke up in the Yorkshire morning rain, ready to explore Haworth, Bronte Country.

I am not a big fan of the Bronte sisters who wrote some of the greatest English Classics like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre (only because I have not read their books). But I did enjoy the atmosphere of small little town set in the Yorkshire Moors, which provided the literary inspiration for their works.




Day Summary.
11am Arrived at Haworth Train Station.
12.30 pm Visited Bronte Parsonage Museum
3 pm Set off for Park Coppice Caravan Site in Coniston.

Adieu Cambridge

Cambridge is a beautiful place. No doubt about it. I remember the heavy heart I left Cambridge with in 2000 after spending 4 memorable years there... This is the first time i have been back for 6 years and all the memories spent wandering round the streets, standing on the bridge watching the punters, racing down to the department on my bike all came back. Alas

Memories...punts moored between Trinity College and Trinity Hall.

A view from Garrett Hostel Lane Bridge

We also caught up with wifey's 4 shen and cousin.

Tim & Margaret's Wedding

22 Sep 06, our third day in Cambridge and Tim and Margaret's big day, the purpose we came to Cambridge. The day started on a wet note and the infamous unpredictability of the English weather finally hit us. After a few days of excellent weather, the clouds changed and the whole day was interrupted by drizzle and shower. It certainly did not make our life easy, having to avoid the rain so that baby does not get wet.

I am extremely grateful that Tim and Margaret graciously invited us to their wedding. I enjoyed the wedding thoroughly, especially the company at the dinner table, catching up with the Tit Hall engineers, Julie and Ed and the big nostalgic trip of eating in Hall again with Joseph as the ever trustworthy maitre'd.

Summary:
12 pm - Church wedding service at St Andrew's Baptist Church
1 pm - Lunch reception
3 pm - Went to Robert Sayles in Grafton Center to buy a big pink miffy.
5 pm - Cocktails and picture taking in Latham Court, Trinity Hall


7 pm - Dinner Reception in Hall.

Looking For Miffy in Cambridge

Another objective for this UK trip is to look for more Miffy for baby. Miffy is hard to come by in US and baby is such a BIG Miffy fan that we want to buy more for her, especially when it is so much more available in the UK. Call it pampering, or pursuing our childhood, but it was really quite fun to reacquaint with toys again.

Of course how can I not mention the importance of catching up with old friends. Here is Mei Peng and I at Dojo where we had lunch.

Day Summary:
AM - packing to go out. yes, it took the whole morning to get everyone ready
12 pm - Lunch with Mei Peng at Dojo
PM - Walking tour of Cambridge, the big Miffy hunt
Night - Night out to find parking and Tesco

Classic shot of the Bridge of Sighs in St John's College

UK Motorhome Trip - Cambridge Day 1

We lots of luck, we managed to squeeze in a holiday in UK during the relocation from US. The main reason was to attend the wedding of one of my university mate, Tim Winchcomb to Margaret, Both of whom had flown over to Singapore to attend my wedding. We also took time to visit friends, relatives in UK.

To say that me and wifey are familiar with UK is an understatement as we spent 4 years each here. Therefore, to make the trip more interesting, we rented a 6 berth motorhome to drive around the UK. It does not necessarily work out cheaper than staying in hotels and B&B but with 6 pieces of luggage and the thoughts of packing an unpacking everytime we move, it was definitely a good choice.

A summary of our main activities that days is as follows.

20 Sep 06
7 am - Arrival in London Heathrow
1 pm - Collected our Motorvan from Justgo in Flemsted, Hertfordshire
5pm - Arrival in Cherry Hinton Caravan Club Site for the next 3 nights

Spent the rest of the night figuring how things work in the motor caravan and organising our belongings in the confines of the caravan.

A picture of the motorhome.

Cherry Hinton, a little precint near Cambridge where we stayed.
At Tim and Margaret's wedding.