Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A Trip Up North
17-JUNE-2009:
Friday, 12-June-2009 - Saimun had been 'on the bench' for a week now and the past few days he had been planning a trip to the Lake District. He claimed to be 'very busy' even though he didn't need to go into the office - I think he meant going to the gym, checking out the library and reading newspapers in the coffee shop. Nevertheless, I have to admit that he did a pretty good job planning our trip.
I had to come home in the afternoon because of a GP appointment, which suited me just right so that I had time to pack and cook an early dinner. We had planned to drive up that evening itself. Saimun had booked a hotel so that we can spend the night halfway and continue the journey the next morning. The entire journey supposedly takes about 5 hours by road. We left at about 7:30pm and arrived at the hotel at 10:30pm. On the way, we made quite a number of stops for toilet breaks as we were traveling with a 3-year-old.
Saturday, 13-June-2009 - We woke in the morning, had breakfast and continued our journey. When you're traveling in a car with a toddler, be sure to drink lots of water. The endless questions made my mouth dry and exhausted. Every truck we passed, he asked what was in that truck and "I don't know" wasn't accepted for an answer. Surprisingly, once we were trailing behind small mini tanker truck, he asked if there was milk in it. I looked and there was the word "MOO" written on the tank. That was it. Nothing else. I reckon it did carry milk but how did he know that? He said he has seen it before. Apart from that, every bridge we passed, he asked if it was a foot bridge or a road bridge.
Finally, at about 11am, we arrived at this place called Windermere. We went to the train station first because we were supposed to meet up with some friends (3 friends to be exact) who would be taking a train up. The train arrived at 12pm and we made some 'high level plans', and then we went off on our own. Our friends (who don't have kids) wanted to do some sightseeing and hiking whereas we were more insterested in activities that are suitable for Dominic. And so we went off to the Lake District Visitor Centre.
If I'm not mistaken, Saimun mentioned that the Lake District Visitor Centre is a National Park. I remember thinking what a small National Park it was because I vaguely remember that our Taman Negara was much larger than that. On the other hand, it could be large, just that we didn't venture to those areas. There were buggies operating the area (for the older people), so I supposed the area must be large.
There was a children's playground and we spent some time there, then we headed off to the shore of Lake Windermere. Lake Windermere is humungous. It takes about 40 mins to drive from the top of the lake to the bottom (following the shore, that is). Here, we could only see part of the lake.
In the afternoon, we met up with Sor Fee, Gary and Sor Fee's brother for tea. A 'proper English high tea'. I've never had a proper English tea before but I have certainly eaten scones and drank tea. :-D In Malaysia, 'high tea' would mean lots of delicious cooked food and plenty of beautifully decorated cakes and dessert. It would also mean eat-all-you-can. I didn't have any expectations whatsoever but nevertheless we didn't eat lunch since the high tea was at 3pm. We also didn't expect to eat any dinner that night. What happened was there were coffee, tea, scones and cakes ... as predicted. There were also some sandwiches and that was it. We ordered 5 sets since there were 5 of us (adults). In actual fact, we could have just taken 3 sets. I can't imagine how anyone could have eaten so much sugar-laden cakes in one afternoon. Anyway, to cut the story short, we were stuffed but not satisfied. That evening, we took away good old fried rice from a Chinese restaurant.
The photo below shows our hotel room. The single bed was Dominic's and daddy told him that he could watch the stars while going to sleep that night. Unfortunately, by the time he was snoring, the sky wasn't dark yet and the next morning when he woke up the sun was already shining on his forehead. He remembered what his daddy had said and he complained about it.
Sunday, 14-June-2009 - Saimun wanted to go to this place called Tarn Hows (I kept hearing 'Town House' and had no idea what he was talking about). After breakfast and a little stroll by the lake, we drove off looking for Tarn Hows. It took us forever to find it because the sat nav didn't register the place. Anyway, I think it was worth it because it was really beautiful. There was a 2.5km hike path but of course I was in no condition for lengthy walks.
After lunch, we hired a rowing boat since Dominic was really excited about it. It only occurred to me that I have not actually rowed a boat before when I attempted it. It was good fun but was rather pissed that Dominic was charged even though he's only 3!
Later that afternoon, we went in search for this waterfall which required driving through a mountain. It was my favourite drive because the mountains were spectacular. Saimun said it looked like a scene from 'Braveheart' (but I've never seen Braveheart). Anyway, I've never seen anything like it before. Meanwhile, Dominic slept all the way.
From the car park, it was a 1/2 mile hike up hill to the waterfall, and then another 1/2 mile hike down hill back to the car. The hike was quite fun but the waterfall was disappointing.
Finally, we met up for dinner with Sor Fee, Gary and Peter. Chinese food, of course. It was our last evening there and tomorrow we would have a long drive home.
Tuesday, 16-June-2009 - Dominic said he wanted to go on a holiday again.
More photos at: http://sukye.multiply.com/photos/album/136/Lake_District
