Left the hotel and did a Tiki Tour
(unintentional) to Dublin airport. It was pretty easy getting there
and dropping the car off. Prior to Security, we had to consume the
last of the water in a water bottle, but other than that, it was
pretty painless.
We landed at Manchester at 3:10 but due
to the delays, it was 4:45PM before we were heading north. The
biggest delays were at the rental car company, Europcar. They were
hopeless. They had only a few staff on, and couldn't find keys to
cars to hand out. On top of that they they had no maps and suggested
asking Avis.
We ended up with a well worn 1.7 litre
VW Vetta. Other than it having a mechanical handbrake, we were
totally spoilt in the Volvo and there is no comparison between the two.
The weather was brilliant, despite JP's forecast. Bright sun and blue skies, but cool in the shadows.
The track North to Carlisle was pretty
good. Once we cleared Manchester's traffic, we sat on 70 mph
(115kph) all the way. Called into a service area and picked up a map.
After checking into the Ibis hotel, we
had a pizza. The area around the hotel seems a bit rough, lots of
unloved shops, plenty of eateries and second hand shops and not much
else. It's quite a change from Ireland on the streets too. There
we never saw a boy racer, but every third car is one here.
The APRS was working and you can see
some of my track on www.aprs.fi
search for ZL1LC, but it seems to have stopped part way. That may be
our power connector as we have a splitter for the cigarette lighter.
We'll have another play tomorrow.
Our plans for the next few days are up
in the air. We were going over to the East coast, but that's been
cancelled, so we will probably wander around the Lake District.
The bandwidth in the hotel is terrible
so no photos today.
Hi Jim and Lynette, this is very much Zoe's territory here, she is from Lancaster and lived nearby the lake district for many years. we have done many walks near Ingleton and the 3 peaks as well as going to the lakes (Windermere and Ambleside), these are quite touristic destination but the scenery is beautiful on a clear day with stones houses and walls going up and down the hills separating the different properties. very historical as well with the battles between the red rose of Lancashire and the white rose of Yorkshire. Up in the Dales, you will find the country of Wallace and Gromit with the infamous cheese....Windslydale.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your stay up there and the strong accent. they like their dark beer and don't articulate as much. I remember working in a pub over there on auction day and couldn't understand much of the local, likely they all drink the same beer and always have the exact change that they push on the counter when they need a refill.