Thursday 19th August - York

I'm not sure which hill the Grand Old Duke marched his troops up, but he wouldn't have got too many on top of this one

The Castle on the Mound

As we drove through the city you could see a lot of the castle ruins and town wall still remaining. We stopped once again and walked down by the riverside and also up along the top of the castle walls. It was funny seeing these old ruins surrounded by newer homes and shops.


Inside the castle wall where we walked


Some of the outside of the castle wall

We decided to take the motorway across country to Blackpool. About half way along we passed a very 'bent up' push bike in the middle lane which had obviously fallen off the back of a car. The motorway was very busy so it was impossible to stop and move it. Almost immediately a police car entered the motorway from a junction, put on his lights and a sign saying 'Do Not Pass' and slowed down the three lanes of traffic to about 30 MPH. Geoff figured he must have been looking for the bike so he tried to pull up beside this fine member of the constabulary to tell him that we'd already passed it. The policeman thought he was trying to pass him, was not impressed and pulled us over. After a quick explanation the policeman decided that possibly not all Australians are criminals and quickly headed back to find the bike.

Blackpool
Blackpool is the home of the famous Blackpool Illuminations and of course Blackpool Rock. As usual, we drove into the town not knowing where we were going to be staying that night but knew we wanted to be near the beach (what beach?) so we drove along the promenade looking for a decent place to stay. Amazingly Geoff recognised the place where he had stayed 36 years ago (Norbreck Castle) so we thought we'd call in and see if they had a room available. The guy at the counter thought it was funny when Geoff asked for a 15% discount as per their return discount policy! Unfortunately they didn't honour it, but we still managed to get a free upgrade to a jacuzzi room. Norbreck Castle is a huge place and it reminded us of a large cruise ship with buffet meals, movie theatre, games and entertainment.

The next morning we caught a tram along the promenade looking at the amazing displays of lights. This place must really chew up some power, no wonder they had a big windfarm out in the middle of the Irish Sea. We got off at the 'tower' and did the usual Blackpool thing of playing the amusements, going on some themepark rides and walking the pier. The ride on the Ferris Wheel seemed extra special because we were on Blackpool Pier and had great views of the tower and the promenade.


The Beach!


The lights on the Promenade


Geoff wins on the camels

Friday 20th August - Liverpool.

This place was a pleasant surprise, we really only wanted to come here to get a feel for some of the British musical history of the place such as Merseyside and of course 'The Cavern' - the place where the Beatles first played together. The Cavern itself was amazing, it was hidden well underground in the basement of an old warehouse and it resembled a small dark subway station.

But there was also so much more to Liverpool. The Albert Dock and the old buildings around the maritime museum together with the mix of the old and new buildings throughout the city really did work ok in this place. It was definately a lot nicer than we expected.


The Cavern


The Mersey