Mum and Paul visit Terrington

Mum and Paul flew into Leeds airport late on Friday and came to stay in Terrington on Saturday. We had hoped that Sophie would arrive from Ardeche shortly after Mum and Paul - but Sophie's flight was cancelled and the class ended up on a train back to Paris, a 6am flight on Monday and a long drive back to Terrington on Monday arvo. In the meantime, Will left on Sunday arvo for a cricket trip to Scotland.

Mum, Paul, John, Will and I spent Sunday morning at Castle Howard and had pizza for dinner in Malton. On Monday, we looked around Sheriff Hutton and had lunch at the Lavender Farm, then collected Sophie from school. Will was sick on Tuesday, so John stayed home with him and Mum, Paul and I drove across the moors through Grosmont to Whitby, where we had fish, scampi and fishcakes for lunch overlooking the ocean. I then took Mum and Paul down to Robin Hood's Bay and Ravenscar, where John and I walked the previous week. We called into the shops in Malton and picked up some chicken and salad for dinner.

Mum and Paul came with John and I into York for a look around - Parliament Street, Shambles Market and past Bettie's tearoom. They then drove on to Leeds (from the Park and Ride) for a return the following day to Amsterdam and on to Warsaw. They are joining an organised tour through Russia before heading home - and are very keen to see Moscow and St Petersburg.

Despite being too sick for school on Tuesday, Will's energy returned enough for him to go to the school water fight. Sophie also had an evening out. The week has flown. Today (Thursday), Sophie has gone to Wimbledon and is watching the match on Court 2 and Will has had an 'ordinary' day at school. John and I have - almost - finished the Europe travel bookings and went to Welburn for a cuppa.

School website photo - Sophie returns from Ardeche - finally!

Sophie's dinner on the Ardeche return

Will and his Gran at Castle Howard playground

Great to see polo at Castle Howard

Will ready to go to cricket at Loretto School in Scotland

Sophie arrives back in Terrington

Mum and Paul on the moors

Mum on the moors above Goathland

Steam train at Grosmont

The barque endeavour at Whitby

Changing huts on the beach at Whitby

Mum taking Sophie and Will to school

Mum and I at the Shambles Market in York

Will ready for the water fight night at school

Paul, John and Mum at Castle Howard garden

Mum at Castle Howard

Keswick and Robin Hood's Bay

With only a few weeks left in England, we have been fitting in as much visiting and sightseeing as possible. After driving back from London earlier in the week, we went across to the northern part of the Lake District on Thursday. The village of Keswick was amazing and John was very impressed with the outdoor stores, including some Norweigan and Swiss stores. The walk to Friars Crag around the lake was easy but we finished with a climb up Castlehead. Having been to Windamere earlier in our travels, this time we went north, returning to Terrington via Hadrian's Wall. The return drive through the outskirts of Newcastle was a nightmare, with a lot of diversions for roadworks on the A1. So, we didn't get home until after 11pm.

Yesterday, we headed to the opposite side of England and walked from Ravescar to Robin Hood's Bay, along the Cleveland Way. We were nearly as impressed with Robin Hood's Bay as we were with Staithes. After a 20,000 step return trip, we decided to add on a rock scramble to the sea lion colony. We just had time to take some photos before the tide started to rise on the rock platform.

Mum and Paul arrive in Terrington this morning, after flying from Budapest and Prague to Amsterdam and staying overnight in Leeds. Looking forward to seeing them. We then collect Will from boarding at lunchtime. Sophie returns from Ardeche in France late tonight - ETA of 11pm. So, we will all finally be back in one place - at least until Will heads to Scotland with the cricket team tomorrow arvo, for matches on Monday.

Sophie preparing to climb at Ardeche

Markets at Keswick

Derwentwater Lake

Derwentwater Lake

View from Castlehead

Hadrian's Wall near Gilsland

Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall - Gilsland

Beach walk from Ravesncar to Robin Hood's Bay

Fossils at the Sea lion colony

Sea lions at Ravenscar

Sea lion at Ravescar

Ardeche, boarding and London

Sophie seems to be enjoying Ardeche - at least as far as we can tell from the school's blog posts. They have their bivouac tonight, heading off from their usual campsite. I have heard that they have to carry all of their gear and won't even have a tent. With Sophie away, Will has grabbed the opportunity to board. When I phoned last night, he was busy playing rugby on the front lawn. With several older boys staying in the boarding house, he was very keen to be part of the activities. I guess that playing rugby with a Year 8 Fijian was probably fairly appealing.

After dropping Will off on Monday, John and I drove through to London. With heavy rain, the trip down the M1/A1 took a while. We then stayed at Tony and Jackie's that night. John caught the train out of London early and I took the late train, both managing to use off peak tickets. I mostly wandered around Covent Garden. The following day, we both went back into London. I had lunch with Nerida (a friend from Uni who has settled over here) and then we walked across the Millenium Bridge to the south bank. We arrived back in Terrington very late. Yesterday, John went out to a nearby farming museum and I managed to finish my conference poster. Heading to the Lakes District today.

Sophie cooling off at Ardeche after a day's paddling

Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station

St Pancras Station

On the underground to see Nerida

The underground - a seriously long set of steps and escalator

Side street near Oxford Street

Central London

Oxford Street near lunch with Nerida

View from the Millenium Bridge -  The Shard

Tate Modern - some crazy art

A Monet in the Tate

Leeds and Ardeche

Not only was Will's cricket cancelled on Monday but also on Wednesday, due to rain. He was quite disappointed after being picked for the 6-a-side team and then not being able to play. John and I continued our walk, to the highest point before the coast. On Thursday, we went across to Leeds. I wandered around Trinity Shopping Centre and John went to a military museum (the highlight being a full suit of armour for an elephant). We are now trying to fit in a last few visits to surrounding towns before leaving the UK in 3 weeks time.

I had a wonderful catch up with Katie for coffee at Sheriff Hutton on Friday morning, John had a hair cut around lunchtime, then we went to the Headmaster's Year 7 parent's drinks on Friday night. I took Sophie and Will home before 9 pm and John stayed on for a chat. On Saturday, I did a bolt down to Monk's Cross to pick up some last excursion supplies for Sophie - an extra pair of shorts, sunscreen lip balm, a strap to tie up her camping mat, etc... While I was away, approx. 2000 cyclists came through the village, right past our house to a lunch stop on their way from Wetherby to Filey. The road is normally very quiet with a couple of dozen cars and a few horses going past each day - so, 2000 cyclists was a huge event. We then went to Vanessa's for a fantastic dinner. She invited two other families who are 'part Australian', so there was plenty to chat about. Sophie and Will had a great time playing with the other kids.

We arrived home around 11pm and set the alarm for 4.30am to get Sophie to school by 5am for her Ardeche excursion! She hasn't had much sleep - and with all of the excitement, I'm not sure that she will sleep much on the bus or plane. Living so far north, it is daylight from about 4am at this time of year. We saw the sun rising over the tennis courts up at school this morning. I came home for a few hours doze. Sophie was a little nervous about the trip a few days ago but this morning was very happy and excited about going to France and leaving us behind! Will and I picked up Seth from the boarding house late morning and I took the boys down to Energi (trampoline park) for Alexander and Zac's combined birthday party. We then had Seth over for the afternoon before the boarders came back from their Sunday excursion.

With Sophie on the Ardeche excursion and Will wanting to board this week, we are planning a trip down to stay with Jackie and Tony - and into London. Nerida and I have lunch planned for Tuesday in London. We will come back mid week to see how Will is going!

John and Lego man at Trinity Leeds

Trinity Leeds shopping centre

Sophie ready for Ardeche - 4.45 am

Energi - similar to Springloaded!

Hull

On John's birthday, he decided to retrace some of his Mum's footsteps. We found the house where she grew up in York and then headed to Hull. John's Mum taught in a school in Hull, before heading to Africa to set up a school in Uganda. I suspect that Uganda was a better option! I wasn't sure that Hull was the best place to go for John's birthday, after everything we have heard about Hull. However, the centre of the city was reasonably pleasant and there seems to be a lot of recent investment around the main historic buildings. All of the museums were free to visit and we found a nice pub to have lunch. A nice day out and with Sophie and Will both having after school sport planned, we had plenty of time to wander around.

Old wharf buildings redone as a shopping arcade

Maritime museum

Seal skin canoe and waterproofs

Pub for lunch

Aquarium building on the Rive Humber

Cooking pot - not sure how they can get such accurate dating.

Woolly mamoth

Durham and Staithes

We drove across to Durham this morning on the off chance that Will's 6-a-side cricket tournament was going ahead, despite the drizzle. Unfortunately, it was cancelled but we had a chance for a proper look inside Durham Cathedral and a quick look at the outside of Durham Castle. After a lunch of fish and chips in Redcar, we went on to Staithes. Most of the shops in Redcar were closed for Monday and Tuesday - so, the waterfront was very quiet. The fish and chip shop had a sign claiming that they had been serving fish and chips for 119 years! Staithes was fantastic - a historic fishing village. We wandered around, bought an ice cream and then bolted back to Malton to do the food shopping before collecting Sophie and Will from school. 

Lego at Durham Cathedral

Durham Castle

Staithes in the fog

Staithes harbour

The river at Staithes

3D painting on the side of a house in Staithes

Sandcastle in Redcar