| Day 1 |
Leaving perth. Dad decided to
try some flight stockings and as you will see he had some adjusting
to do. There are also two photo's in Singapore airport. Arrived
in Manchester and were met by family. Had a night out at Richmonds
club. |
| Day 2 |
Our first day was spent shopping around
town, Iris and I needed some dancing shoes. Phoned Iris's daugher
- oops - got the time difference the wrong way round and woke her up.
When we got back we were locked out. No extra key and dad
was in the unit, snoring his head off. We were shouting and throwing
stones at the window but to no avail. Another resident let us
in the front door and we met dad coming down the stairs, of course he
wasn't sleeping, just resting. |
| Day 3 |
Had a day in Blackpool with Linda
& Peter, and a surprise for Iris. Kelly & Alan had bought
tickets for us to go to Dominic Kirwan's concert that night. Iris
was gobsmacked, she sat on the edge of her chair with a look on her
face that said "is he for real or is it an impersonator?"...Her expression
was priceless once she realized he was for real. (I'll try to get
the photo of him kissing her if I can get Iris to part with it for a
day) |
| Day 6 |
Went to Lake Windermere. It
poured the whole time we were there so didn't get to see much. We
did do a tour of the Beatrix Potter exhibition though. |
| Day 7 |
Took the train to Torquay, almost
5 hours there, which everyone thought was crazy, but we had a day
to kill. |
| Day 10 |
Chester was the destination for today.
Being a bank holiday most of the shops were closed but we did
catch an interesting show in the centre mall. |
| Day 11 |
Booked a flight for tomorrow to take
Iris home then off to Llandudno (pronounced Llandidno) for the day. |
| Days 12-15 |
Left Manchester at 7am on Wednesday, arrived
in Perth at 2.30pm Thursday, called Brad to arrange a flight back to Manchester.
Friday, had to have a shower at Matt's place, my gas had been turned off
while I was away and no hot water....Shaz had to pick me up because the
car had a flat battery. Went to pick up my ticket for a flight back
out of Perth the next day. Saturday, plane left Perth at 12.20pm, arrived
in Hong Kong at 9.30 and left for Manchester at 11.55. Note to self,
must see Hong Kong one day. |
| Day 16 |
Arrived in Manchester at 6.30am and was picked
up by Kelly and Ian. Went to the Barley Mow for lunch, it was shut,
went to the BlueBell, it was shut, damn, it's Sunday, luckily Weatherspoon's
was open. (We had our first pint there last year when the boys were
with us.) After lunch I hit the shops to see what I could find for the
g/kids. Found some horse and unicorn heads on sticks, musical ones too...ok,
that's 2 horses for the boys, 2 unicorns for the girls. Don't know
how I'll get them home though. I'll have to think about that one.
Went to Richmond's for a few pints. |
| Day 17 18 19 20 |
Monday morning and off to Blackpool for 5 days with Uncle Cyril. The hotel we stayed in overlooked Coral Island (a huge amusement arcade), Blackpool tower and from my room a glimpse of the ocean. We did heaps of shopping, had to buy two small suitcases to get it all home. The lights were on so got lots of photo's of those. Went to a few hotels in the evenings that had artists performing and got involved in some of the fun stuff. The tower is 518ft tall but you can only get up as high as 412ft. At 380ft there is the walk of faith......nerves of steel needed for that, as it is glass and you can see the road down below. It took some doing getting dad to do the walk... |
| Day 22 |
Went into town to buy the horses and
unicorns for the kids. Might need some large boxes to post the stuff
home in. Went to Walton Gardens after lunch then the Farmers
at night to catch up with family. |
| Day 23 |
7th September, Father's Day in Oz. Gave
dad his card and some text messages from home. Went out shopping
again.....then met Carol in the Prince of Wales for a pub crawl in Liverpool.
Had a great time and didn't get too drunk this year. |
| Day 24 |
Measured the length of the horses and unicorns
so I knew what size box I'd need. Had to get a ticket for my flight
back home too. Off to Bank Quay to enquire about trains to Edinborough.
Walked round the markets on the way home and saw a huge suitcase..bought
a tape measure and measured it....perfect size for those horses and unicorns.
Told dad about it when I got back to the flat and he said that he
really needed a new case anyway, one on wheels, as he's getting too old to
be carrying the old suitcase he was using. So here we are now with
dad's original suitcase, my suitcase that I brought back empty, 2 small suitcases
we bought in Blackpool and here we are buying another suitcase....and guess
what.......everyhing only just fit in them all. Oh and we both had
backpacks too. If I ever tell you I travel light you can now believe
me.......not.. |
| Day 25 |
Had a bus trip out to Anderton, a
ride down the canal on a barge and a long walk to get a bus back home.
Stopped in town to pick up films and that's when I found out I'd lost
one. |
| Day 26 |
Had a train trip to Holyhead and stopped
off at Rhyl on the way back. Had to get a Rhyl fridge magnet for our
Spud as he missed out on getting one last year. |
| Days 27, 28 &
29 |
Nick Bastable picked dad & I up and took
us on a trip down memory lane, or was that Cinnamon Lane, to the
duck pond, wow that place has changed since I last saw it, haven't got
any photo's of it though. Day 28 was a train trip to Penrith to see
if we could find one of dad's Aunt's but we found it wasn't as close to
the station as we thought so we gave that a miss. It was all up and
down hill and not a good walk for dad. Day 29. Went shopping
in Manchester with Carol. Picked up some great bargains at Debenham's....75%
off. |
| Day 30 |
Had a day around home relaxing. Went
to Richmond's at night, had a few dances with Uncle Cyril and Aunty
Alice. |
| Day 31 |
Went to Trafford Centre with Kelly.
What an amazing place it was. The inside was done out
like an ocean liner. |
| Day 33 |
Carol & Eddie took us for a drive
to Ness Gardens in Neston. The embankments at the side of the road
are slate. I could make a fortune if I could bring some home. |
| Day 34 |
Another day out with Carol & Eddie,
to Port Meirion. I loved the sign at the entrance about the
dog parking. Had afternoon tea in Betwy-s-Coed (pronounced BettsyCo-ed). |
| Day 36 |
Kelly & Alan took us to Wigan
Pier. They had a fantastic museum there that ran through the
years from the early 1900s. We attended a 20 minute class that resembled
a 1900 classroom. I was in big trouble for wearing earrings, rings
and nail polish.. |
| Day 37 |
Had a trip to the Chester candle factory
with Lesley, Mike and their son Paul. Lesley drove her mum, Aunty
Alice and me, and Paul drove Mike. my dad & Uncle Cryil. Couldn't
buy all the candles I wanted, no more room in the luggage. More
dancing tonight at Richmond's. |
| Day 39 |
Caught a train up to Edingborough,
change at Carlisle. On the way home though it changed at Wigan
and we had a two hour wait in the cold, they'd closed the waiting room
and the toilets at 8pm. |
| Day 40 |
Peter took dad, Uncle Cyril and I
for a drive through the lake district. We covered 222 miles
(355km). Uncle Cyril thought he would show me how to skim stones in one
of the lakes, I hadn't lost my touch, got one to skip 5 times. Then
a night out at the Railway club. |
| Day 41 |
I had a day out at Cheshire Oaks with Linda.
It's an outlet place, a bit like our Horror Town, oops, that should
read "Harbour Town".... The Disney shop was great, the g/kids would have
had a field day in there, the only trouble was I couldn't fit all the
stuff in my suitcase. It was already full of other toys for them
and Christmas ornaments for me. |
| Day 42 |
Time to leave for home. Linda, Peter
& Charlotte drove dad and Carol and Eddie drove me to the airport.
We were met in Perth by Iris, John and Spud. Went to Iris's
house where I had to empty out the suitcases and repack my stuff in
my cases. Spud took me home, via the supermarket for bread, butter
and milk, and home to a nice cold 6 pack in the fridge, thanks to Matt
& Shaz. |