We’ve had some long flights between countries so far in our trip and every time we safely arrive at our destination we’re very thankful. Our flight from Capetown to London via Dubai was the longest we’ve had to date with more than 20 hours total flight time. Luckily we were able to book a great seat sale on Emirates which meant full-on pampering from start to finish. Quite a difference from some of the discount Asian airlines that we’ve been flying on recently!
Flying to Europe felt like flying home for us – especially since we’re making our way towards Norway in a couple of weeks, which is certainly our home away from home. The first question Kai and Vea asked when we landed in London was whether they could finally brush their teeth with tap water again!
Our first week in the U.K. was centred fully around Kai’s Liverpool Football Academy that we enrolled him in. The academy was located just outside Liverpool city where the team trains. Rather than find a place to stay in the city, we opted to book a cottage rental in rural England at a small town called Brinscall – about 30 minutes from Liverpool. Our drive from London to Brinscall was difficult after coming in from such a long flight from Capetown, but we managed the 6 hours on the road with lots of coffee and the excitement of being back in Europe.
Our cottage in Brinscall turned out to be a fantastic find in more ways than one. Not only was it beautiful and spacious (it kind of felt like another home exchange) – but the family that we rented it from were amazing people who we enjoyed getting to know and spending time with. Vea especially made good friends with their daughter named Harriet. They spent as much time together as they could while Kai was at the academy during the days.
We settled quickly into rural Brinscall life with regular visits to the pub (pronounced puuuuub) to watch the footie games, and share some good drink and food (local translation: we enjoyed falling in with friends for a few scoops and tea). It’s great to be living in an area with such history all around. The pub that we frequented was named the ‘Sirloin’ and the story goes that this is the place where a certain quality beef loin was royally knighted to be known as the ‘Sirloin’. Who knew??
Our week here was filled with daily routines including morning and afternoon drives to and from Liverpool for Kai’s football academy. It was kind of nice to be back in a daily schedule and routine again. Vea loved having some time all to herself with Mom and Dad during the days – which we filled with forest walks, playground visits, picnics, shopping, bowling and baking.
The next week in England was secretly planned without Kai and Vea’s knowledge. Our good friends the Dwyers surprised the kids with a visit for a week. It was fantastic reuniting with everyone and great to see the surprised expression on the all the kids faces when we met up. It’s certainly a sign of being good friends when we felt like no time had passed since seeing each other last – and we got right back into the groove of great conversation and good cheer.
We ended up renting a large house in the Dartmoor region of Southwest England and stayed in another classic small English town. Belstone has one pub, one post office and one church surrounded by beautiful Moors and narrow streets with high hedges. Dartmoor is a national park as well, so there was wildlife around every corner. We all loved seeing (and helping with) the sheeps being herded down the narrow streets, and the kids were amazed to see all of the Dartmoor Ponies walking freely about.
One of the many highlights of our week with the Dwyers was a day biking along a route called the Granite Trail. We rented bikes for everyone (and even a tandem for Jackie and Gertie) and set out exploring on a beautiful day filled with castles, picnics on cricket pitches and ‘filling our bottles’ at secluded pubs along the way.
The weather in Dartmoor was true to English form being a little gray, cool and rainy most days – but that didn’t stop us from having many beautiful runs and walks in the Moors. It also gave us opportunity to build warm fires in the wood stove and hang out as a group playing family games, making fun meals and catching up with everyone.
We got to know some of the locals in Belstone – especially the owner of the pub which was called the ‘Tors’. Anne was great to give us the ‘inside scoop’ on Belstone and provided much advise for us with things to do around the area. Kari and Jackie spent many hours with her at the bar chatting and sharing good wine and laughs, while Stephen and Norrie got to know some of the frequent patrons of the pub. Our last night in Belstone was a great family outing to the Tors for a meal of bangers and mash with curry french fries on the side.
Thanks Dwyers for such a fun week and for making the effort to come all the way from Halifax to see us during our travels.
After saying farewell to the Dwyers we made our way back to London (even catching sight of Stonehenge along the way) to catch our Ryan Air flight up to Norway. We’re looking forward to seeing all of Kari’s family and enjoying some of the comforts of our ‘home away from home’ for the next two weeks.
Here’s some more photos from our two weeks in rural England…
All 4 now.
Outstanding photos… as always.
Thanks Belinda. Glad that you’re enjoying the photos.
Absolutely brilliant … thanks Norrie. Have a few pints for me ok 🙂
Hey Craig. I did have a few pints for you – and look forward to some more when I return home in 2015!!
Hi Norrie best post ever and best trip
Miss u luv u
-Pheebs
Hi Pheebs. It was a fantastic surprise to spend the week with you in England. Thanks for all the memories.
Great photos! Looks like so much fun…
Hi Jenny. Great to hear from you. Glad that you’re enjoying following our blog!
I”m so happy your close friends could join you. I absolutely love the look of the villages you are staying in! I want to be in one of the little cottages! ox Sheila
Hi Sheila. We’ve been loving spending time in the rural towns especially. It’s where you really get a good sense of the character of the place and people.
Nice photos! Looks like fun! Safe travels!
Thanks Barb. We’re having a lot of fun and travelling safe.
I do love that cottage life in rural England. We had a similar experience many years ago. Quaint, simple easy living and with close friends to boot. Excellent! I love your photos Norrie. Keep them coming!
Marcia 🙂
Hi Marcia. Kind of like where we live in Three Brooks. Minus the community pub – but with good friends close by.
Hi Folks,
Loved your news and pics of your time in England. What a good idea to rent a cottage, made your time there feel homey and what a nice surprise with the visit from your Halifax friends.
We are presently in Richmond BC, near Vancouver. Our group is slowly gathering here and on Wednesday (24th) we board the “Island Princess” for a cruise through the Panama Canal. Our group is all family, all of Reid’s siblings & spouses plus my one sister & husband, so 9 of us altogether.
The ports of call are Victoria, San Francisco, Cabo San Lucas, San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, all day of traveling through the Panama Canal, Cartagena, Columbia, Aruba, then to Fort Lauderdale where they dump us off and we fly back to Vancouver on Oct. 12th. It’s quite special to be getting together with this much family so really looking forward to it.
Look forward to hearing abot your visit &pictures of Norway. Have not been there but would love to visit sometime.
Tell Vea that Mary Larry is fine and Bobby is taking care of her &our house while we are away. She has made a great recovery from the knee operation so she is happy about that.
Great to hear from you, continue to have wonderful times! Take care!
Gotta Love those Dwyers !!! how fun !! Beautiful pictures as always Norrie 🙂
Thinking of you all today ~ much love xoxoxo
Thanks for your thoughts Sherri. Hard to believe that it was one year ago.
Wonderful to see pictures of your family and all these beautiful places! Barb sent this connection to us, and Bill and I were thrilled. We had such a wonderful visit with you ? years ago, and still enjoy the CD you made for us, Norrie. We hope you will put Tucson in your travel plans at some point. We would love to share the desert high points with all of you. Love, Jeanne
Looks like so much fun. What fabulous pictures.
Thanks Denise. We had a great time in England. Lots of fun for all the kids to be together again too.