Yesterday I had my last mini road trip with the fabulous Annalisa and we had an absolute blast. She picked me up just after 7am in her fancy new car and off we went. Our original plan was to stay at her mum's caravan down in Swanage for the night but because of the forecasted high winds we decided to do a day trip instead, hence the early departure time. Annalisa and I had a lot to catch up on because she is now working in a new school so the journey went really fast. We arrived down at the coast within a few hours and had a short wait for a chain ferry to get across to Swanage. This is when I started to notice how windy it was.
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| Jump for the chain ferry - a ferry on chains that gets pulled across to the other side |
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| A very short journey - a few minutes |
When I asked Annalisa how big Swanage was she laughed and said, 'It's a small town but probably bigger than most places in New Zealand' (ha ha HA), and I was pleasantly surprised and it was a lovely seaside town. Our first stop was a nice seaside cafe where I got a full English breakfast, admired the sea view and teapot collection on the shelf behind where I was sitting.
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| YUM! |
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| A teapot for my brother |
The weather held out for us when we left the cafe so we took a stroll along the waterfront. I just love the sea air!
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| Giggles |
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| Happy to be by the sea |
While Annalisa and I were travelling around Europe we got used to asking (well I would ask) if attractions gave discounts for teachers so when we got the pier and had to pay I did the whole, 'Any discounts for teachers?' and I was in luck and he let us both on for 60p because he said I was 'cheeky'. Success! The pier was really nice (windy but nice) and we got some great views of the coastline.
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| Hehe you have to ask! |
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| Eek! |
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| Sexy... |
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| My Titanic moment |
Our next stop was the caravan and I was so impressed. It was far from the caravans back home and I'd have happily stayed there if the wind warnings weren't so bad. A friend of mine had a friend staying down there in a caravan in the hurricane of '87 and their caravan got blown over the cliff! I wasn't prepared to risk that happening!
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| This pic is for Dad - he knows what it means |
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| Caravan? |
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| Amazing! |
We got back on the road and started on our way to Durdle Door (English place names are so funny). Earlier this year I was asking people at school for top spots and the family worker and another friend told me Durdle Door was a must see so I couldn't wait to get there and see what it was like. It was windy down at the seaside in Swanage but up at Durdle Door the wind was like no other I've ever been in before. We were lucky the wind was blowing towards the land, if it was the other way we'd have both been in the sea.
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| Durdle Door |
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| A little explanation |
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| The wild coast |
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| Durdle Door |
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| So windy! |
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| Holy cow! |
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| Yup - my hair whipped me in my eyes |
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| Good friends |
We then headed to the Lulworth Cove, the next cove along. Here there were lots of little cute houses and shops the coastline was stunning. On a sunny day it would be paradise!
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| Too cute! |
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| Adorable! |
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| The coastline |
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| In England there are always people, even in the middle of nowhere! |
A roadie around the UK is not complete without a trip to a castle and our chosen castle for the day was Corfe Castle. Unfortunately the castle ruins were closed because of the wind but we could walk around the grass area out the front of the castle. Hehe we snuck in (bad ass) because I was not paying to walk on some grass!
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| It was so windy the pay and display blew out of the ground! |
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| Corfe Castle |
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| Jump for Corfe Castle |
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| I found some deer |
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| :) |
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| Stormy |
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| My head didn't fit in the stocks |
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| Annalisa's nearly did |
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| My hair was a mass of knots after our day out |
We were on the road back to Reading by 3.30pm after a jam packed, fun filled day. When we got back James had started cooking us roast lamb (New Zealand lamb I must add) so we left him to it and watched our favourite show, it was great girly fun. James' lamb was worth the wait and was absolutely amazing. I'll give it to him - it may have been the best I've ever had!
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| Perfection! |
Gosh, I'm just so lucky to have made such great friends! Thanks Mullaneys for a great day, you two are the BESTEST!
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| Love these two X |
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