Family Get Together - March 4th.

It was such a lovely day!

Getting back.

So...our long journey back to Frogknot started when Mum and Dad dropped us off at the station at Carlisle.The train was already waiting on the platform as there had been problems with overhead wires near Beattock and so rather than coming from Glasgow Central it  was starting in Carlisle. The correct departure time came and went and eventually we left 25 minutes late due to signalling problems south of Carlisle.The delay meant that we missed out connection for the train to the airport at Preston and so we got on a train heading for Buxton and got off at Manchester Piccadilly.The train paused by this magnificent piece of Artwork near Manchester Piccadilly Station.We caught a train from Piccadilly to the airport and arrived just before 6.00 pm.

The sky from the train.

Check in passed without hitch and we headed to Security Screening. I put my hand luggage in a tray and had to pass through one of their X-Ray machines. On the other side I couldn't find my bag and thought it had been stolen but discovered it had been removed for further inspection.A woman with rubber gloves on placed my bag on the counter between us."Oh, I thought it had been stolen" I said." Sir, there are more cameras here than Big Brother. There is no way anything can be stolen from here." She smiled, "Is this your bag Sir?""Yes" I said."Did you pack it yourself Sir?""Yes" I said."And could somebody have placed something else in it or asked you to carry something else in it for them?""No" I said.Her smile faded."Oh dear, Sir, well what have we in here that we shouldn't have?""My Ipad?"...everything suddenly clicked."Yes Sir. Please take it out Sir. I am sorry but we will have to put all this back through."She took my bag away with the Ipad placed on top of it.I went back to the belt with the trays on and waited for it to come through again. Eventually the bag came through but with no Ipad. Again I thought it had been stolen!...but it followed on it's own tray.The woman in rubber gloves was inspecting someone elses bag as I passed.I leaned over and said "Heck, I thought my Ipad had been stolen then when it wasn't on top of my bag."She just rolled her eyes.Happily our time at the airport passed very quickly with us having dinner at 'Giraffe' before heading to the gate and as we were in Zone C on the plane we boarded quickly after the 'rich folks'.A large family group from the Middle East were sat behind us with a screaming child. We put our headphones on and started watching a film to drown out the noise."Ready for Take Off"...the film soundtrack was interrupted by a loud, deep rasping voice."Heck! That sounded like Satan!" I said a little too loudly because of the headphones. Will dissolved into giggles.The child behind us cried for most of the flight but I watched three films Disney's 'Moana', 'Dancer' and 'Jackie'.

We arrived in Brisbane on time and passed quickly through Immigration but as I had brought some Dry Roasted Peanuts with me I had to declare them. We were directed to the 'Something to Declare' line and were made to stand on a green line and place our bags on the line next to us before a woman released a dog that went up and down the line sniffing our bags... and us. We passed the 'Dog Test' and headed out to catch  a train to the City.We got off the train at South Bank and caught a bus to Holland Park. How different buses are here. Do you know everyone who got off the bus, including young people thanked the driver..... politely?!We found Roxy outside Ros's house but the battery was flat. Luckily she was parked on a slope so Will was able to jump start her and we headed straight home to Frogknot.We were originally intending to stay in Brisbane until Sunday as we are seeing a play on Saturday but earlier this week I have been asked to teach at Stanthorpe on Friday. They have also asked if I am interested in taking the same class for two days a week in the next term. I have reserved judgement until after Friday to see how I like them but two days a week would be good for 10 weeks.We will see.

Still standing.

So...we are back at Frogknot.We arrived home around lunchtime today and are finding it hard to stay awake but we are holding out until after dark and then having an early night. I will bring you up to date tomorrow.

Heading back to the blue.

So...we have begun our journey back 'Down Under'... and are currently crawling through the Cumbrian countryside near Tebay on a delayed train to Preston. No doubt we will miss our connection train to the airport from there but I am trying to remain calm as our flight is not for another 5 hours.We had a lovely day on Saturday at my sister's house where all the family gathered and a few special friends for a family get-together. I will post some pictures later from that.It has been a great month here up over but I cannot deny I am looking forward to more blue sky and back to life in shorts. As soon as I can I want to swim in the sea but we are now heading straight home on arrival in Brisbane as I am teaching on Friday...in the realm of Toerag and Fidget!I cannot see it being too long before I am back 'Up Over'.Goodbye Badgers. Get ready Possums!

Appleby or Busk!

So...today we had one last cheese adventure before we head back to 'Blue Skies' next week.We headed to Appleby along the picturesque, but winding, country lanes of the upper Eden Valley. We noticed that there had been snow in the night upon the tops of the Pennines and so decided to make a detour to stand in it at least once on this trip.We have been thwarted many times this trip on our intended routes and, on at least four occasions, have been greeted by 'Road Closed Ahead!' signs. I think it is the aftermath of the terrible floods last year and some roads are still in need of repair.When we encountered today's 'Road Ahead Closed' sign I was about to turn around when Will said "No, take a left we can get there up that road." He was consulting the Satnav on his phone. The road we took was signposted 'Busk'.It was a very narrow lane and as we progressed it became more and more unkempt. We came to a farmstead and drove between the farm buildings before finally arriving at a closed gate. It was a dead end.So much for the Satnav. We returned to the closed road and headed back the way we had come before finding another road up to the snow.It was freezing cold up on Hartside so we didn't hang around very long afraid we might get frostbite. We headed down to Appleby and found the Appleby Creamery and Will went in for a chat with the cheesemakers and a look around their workplace. He came out about 30 minutes later with a box filled with cheese! They had sent him away with a sample of every cheese that they made!We headed on to Penrith and had brunch at Booths before wandering around the town that we used to live in. We had a drive past the house but our 'renter' was out but the place looked like it was holding up well.