Liverpool
Flying into Liverpool from Nice was a bit of a shock temperature wise, but I must admit it was nice to be in jeans and a shirt again and not sweating. We had 3 days in Liverpool for a look around and to catch up with good friend Niall.
The first day we checked out an unusual art installation at Crosby beach. There is 100 cast iron life size statues all staring out to sea scattered randomly over 3km of beach. The work by Antony Gormley is somewhat bizarre but well worth a look on a sunny day at the beach.
Any visit to Liverpool wouldn’t be complete without some kind of Beatles memrobillia tour, and a boat trip on the Mersey. However what really surprised us was the Liverpool Cathedral, it is gigantic and imposing, with amazing art works, stand glass windows, and small side chapels all contained within the one structure. Not what we expected to find in Liverpool, and a must visit.
Wales
Our next stop was Conwy in Wales where Glen wanted to do some surfing on a man made wave in a fresh water pond. Surf Snowdonia is a well oiled adventure attraction for all surfers of all abilities and all ages. It forms a head high wave every 90 seconds, with three surfers taking turns for one hour. Glen had two sessions and while getting used to the wave on the first session took a while, he had it dialled on the second session and left with a grin from ear to ear stoked off his nut!
Once the surf tanks were full again it was time for a 4 day yoga and walking retreat in the Snowdonia mountains. This was the home of Dru Yoga, which Jeanette has been learning to teach for the last 3 years. The retreat was really relaxing with great food, fun people and amazing walks in the stunning Welsh sunshine…..Yep we lucked into really good weather while we were in Wales until the last day where we decided to leave early and spend the day underground exploring a slate mine. We met Pete and Ian from Go-below adventures (www.go-below.co.uk) at their staging area to get kitted up with helmets, harnesses, boots and gloves for the Ultimate Xtreme Adventure. We walked 15 minutes to the mine entrance in the rain, but quickly forgot about that once we were underground. Pete and his team have threaded about 10% of this mine with a range of fun and daring challenges. We had multiple zip lines in the dark, old dodgy looking wobbly bridge beams over a 20m drop, Via Ferata, rope lowers, steep climbing with traverses over 50m of black void, and a final freefall drop into a pit of darkness!. All this with Pete and Ian sharing their knowledge of how the mine worked and the conditions and tools with which the miners worked under. After 6 hours under ground we finally re-surfaced to torrential rain and calf deep water, walking down past the wee stream we walked up beside, which was now a raging torrent!. Pete and Ian provided professional and friendly guidance over the trip, and with lots of their encouragement everybody on the underground adventure thoroughly enjoyed their day. We highly recommend these guys if you want to explore an old working slate mine, challenge yourself and have an awesome time underground.
Edinburgh
We discovered that the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was on while we were in the UK, and as Glen had never been to the city before we had to check it out. Our Accommodation was in a lovely Air BnB in Canonmills, which is handy to central bus routes and a easy walk or run down to the Leith Docks. Being in Edinburgh during the festival is a experience every one should do. The City is alive with people, artists, crazy street acts, buskers, and there is over 3000 shows to be seen in 300 different venues. There is a show for everybody from kids, to opera, musicals, comedy, drama, circus, burlesque, magicians, anything you want to see! It is truly a great time to check out the city. However, be careful while you wander the streets enjoying the vibe as you might get dragged into a performance with one of the buskers as Glen did! Another thing to do in Edinburgh is visit the Royal Yacht Britiania, and as Jeanette is a Royalist this was high on her list. It is a bit of a tourist trap, but still well worth a look into how the Royal family traveled on their flagship boat.
Priddy
We could have stayed longer in Edinburgh but had a flight to catch down to Bristol and then stayed a couple of nights with our new sister in law Charlotte Cambridge (from the wedding in France). Charlotte, Kelly, and Charlottes parents Richard and Christina live in a cute wee village called Priddy, where the cider is fantastic, but the hospitality is even better!! We went to the Bristol International Balloon Festival which happened to be on at the time, it was a really fun family orientated night out, with the balloons inflated and then lit up to music after dark. It was an impressive feat in the breezy conditions and was followed up by a large fireworks display.
Swanage
One timeless tradition everyone in England should do is go camping at the beaches south of London for a weekend. We caught up with long time friends Luciana, Dan, Izzy, Mel, Rich,Mia,and Nathan for a few days camping down in Swanage. We had a great time hanging out at the beach, swimming, BBQs at the campground, walking over to Studland Beach via the big white sea cliffs, cheering Rich on in a triathlon (crazy bugger!), and generally catching up and relaxing.
After a quick couple of days in London, we were back on the big bird to start the next phase of our trip. Thanks to all the friends and family who showed us around, fed us, and opened your homes, chateau’s, and tents for us to stay in.
Dream Home Minders 
Ah, the green glasses.
You caught up with some great friends and relies, and did a lot of travelling in the UK.
Yes the E. Festival is good value- I was working there while one was on and went to quite q few shows. Thanks very much xx
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