Right after we came back from Singapore, K wanted to do a hiking trip in the Lake District. He's on a sabbatical at the moment so he's a man of leisure as one would call, an envious position to be in :)
He booked himself a little cottage in Ambleside and asked if I could take some time off to go with him. As I just spent 12 days of my annual leave on Singapore, I had only 3.5 days left to use till the end of June (gasp.. noooo). I told him I could possibly take just 0.5 day off, and arrange it such that we go up together on Saturday. I'll work from there on Monday morning, and use that afternoon to catch a train back to London. He will then spend a peaceful rest of the week there, hiking, chilling and have some me-time... this arrangement sounded pretty alright.
Looking back it was a good idea because we needed that down time, as many would call it, a holiday to recuperate after a holiday. We were ready for the peaceful and quiet countryside. Very exciting.
It was also very exciting for Bel because it would be my first time driving K since I passed my test! Woohoo *
go away sweaty palms* I remember Chris my driving instructor telling me when I passed - in fact it was on our way back home from the test centre. He said "Belinda, your real test starts now, you know? Now you are on your own- you won't have someone beside you to tell you what to do, how to react. It's the life test from now on." K being the encouraging husband, kept urging me to drive saying "yes you can" a la Obama.
Oh well ok, yes I can, so off we went!
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| Took me a while to get used to driving this instead of my instructor's trusty Yarris |
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| K was my passenger for the first time and he was more excited than me |
The whole journey took more than 5h and I drove most of it. Call it the noob adrenaline haha I did tell K to enjoy this whilst it lasts. Pretty sure we would both be vying for the passenger seat soon!
Finally we arrived at Ambleside, and checked into our quaint little cottage, lovingly christened as Wendin Cottage. How lovely.
And it was raining. In typical Lake District fashion, no less.
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| To our left is an even lovelier sounding cottage - Buttonhole Cottage! #forReal |
We quickly checked out this small but very sufficient english cottage and loved it immediately. I did a quick google search and made a table reservation for dinner at the Log House, a mere 5 min walk away.
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| This place is famous for the hot stone grill so you are served a piece of raw meat of your choice and basically cook it to your fancy. |
We love Wendin Cottage. It has two storeys, with one double bedroom which is perfect for a couple. The kitchen is self sufficient and the idea is such that you can cook your own meals (Tesco Express a 7min walk away which is very handy). There was Netflix so you won't get bored especially when it's raining outside. There was also a file full of hiking routes and recommended restaurants/ cafes in this little town. The owners made sure everything was taken care of.
The next morning K wanted to do a hike. He woke up real early and prepared breakfast - I was awaken by the smell of fried eggs and toast (mmm so good - yes the cottage is that small for the smell to linger upstairs). While eating he chose an "easy hike" which I later found out was 8km. And he didn't tell me that tiny little detail.
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It was 9am and drizzling but nothing shall stop K
"C'mon, he kept egging me on to catch up.." |
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| Soon we walked into a farm which was part of the route |
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| And saw more sheep |
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| Really am not a fan of all these green moss but I was reminded of the idiom 'a rolling stone gathers no moss' when I saw all these. It's very wet here in the lake district and hence we saw loads of green moss growing on rocks. |
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| Still having a bit of excitement within us at this point. Ooh let's stop and take a pic! |
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Hmm ok this stoney path doesn't seem to end? It was all upwards and onwards.
By then we felt warmer and warmer because we were walking upwards with all these stoney steps |
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| Love this pic with K and the rolling hills in the background |
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| After one hour, I asked K how long more.. "we are barely one-third of our journey" was his answer. |
So what happened was the fog descended upon us and the higher we climbed, the less visibility there was around us. It was like walking in a cloud. Which sounds pretty cool like "ooh we are in a cloud", but really it wasn't that cool when you are up on a hill and can see nothing below you. So we sat on a rock to rest and debated on whether we should continue or not, and finally we threw in the towel (ok it was me). Just because this uphill climb didn't look like it was to end anytime soon and we had been climbing for 45min by then. Guess what- by then people were starting on this hiking route and so we said hi to loads of people who were going in the opposite direction as us. A little disappointed we didn't make it, but I think it would have taken us most part of the day should we finish that 8km hike. And to make it worse by the time we reached the bottom, the fog lifted! It was clear sunny skies! Nvm...
We went back to our cottage, both a little wet due to the drizzle. We rested and decided I would make us a nice brunch before driving around to explore the area around lake Windermere, the largest lake in England.
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| I made us brunch which consisted of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, toasted bagel and some side salad. |
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| The little dining table which can be extended if necessary |
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Lake Windermere
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| Peaceful Lake Windermere |
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| Tarn Hows - sounds like a Chinese name, no? |
On a side note..
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| And in this candle shop called Herby Jacks, we found a Singapore Sling flavoured candle. |
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More pictures of Wendin Cottage to share
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| The entrance into the living room. Tiny space but really well kept and self sufficient. |
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| The nice and small kitchen |
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Which opens up into a little courtyard with a nice garden table and chairs.
I doubt they are very much used considering how much rain there is in this area. |
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| A real log wood fireplace |
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| The bedroom upstairs with well scented sheets |
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| An armchair right below the stairs |
On Monday afternoon, we prepared a quick lunch in the cottage before I drove to the main train station Oxenholme within the lake district for my direct train into London Euston. The train journey took close to 4h but it was a pleasant journey with scenic views and the train was clean and quiet.
Overall a nice 3 day getaway for me and of course K did more hikes on his own for the rest of the week. He came back feeling refreshed and with a new life goal - to retire in the lake district. He reckons the slow pace of life and the copious amounts of fresh air would do one good.
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