Ennerdale Bridge to Borrowdale (Stonethwaite) Day 2

"Well if you don't enjoy yourselves today there's something wrong with you" were the parting words of Steve at Brackenwray Farm.

He was referring to the forecast and the glorious sunny day already upon us as we shouldered packs and headed toward Ennerdale Water. Val, our other host at Brackenwray, had admitted to some bias when she said "we think this is the best section on the whole route". Biased she may be but she's not far from the truth! Steve and Val have been on Brackenwray for about 14 years and are attempting to re-establish it using animal friendly methods (if that's the right term ... some of the animals undoubtedly end up on the dinner table!) It was a delight to see the freest ranging hens and the geese, sheep, etc in this flourishing and peaceful environment. Val and Steve provided great service too, including a lift to and from the community-owned Fox and Hounds for dinner, about a mile away.

We met Heather at Ennerdale Bridge and started the long traverse of the south side of Ennerdale Water.

Soon after came the choice of the high route or the route up the valley. I chose the high route over Red Pike (755m), High Stile (806m) and High Crag (744m) as well as Alfred Wainwright's favourite (and his resting place), Haystacks. From the heights of this ridge there were fabulous views in all directions and conditions were so good that the Isle of Man was clearly visible half way across the Irish Sea.

Crummock Water seen from Red Pike

Meanwhile Irene, Genevieve, Heather and Geordie were enjoying their walk up the valley but had some difficulty finding the right path up Loft Beck, a common problem apparently. The comradeship of walkers, however, is a wonderful thing and other coast to coasters were there to consult.

Crummock Water (top) and Buttermere from Haystacks

They arrived at the Honister Slate Mines at about 5:45pm while I tramped in from Haystacks half an hour later. We were well past our expected arrival time and still had an hour and a half's walk into Stonethwaite. Our efforts to contact Dave we're unsuccessful as there was no mobile phone coverage. Even when we found a phone box (yes they still exist in this part of the world) we discovered there was no mobile reception at Dave's end either. So we arrived at 7:45, just 5 minutes after a worried Dave had driven up to Honister Pass ready to call out the Keswick Moutain Rescue and Dog Team. It all ended well with a convivial dinner and recounting of exploits and superlatives in the Langstrath Inn.

Stone Bridge, Borrowdale

St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge Day 1

After the dramas of the previous evening we rejoined the Coast to Coast path where we had left it, about 2km north of St Bees, and turned toward Ennerdale Bridge.

Now a word about the weather, that most popular of English conversation topics ...

The south of England has had an unusually dry and warm spring with some even talking of drought. The rain just prior to our arrival had therefore been most welcome.

But the north of England is different from the south in many, many ways, as people from both the north and the south will be quick to tell you. Here in Cumbria it has apparently rained non-stop since April. We have been warned that we are likely to be "knee deep in mud" and our guidebook says the Lake District is among the wettest places in the UK.

So we considered ourselves lucky indeed to have walked in fine and warm conditions today, up Dent Fell, down the steep side of Raven Crag and along the charming and secluded Nannycatch Beck into the Lake District. What's more the forecast for the entire week is for more of the same! Let's hope the Met Office has got it right.

Brackenwray Farm - our lodgings at the end of Day 1

So we bade our farewells to the Irish Sea from the top of Dent Fell and we are lodged tonight in another excellent B&B, Brackenwray Farm, a mile or so from Ennerdale Bridge. We were also rejoined at dinner at the Fox and Hounds by Heather and David who drove up from Kent today.

After another 15-16km today including some hill climbing, our muscles, joints and spirits are still in good shape. So we are preparing to head deep into the Lake District tomorrow (joined by Heather) with a possible excursion up to some of the higher fells. I doubt we'll ever get a better weather forecast for it!

St Bees Day 0

Geordie & Gen were indeed waiting for us in Whitehaven. We hadn't seen them since that morning in October when Gen announced at breakfast "well we've had a talk ... and we're coming!" So there was much to catch up on, which we did over a delightful Indian meal at the unlikely looking Ali Taj Restaurant (strongly recommended).

Next morning our gracious host Jackie drove us the 4 miles to St Bees giving us a bit of a tourist guide and commentary along the way. Read Guesthouse in Whitehaven is also recommended - very obliging people.

We dropped our bags at the Abbey Farmhouse B&B in St Bees (more on that anon) and having half a day to fill in we decided to get a head start on our trek by walking the St Bees Head section of our itinerary. This worked out famously except that we weren't fully togged for a longish and at times strenuous walk (15 km). What it achieved for us was to cut about 7 km off the next day's walk which was otherwise going to be about 22km, and it eased us in nicely.

The Official Starting Point of the Coast to Coast walk (after we had each shamelessly collected our de rigueur beach pebble and wet our boots in the Irish Sea)

In training for the rigours ahead

St Bees is utterly different to its much larger neighbour Whitehaven. It has much more of a rustic charm, is home to an ancient monastery (St Bega's, which gave the town its name) although the monastery no longer exists as such and it now serves as the church-cum-museum (Priory Church). Well worth a visit.

Maybe our expectations were too low but on a scale of 1 to 10 the AbbeyFarmhouse B&B would have to rate close to 11. This establishment run by Steve and Janet seemed to have everything carefully thought out and provided. Our own downstairs room was almost palatial in dimensions, fittings and provisions but done in such a way that you immediately feel comfortable and welcome. Steve and Janet (who have a great story to tell about how they got together on the Coast to Coast walk themselves) seem to have no other purpose in life but to make you feel at home, but in fact each leads a busy life especially during the walking season. However, that life was just about to get busier...

At 2am we were woken from our luxurious sleep by the incongruous sound of dripping water from nowhere near the bathroom ("en suite" wouldn't do it justice). It turned out that a pipe or a join had ruptured behind a wall upstairs - no fault of our hosts - and the drip was soon to become a steady trickle onto our carpet. We woke Steve and Janet who diagnosed the problem and after some minutes had no option but to cut off the water until the morning when hopefully a plumber could be called in. All the time, despite the seriousness of the problem, their concern was for their guests and they managed to find us another well appointed room to sleep out the night.

Breakfast (our choice was haggis and smoked salmon) was superb and arrived as if nothing untoward had happened yet our hosts must have had not much more than 4 hours sleep.

Good service can be measured best when things don't go strictly to plan. If you are ever in the vicinity of St Bees, do yourself a favour and try to get a night's accommodation at the Abbey Farmhouse (but you might have to book early!)

London and the South

It's Saturday and we've now been in the Uk for a week. Arrived on a wet evening in Primrose Hill where Nick and Ange took us under their wing. Portobello Road markets on the Saturday, Camden markets on the Sunday and generally chilling out. London weather like that of Melbourne ... four seasons in one day.

A few days in Forest Gate catching up with old friends Chris and John, doing a bit of last minute shopping for walking gear then off to Sevenoaks for a couple of days with David and cousin Heather, including a trip to Brighton, Rottingdean and the Sussex Downs.

Deer at Knole Park, Sevenoaks

The Olde Black Horse, Rottingdean, where Tom Copper was the licensee in the 19th century.

This last week has seen us ease off on the walking and ramp up the indulgence as we fell prey to the temptations of London. My rationalisation is that we are "tapering" for the big walk!

Big concern during the week that the Chilean volcanic ash cloud drifting over Australia would keep Gen & Geordie from getting to the start of the walk on time but we think they are now in the UK and as our train speeds north through a wet Lancashire we are hoping they'll be waiting for us in Whitehaven.

That will be an occasion worth a celebratory pint!

Mont Ste Odile & Champs de Feu

On our last full day in France we took the opportunity to get some hill climbing practice. While Gill put in a few hours (feeding baby bats!) at the wildlife care centre in Roswiller we took the opportunity to walk up to the ancient monastery and pagan wall at the top of Mont Ste Odile (764m, 500m climb) where we had lunch with a million dollar view across the Rhine Valley.

In a sudden shower we descended steeply into the village of St Nabor where Gill collected us and took us to a bird banding evening at nearby Champs de Feu. The extra height here (1010m) was enough to expose us to mist, wind and intermittent showers but it wasn't enough to deter Francois and his bird banding colleagues, especially after the barbecue was lit and the inevitable bottle of wine was produced! We were most impressed with the great care these hardy enthusiasts took as they identified, banded and released the birds. A new species was observed here (a Crossbill) which will cost Francois a bottle of bubbly!

NB: First post using my new iPad (which has also signed up for the Coast to Coast walk).

The High Alps

Our last stop in the Alps was near Albertville where we once again had wonderful hospitality, this time courtesy of Pierre, Lionelle and their two sons Sylvain and Jean-Baptiste, and Lionelle's mother who has a chalet just up the hill.

 

The mountain opposite Pierre and Lionelle is an impressive 2400m high but is dwarfed by some of the other peaks in the region.  In our bedroom we could throw the shutters open in the morning and take in the grandeur of Mt Blanc (4810m).

Lionelle helped us with our coast-to-coast training, guiding us on a 5 hour walk around the hills above Beaufort where we had panoramic views of the nearby peaks.

 

In the evenings we were treated to local specialities, much of it made with produce taken from Pierre and Lionelle's own garden.

Our route home to Strasbourg was via Chamonix and the Col de la Forclaz in Switzerland.  We had spectacular views of the Mt Blanc massif and kept up the exercise regime with a 2 hour return hike to see the impressive Glacier du Trient which like so many glaciers around the world (and some European economies) is sadly in recession.

  

The long haul home was broken only by a short visit to pay homage to Freddy Mercury in Montreux on the shores of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva).

Glandage and the Diois

Glandage is a tiny village on the northern edge of Provence (where does Provence start and end?)  We stayed at the delightfully photogenic chambres d'hote, le Colombier, (=Dovecote) with excellent meals and tastefully decorated, spacious rooms. 

Trying to keep up our C2C exercise regime we walked up the remote Glandage valley...

... climbed the small peak (200m) near Le Colombier...

... and walked around the spectacular Cirque D'Archiane with 800m cliffs above us. 

We also took in Phillipe and Claire's sheep farm (where they make great sheep's cheese) and the small market town of Die.

Then it was back north through the Vercours toward Albertville and the Haute Alpes ...

... taking with us the advice from the front of a little house in the Rue Nouvelle in Die:

To the Alps ...

Our trip to the Alps started with a long haul to Bourgoin Jallieu near Lyon and the excellent hospitality of Jean-Marc, Véronique and Laura.

From there to St Paul de Varces near Grenoble and the home of Erige and Marie-Paule which dates back to the 16th century.

From here we were able to explore the north end of the Vercours guided by our hosts. It was good training for the coast to coast walk ... 5 hours walking including about 500m of climbing.

If you've watched the Tour de France on TV you would have seen helicopter footage of these spectacular cliffs (Moucherotte), not too far from the famous Alpe D'Huez.

Here Irene is observing chamois grazing 600m below and being urged "just another 10cm forward" for a better view (against all her instincts!) by the imperturbable Erige, and being photographed by François whose viscera tell him he is already too close!

Below, the one kneeling over the edge is the fearless Erige!

Grenoble meanwhile is over 1000m below us.

There were too many wonderful flowers and examples of wildlife to include in a gallery here - maybe later - but here are the beautiful alpine Trolles as a sampler (in English it's prosaically called a globeflower).

 Botanical Note: They may look like the size of Triffids but it's a photographic illusion ... they are only about 25cm high.

Offendorf

Gill & François have a delightful entertaining space in their courtyard and "firehouse" in the village of Offendorf north of Strasbourg.

 A feature of any visit is the traditional Alsacienne Tarte Flambée evening.

Before setting off for the Alps we had just such a gathering: Irene, Jean-Dominique, François, Benoit, Fred, Jean-Georges, Gill, Jean-Pierre, Annie & Cliff.

 Win sent her apologies :-(

Gill and François have a pond surrounded by raspberries, redcurrants, cherries and gooseberries, all of which have found their way onto the dining table. The pond also has a thriving and somewhat noisy population of frogs.  François and I attempted to catch some to take them to another safe haven (definitely not for the frogs legs!)  The trick is to tickle them so they jump/swim toward a submerged net, whereupon they must be whipped out and caught before they escape. 

It's a trick François and I are still trying to master:  Frogs 3,  C&F 0.

Alsace

It was a gruelling 36 hours from Canberra to Offendorf but here is Irene surprisingly fresh in the 29 degree warmth of Alsace, where life is just a bowl of cherries...

 Yesterday we went punting at the Ile de Rhinau (near the Rhine)...

With starvation rations ...

...until we made it to the Bords du Rhin in Rhinau for lunch with our hosts François (above) and Gill, Raymonde and Christian (below).  If you ever get the chance to dine at the Bords du Rhin you must order the house speciality, the pike-perch which is cooked using a delicious (but secret) family recipe handed down from generation to generation.

Later we had a short stop in a nature reserve near Herbsheim to walk off the excesses of lunch (unsuccessfully) but you may be interested to see the rare wild Siberian Iris we found (and note the ancient Celtic tumuli in the background) ...

and the even rarer wild Gladiolus...

We have been walking to nearby villages to maintain the memory of fitness but most of the neighbourhood is the flat Rhine floodplain with only the Vosges mountains and the hills of the Black Forest on the horizon to tempt us into some serious exercise. However on Tuesday we are off to the Alps!