Sunday, August 28, 2011

Mission Accomplished

At last our first canal expedition is completed! We have arrived at Bridge 7D, Old Roan Bridge. (number unfortunately hidden behind tree branches.)
We have covered about 10miles in all,
Pedometer reading..........25,117 steps = 9.91 miles!


Tired and weary, but very pleased with ourselves, we made our way to
 Old Roan station and onto a train exactly like the one in the photo
back to Liverpool.
What a wonderful day we had!!!

No drinks here.

The Wharf, our first canalside pub. Sadly it was badly neglected and closed.
I'm sure in the commercial days of the canal it was well-used.
We had dinner on a bench opposite this pub. Local Bootle fish and chips, which were delicious!

Also re-applied sun cream.......it was a glorious, sunny day!


Wildlife.

One of the joys of this journey is watching the many creatures which call the canal their home. Many we can't capture on camera---tiddlers, fish leaping out of the water, small birds and butterflies, but here is a small selection from today's walk.
An armada of Canada geese is heading our way!
What do you call baby coots?  Cootlings?  Cootlets?
Lots of these around today.

We waited for ages to see if Mr. Heron would catch a fish.
He didn't!!

This graceful swan appeared while we stopped for a snack. It just added to the peaceful surroundings.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Bridges.

Bridges are very important to the canal system.
They are numbered so that you know where you are.


Allan is pictured here in front of Leigh Bridge, which looks very modern and new, but the metalwork is actually dated 1861 so it's quite old.
It actually has a letter, not a number. It is bridge D, and we have to get to
letter O before we even reach bridge number 1. On this walk we were heading for bridge 7D, which at this point seemed a long way off!
Brown's Bridge....No 4
Allan, complete with VIA rail train driver's cap bought in Canada, is contemplating how much further he can walk. We had covered about 8 miles and he was weary!

Found at last!

A wonderful view of the canal as we expected it to be.
Boats go under the bridge to the Stanley Dock Basin.
We stopped for a breather here after our tramp around the streets and simply enjoyed the scenery.   Bliss!


A short walk across the footbridge and now I am on the towpath, complete with my indispensable map and book.
Behind me is our first lock and the Railway Viaduct is in the background.
Yipee! We're on our way!



Sunday, August 21, 2011

LOST!

This is where we lost the canal because of construction work. We then walked at least a mile out of our way.
We discovered some interesting local history on the way.
This is the old Dock Road----the walls and gates would have opened onto different dock areas. It seemed to go on for ever!
The tall building is probably a shaft going down to one of the tunnels under the River Mersey. 

Where do we begin?

Part of the recently opened extention called the Liverpool Link.
Here the canal is disappearing through a tunnel into Canning Dock,
which then flows into Albert Dock.
Here's Allan, standing on the top step of the previous picture.
Behind him is the Port of Liverpool Building, one of the Three Graces.
Also just in view is the new Museum of Liverpool.
We called this our official start, so I set my pedometer to zero and off we went.


We finally got someone to take our photo together!    
The view is across the river Mersey.
Sadly, we are not sure just where the canal is right now!!!


Saturday, August 13, 2011

New Journey

A few weeks ago we began our next adventure------to walk the full length of the Leeds/Liverpool canal.  With our Canadian trip well over, we set off for the Albert Dock in Liverpool, the new start (or end, if you're going the other way!) of the canal.
Here we are at the impressively renovated Albert Dock, ready and raring to go.
Naturally, we had to have a cuppa first at the Tate Cafe (very expensive).
Thermos flasks in future!!

A couple of statues seen around the dock area depicting Liverpool's history.
Above is Allan's favourite, Billy Fury. Not only the Beatles came out of Liverpool!

Below, I am seated with a family who we think are about to emigrate to America. Sadly, no notice with this statue, so it's pure guesswork.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Time to go home

At last, our trip of a lifetime is almost at an end. It's been a fantastic adventure and a perfect celebration of our fifty years of marriage. One final day to record!

The last ferry crossing............for this particular trip.

Good-bye Gibsons.


Hello again Horseshoe Bay.

From here we went via bus and skytrain to the airport.

The Skytrain.
(picture by Doug McKinlay)

We took photos posing with some extremely handsome folk at the airport!
This sculpture is called The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, and is of a canoe carrying several mythical creatures. It is quite an awesome work of art.

Finally, there was the plane awaiting us. Our journey across this huge country was over.
 The memories will remain, not least in these photos and captions,all 56 of them, and there are another 200 or so still on my computer! 

I wonder what our next adventure will be?

Soames Hill

Penultimate day of holiday. Let's do something energetic!
First, hug a tree for energy.


Phew!! It's a long way to the top of Soames Hill.


Did it!



Having a well-earned rest on a convenient tree-stump.

This was followed by a delicious picnic provided by my guides for the walk.
We enjoyed the views, even though the weather was overcast.