Our day started with a quick breaky provided by the hotel. I really enjoyed my marmite toast, perhaps I was craving Vegemite, but the scrambled eggs were terrible. We caught the train to Liverpool, about an hour away, and once we had orientated ourselves we headed to the Beatles heartland centred around The Cavern which despite being closed & practically destroyed in the late 1970's has been reopened. No matter what Beatles souvenirs you could imagine the shops around here had it! We wandered from here down towards the banks of the Mersey with its big pompous buildings from a time when Liverpool was laden with wealth. Further along we walked towards Albert Dock, briefly looking through a World War 2 period home. The dock area itself had been transformed to a popular area with museums, restaurants & shops. Wanting something light for lunch we wandered up towards the shopping streets to find a sandwich shop & with about an hour till we headed back to Manchester our last bit of tourist duty was to walk up to the massive cathedral and the quickly back to the station as it started to sprinkle with rain.
Heading back to Manchester to be picked up by Steve we drove out into the suburbs, stopping at their local pub for a drink before heading to the house to see Michelle who was recovering from hospital. Everyone was in good spirits, including Steve's kids who came over to share the pizzas that were ordered. We enjoyed a few hours of catching up & good conversation before catching a taxi back to our hotel. Wouldn't you know it, the taxi driver's sister lives in Melbourne!