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Location Date Oakley 1272322800 Cambridge 1272236400 Beverley 1271890800 Bothel 
1271631600 Coalbrookdale 1271026800 Whittlebury 1270854000 London 1270508400 Dover 1270422000
Day 170 to 172 - 19th to 21st April -U.K.
Point of departure: Coalbrookdale
Point of arrival: Bothel & Keswick, Lake District
Accommodation: Criffel Cottage with Pete & Fran Evans
Km travelled today: 345km Cum: 28 834km (gravel 0km cum 4 649km)
Countries so far: 14/16
Where to next? Beverley, Yorkshire
No of photos: 50 (cum 7 051)
Cape to Cairo… and to Bothel! - the furthest point north in the UK and our entire trip that we are travelling to… and yes we have spelt it correctly, there is definitely no "R" in it. (Sorry Fran couldn't resist it!)
We had a wonderful couple of days with Pete and Fran Evans (John's cousin Pete was born and raised in Kenya along with his sister Kerrie and brother Rod, who we stayed with in Nairobi). Pete and Fran lived in Kenya for a good few years before returning to the UK in the 1970's.Criffel Cottage is a lovely "old" home (about 300 years old) and also renovated on the inside and decorated with African memorabilia. Like we say, once you live in Africa, it's in your blood for eternity.
On Tuesday we had lunch with Archie and Meryll (Pete's parents and John's paternal aunt) - it was so lovely seeing you again and catching up with you both and sharing our experiences of the trip as well as photographs.
Pete and Fran decided since we spent months sitting in the Beast we needed some exercise so we went walking in the Cumbrian hills along with Sally (a long time friend of Pete and Fran who too lived in Kenya) - all these African connections. We were very tempted to break into song with "the hills are alive with the sound of music" as the scenery was spectacular and the walk quite invigorating. Fran packed a wonderful picnic lunch which we shared in the field along with the sheep and lambs. The Cumbrian sheep have certainly been busy as there were literally hundreds of lambs frolicking in the fields.
Pete and Fran thank you both so much for your warm welcome and for making us feel so at home. We truly had a great time and it was wonderful getting to know you (50 odd years of catching up) and we look forward to seeing you in Portugal next month.
- comments
Fran Evans Dear Marina and John, thank you for coming all this way to see us. Having followed your journey every step of the way, we were SO pleased to have you and The Beast stay with us at Criffel Cottage. Enjoy the rest of your time in UK and Spain and see you in Portugal. Love Fran and Pete.
Graham Nundy Hi John and Marina great to see you guys are still going strong. Marina did John spoil u as promised with you spending spree in Rome? Just a update on Fassmann he spent 3 months in Ethiopia and reached Cape Town last week. Have fun and safe travel. regards Graham
Jo Hedges Hi John and Marina, just come across your blog - super. We live and work in Khartoum for three months and go out to South Africa on break for three weeks. We're planning a trip from SA to the UK over Africa (on our motorcycle) so following your travels avidly. I have a blog mainly about our stay here in the Sudan. www.memorablemeanders.blogspot.com Safe travels. Jo