15 October 2021

If you live in England, there is a very good chance you have visited this magical part of the world. Even living in Australia, the reputation of the Lake District is used as a measure of natural beauty. Parts of Tasmania, the Apple Isle off the coast of Australia, are described as being Australia’s Lake District, wild and beautiful.

I have had the opportunity to visit both of these places and now I live in England, the chance to visit the Lake District with friends was something I couldn’t miss.

The last time John and I had visited the Lake District was in 2019 when I drove our hired motorhome around the narrow roads and through the little towns. I had to find car parks that would take a motor home so that we could stop and see the beauty that is in every direction. I couldn’t take my eyes off the road as I was driving and concentrating on being able to squeeze past oncoming cars and navigate the winding roads.

This time, my visit would be with my friends, with Mike driving, along with Janice, Karen and Lulu the dog and some of our bear kids. I was really looking forward to being a passenger in Mike and Janice’s car and being able to relax and enjoy the stunning countryside.

Mike and Janice had sorted out the itinerary for our Lake District experience, which sounded perfect. We were going to start with a cruise on Lake Windemere from Lakeside to Ambleside, with a brief stop into Bowness. We would meet Mike and Lulu at Ambleside, where we would have a lunch break. Then Mike would drive us to Grasmere, a pretty little village that is the resting place for William Wordsworth. Then we would return to Bowness for dinner.

Karen and I were staying in the Broadwater Guest House in Morecambe and Mike, Janice and Lulu came to pick us up after breakfast. The great news was we were blessed with a beautiful morning, perfect for the cruise on Lake Windemere. It would be about a 45-minute drive up to Lakeside, which is at the western end of Lake Windemere.

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Lakeside is home to a grand looking hotel, the dock for the cruise boat, a station for a steam train and an aquarium.

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We were lucky enough to be in time to see the steam train arrive at the station.

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While we waited for the cruise boat to arrive, it gave us time to get a drink and snack from the little cafe at the station and to admire just how stunning the lake area is in the bright morning light.

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It didn’t take too long before the boat arrived. It is called the Swan. We farewelled Mike and Lulu and made our way onto the deck with a screen surrounding the seating area, which very nicely blocked the wind that was quite cold as we travelled. We were free to move around the boat and take photos during our journey.

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We were certainly blessed with beautiful weather and the cruise was on the calm water of Lake Windemere. There was some narration of our journey with things to look out for as we cruised along. Many historic properties overlook Windermere, with some of them now turned into hotels.

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We cruised into Bowness to allow passengers to leave at the halfway point before we headed off for the next part of the journey to Ambleside.

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It gave us each time to let our Bear Kids have fun and entertain the other passengers.

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The scenery started to change as we continued the journey and we started to see the Fells, the rugged mountains that challenge climbers to scale their slopes. They are so beautiful.

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Snow and Fin got to meet one of the crew when we docked at Ambleside. He was really happy to have his photo taken with them and asked if he could also get a photo taken on his phone so that he could show his 13-year-old daughter, who also has a family of bears, like us.

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If you would like to see the journey set to music, please check out my video here.

Once we had finished having fun with the crew, we joined Mike and Lulu to go head off and have lunch. Lulu the Cockapoo was very happy to see her mum.

Mike found a park in the town centre and we walked through to the Flying Fleece cafe for our lunch. It is alongside an amazing tiny house that is built over a stream. It is The Bridge House and it was built in the 1600s. For me, who has just returned from living in a country where civilisation only started in 1788, it is wonderful to just be able to walk up next to an incredible building like this and mind-boggling to think that a family of 8 lived here at one stage. Now it is looked after by the National Trust. My Bear kids loved climbing up the narrow steps to the front door.

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Lunch was lovely. we sat inside next to a fireplace so we were toasty warm and I enjoyed nice hot soup and a lovely ham sandwich. The amount of ham inside was very generous. This was the first time I have been to Ambleside, having only driven through it on other occasions on holidays with John.

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After lunch, we drove up to Grasmere, another lovely little village in the Lake District, although this one isn’t on the shores of any of the lakes. Grasmere is well known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth. On previous visits here, we have ventured into the tiny church of St Oswald’s and seen the resting place of William Wordsworth and his family in its graveyard. It is also where his home, Dover Cottage, which is open to the public along with his garden.

Mike parked us very close to the garden centre in the town and we walked through their front area. What I think is lovely about the garden centres I have been to here is that they all have had cafes in them, which makes for a nice experience when coming to browse through the plants and other things they sell that you can call in for a cup of tea. Where Janice and Mike live, the garden centre has two cafes and has a view of the sea

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As we passed by St Oswald’s, the bell tower was covered in protective scaffolding as it is undergoing restoration work. It is good that they are looking after the church. Parts of it were built in 1250AD and the site dates back to 642AD.

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We wandered through the village, crossing over the River Rothay, surrounded by the little old shops and houses. We then walked along a track that took us for a scenic walk to the entrance road into the village where we stopped at their Wishing Well and then the Hawkshead outdoor clothing shop, where I treated myself to two outdoor warmth tops from their 2 for £20 sale.

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It had been a lovely afternoon, but the late afternoon chill had started to come in, so we decided it was time to venture back to the car and make our way to Bowness where Mike and Janice planned for us to have dinner.

We walked down to where the Swan had come into the Bowness pier, while we were on our cruise, just in time to enjoy the late afternoon fading light which was so beautiful as it touched everything. It was a photographer’s delight.

We wandered back up to the Flying Pig pub, which is associated with the Flying Fleece where we ate at lunchtime. It was a similar menu, but that was ok. We knew the food would be good and judging by the number of other diners, the reputation was pretty good. Again we were able to get a table close to the fire. My dinner was the King Prawn, Crab & Chorio Linguini. I didn’t find very many prawns, but there was no shortage of tomatoes and chorizo. Mike and Janice had the Cartmel Valley Cumberland Sausage, which they enjoyed and Karen had the Whitby Breaded Scampi.

What is lovely is that for Mike and Janice, Lulu can join them. It appears that a lot of cafes/pubs happily let you bring your dog in. Lulu was content to lay down on the floor and fall asleep. I expect the floor was warm thanks to the fire.

By the time dinner was over, it was dark. The little town still had a lovely atmosphere and there were plenty of people around enjoying the atmosphere.

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It had been a lovely day in the company of Janice, Karen, Mike and Lulu. I feel very blessed to have their friendship. Mike safely drove us back to Morecambe and The Broadwater Guest House. Tomorrow would be time to say goodbye in the afternoon to Karen as she headed home to Cheltenham. But there would be time for another adventure for the five of us.