UK Trip Part 1 (Cumbria)

Leaving New Zealand turned out harder than expected with both Hannah and Gareth falling ill in the few days before the flight. Hannah had an ear infection and Gareth had tonsilitis, so the 41-hour door-to-door journey wasn't the easiest! Thankfully, we were met by Natasha, Karen and Isabella at Heathrow, which was a lovely surprise and a fantastic break before continuing our journey north to Hannah's home.



Rose Cottage

Thankfully, after a day of rest, we were fighting fit again for the wedding of Lucy (a school friend of Hannah's) and Chris. The weather was fantastic and it felt very English as we sipped Pimms and Lemonade on the lawn and watched croquet. The setting for the reception was amazing in a big country manor house on the edge of Bassenthwaite Lake. It was great to be there for their special day and Hannah was extremely honoured to be one of Lucy's bridesmaids.



Lucy and Chris cutting the cake




Gareth, Hannah, Andrea and David




Croquet on the lawn


The following day, we visited the church where we got married, only a short distance around the lake from where we'd spent the wedding the day before.



St Bega's Church




The shores of Bassenthwaite


Hannah's beautiful God-daughter, Amy, lives in Cumbria, so we spent a day with her family. They have a lovely new home, which has a good old English pub at the bottom of the garden (taking the bins out now takes David 3 hours!!). We were both amazed at how much Amy had changed...the last time we saw her she was only 4 months old!



Amy and her new backpack from New Zealand!




Pub at the bottom of the garden!




Story time


Hannah's sister (Alice) and brother (Eamon) also made it back while we were there. In the end, we only had 1 day together, but we made the most of it by taking a walk near the slate mine at Honister Pass.



Eamon, John, Hannah & Alice




View from the top, looking over Buttermere and Crummock lakes