UK Trip – Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

End of UK Trip

Well what started as a 6 month trip around UK ended up being a UK trip with many diversions. My previous trips to Europe were planned to meet family in Italy or a Transatlantic cruise from Florida to Barcelona which was a diversion from my USA roadtrip. This time, knowing I had 6 months so close to Europe, it was difficult to not experience places so close. I also needed to leave UK several times to not overload on the magnificent history of the place. I had to have a break and that was something I am glad I did so every time I returned I appreciated their historical magnificence even more.

Another reason I did so much, I am not sure how much longer I can travel in this way, lifting 20kg and 10kg bags into trains, up and down escalators, up stairs (the stairs in UK homes are killers) so tried to do as much as I can now. The cruises in between each trip to UK gave me time to reset and not live out of a suit case for more than a week. AND trying to keep my luggage within those weights was a feat in itself. The picture above shows my luggage for this trip and I would like to add that I am very proud of myself that I left London with the same weight of luggage from Sydney. Not sure how many people can do this after a 6 month trip.

A summary of some of my travel is below and I have included some pricing as many have asked about costs.

Flights = 15

I flew with Singapore Airlines from Sydney/Singapore/London return. All internal flights in Europe I travelled mostly with RyanAir.
1 March Sydney to Singapore
Singapore to London
1 April London to New York
24 April Barcelona to London
25 April London to Luxor
2 May Luxor to Cairo
4 May Cairo to London
27 May Copenhagen to Edinburgh
13 June Liverpool to Valletta Malta
23 June Valletta Malta to Paphos Cyprus
13 July Paphos Cyprus to Krakow Poland
18 July Krakow to Berlin
31 July Prague to Stansted London
1 September London Singapore
2 September Singapore Sydney

Cruises = 7

I booked my cruises through vacationstogo or through my NCL consultant in Florida or through Passion For Cruises for solo travellers. All the cruises included alcohol and internet. Some included additional perks such as speciality dining and $AUD75 credit towards a tour in every port. Something to remember when cruising, everything is included: entertainment, meals, alcohol, accommodation and travel. The cruises I did averaged around $200 per night. The most expensive was the River Nile cruise but I think the reason is selfexplanatory.
2 April/17 April New York to Barcelona Trans Atlantic NCL Epic $AUD3000 (Balcony)
17 April/24 April Barcelona Mediterranean NCL Epic (inside)
25 April/ 2 May River Nile MS Emilio $2200 (Balcony)
8 May/18 May Europe: France Germany Norway Denmark B2B NCL Getaway $1500 (Balcony)
18 May/27 May Balkan Baltic NCL Getaway $1200 (Balcony)
1 August/13 August British Isles Emerald Princess $2300 (inside)
13 August/25 August Canary Islands MSC Virtuosa $2230 (inside)

Trains = 15 (these do not include the numerous trains and tube within London and surrounds)
Watford to London/Watford £22 return
Watford to Bletchley Park/Watford £18 return
Watford to London £22 return
London to Canterbury/London $30.60 return
Heathrow to Salisbury £42
Salisbury to Southhampton £10.90
Edinburgh to Newcastle £23
Newcastle to York £13.00
Newcastle to Southport (£48.40
Southport to Liverpool £7
Berlin to Prague (£40)
London to Southampton (£39.00)
Glasgow to Edinburgh (£40 return)
Southampton to Bath (£22.20)
Bath to Chippenham (£6.50 return)
Bath to London (£59.70)

Countries and islands visited 28
England
Scotland
Ireland
Orkney Islands
Shetland Islands
Canary Islands
Madeira
Italy
Malta
Cyprus
Egypt
USA
Estonia
Denmark
Sweden
The Netherlands
Spain
Norway
Sweden
Czech Republic
France
Portugal
Corsica
Poland
Germany
Bermuda
Tenerife
Gran Canaria

My accommodation when not cruising was found either through Airbnb or Booking.com. I will add my accommodation at a later date.

Cyprus

Well another gem. I came here for 7 days and stayed 3 weeks and only leaving because I have some other places to get to. I have been looking for an “Under the Tuscan sun” or my own “Shirley Valentine” place and this is it! My hotel apartment with views of the Mediterranean and the sound of crashing waves, lying next to the pool,walking down to the beach, or sunning on my sunbed I didn’t want to do much more than this. The food is delicious, I didn’t experience any bad food, the people are friendly, the bus transport is easy to get around. I actually didn’t do as much touristy things as I normally do as it was just lovely to enjoy where I was staying. The Helios Bay Hotel is a family run place which has lots of Greek heart. I walked through the 5 star resorts nearby, they are lovely and modern but cannot compare to the family style hospitality of Helios. I found it difficult to leave to do much exploring.

I did manage to explore the Tomb of the Kings which is a short bus ride down the road from my hotel.

I hired a car for 2 days to do some of the areas which are accessible by public transport but can take up to 2 hours in different directions. So I had 2 full days of exploring the changing landscape. A trip of 3 hours took me 7 hours as I was forever stopping to take photos but I have added just a sample here.

This spot is Aphrodite Rock. There is a legend that if you swim around the rock you will have eternal youth. I don’t want eternal youth, now if you can guarantee eternal mature age with my energy minus the aches and pains, maybe. Note the sign to drive on the left. The only place I have seen a sign such as this is in Australia on the Great Ocean Road where there are many right hand drive tourists who do not remember to drive on the left.

Famagusta is in the Turkish occupied zone of Cyprus. This is so hard to understand that Turkey are the only place who identify the North of Cyprus as part of Turkey. There is a UN peace keeping force in the area, there is a border check when crossing into Famagusta. I was on an organised tour as I wasn’t even sure if my travel insurance covered me for anything in this zone. At the border our passports were collected and then returned by a Turkish Government offical who remained with our tour as an “escort”. Interesting how the people live “normally” on this side, there are lovely restaurants, shopping malls, boutiques, same as any other area but it left a bad taste in my mouth. St Nicolas Cathedral is now used as a mosque and is relatively free of any icons other than prayer mats throughout. The houses which were abandoned are a constant reminder of the invasion of 1974.

Some of the ruins of the Salamis Ancient City

I did much more exploring than expected as all I wanted to do in this beautiful island was just lie next to the pool or enjoy a beach or stroll the promenade in Chloraka, a much less touristy and less commercial area than Paphos itself.

Auschwitz

You can ask why would you go to this place of horrific history, you can go to pay respects, to learn of history or not go. I have been drawn to visit this place for quite a long time. I have watched many Holocaust documentaries, movies, visited resistance museums. Nothing compares to walking this place. Can you try to imagine walking to a gas chamber thinking you were going to have a shower, being separated from your children, husband, parents. Being experimented on because you are a twin or just because they could do whatever their sick minds decided to do back in the 1940s. There are not enough words to explain what it feels like walking through Auschwitz Birkenau. It is not for everyone. After leaving this death museum, I am finding it more and more difficult to process what went on there. Hug the people you love and be grateful for our freedom.

Loch Ness and Scottish Highlands

I am not one for organised tours but I found this tour of Scotland which incorporates a few spots I wanted to explore. I do not have a car for this trip and doing all possible by rail or bus. Timberbush Loch Ness Glencoe and Highlands tour is 12 hours in a coach and I got to see some of the famed scenery of this beautiful country, with the best tour bus driver guide, Jamie, and a very reasonable $100AuD (£55). Jamie had a music playlist which included music that matched the emotion of the stories and places we passed through. Lots of photo stops with great commentary. We passed the Kelpies in Falkirk. 30 metre stainless steel sculptures. Read about Duke and Baron

Passed by Doune Castle the setting for Outlander, Game of Thrones and Monty Python and Stirling Castle childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots.

So much to see but cannot do it all. Our first stop was Kilmahog, known as the gateway to the highlands to meet a couple of famous Highland Coos, Hamish and Honey.

We passed through the areas of the children of the mist from the Macgregor Clan, the cemetery with Rob Roy, then to Crieff, the birthplace of Ewan Macgregor. The highlands are very popular for hikers.

Glencoe is in scenes from Harry Potter and James Bond, Skyfall. There is so much history and so many sad stories such as the massacre of Glencoe. There is so much beauty also in this wild craggy land. Lochs are lakes and Bens are mountains. We stopped at Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, and part of the Three Sisters. (not to be confused with the Three Sisters of the Blue Mountains of Australia).

Fort Augustus is the gateway to Loch Ness.

And then we were on a boat on Loch Ness looking for “Nessie”. The boat was a good way to travel on the Loch and get some photos of the Urquhart Castle ruins.

We found this crazy Dutchman, going for a swim, looking for Nessie. The water temperature was 5C 41F. It was the closest we got to the Loch Ness monster.

Drove through Inverness

Our final stop for the day was the cute town of Pitlochry.

I had to take a pic of this in Pitlochry

It was a very enjoyable trip, although long, well worth doing. Left Edinburgh at 8am and arrived back at 8:30pm. I ended the day with a lovely minestrone at Vittoria on the Bridge.

Walked to Princes Square to get a bus back to my hotel and cannot walk without taking some snaps.

Edinburgh Castle magestically looking over the town

Stonehenge

Just spent an hour in a most magical place.I was fortunate to get a ticket for the Special Circle Experience which limits 30 people onto the sacred site. I wasn’t expecting anything like the energy I felt. I was asked by a couple of my wiccan friends to send some affirmations and I was overwhelmed. Stonehenge a manmade circle of stones and the world’s most famous prehistoric structure. It is still a place of worship where the eqonox and solstice are celebrated to this day. There were people from USA and me and we all felt something. Some people were fascinated by the archaeological information, others sat and meditated or walked around in awe. I did all. I am a member of the English Heritage and this experience cost £38. I would return.

Salisbury UK

4 May 2022

After the dirty, polluted, uncivilised Egypt, it was so refreshing arriving in Salisbury at 6:00pm after arriving at Heathrow at 1:30pm. Took the Heathrow express to Paddington station, then a tube to Waterloo and then a fast train (GWR) to Salisbury. The train conductor was very helpful and took my bags from me and stored them. It was so lovely not to tip anyone. My accommodation Peartree Serviced Apartments are a 2 minute walk from Salisbury station. This accommodation is beautiful. It is a 10 minute walk to the centre of town. My first walk through town and it was such a contrast to where I had been for the last 9 days.

Day 2 I walked and chatted to several tourists from London and Scotland. All enjoying the beautiful weather. It was 20 Celsius!! I went to the Old Mill Hotel, Salisbury Cathedral and enjoyed the meadows. I found a ladies toilet and it required 50pence to open the door. I forgot to swap my change from Egypt to UK but there was a kind park worker who opened up the bathroom and allowed me to use for free.

Met this trout fisherman. He wasn’t catching much as at this time of year you cannot use bait.

I enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea in the Salisbury Cathedral grounds. The Cathedral holds one of the originals of Magna Carta, an 800 year old symbol of social justice, inspiring human rights legislation.

Preston UK to New York USA

So on 31 march I completed all the tests and documents so I could fly from London to New York to get on the Norwegian Epic for a 15 night Transatlantic cruise to Barcelona. My dear friend Deb sent me a message “you know there is a quicker way to get to Barcelona from London”. She was being funny because she knows me very well and knows how much I love cruising. First I took a 2 hour train from Preston to London, then a couple of tube trains to Heathrow, then a very uncomfortable 7 hour flight to New York. Customs was slow as normal and it took a round 1 hour to get through but with no issues as I still have my USA 5 year visa for unlimited entry. I had a car booked to pick me up and proceeded to the Terminal pick up area. 10 minutes later they called me to say that they would not get there for 45 minutes. It was already 11pm, zero degrees with New York’s bitter cutting wind. I said no thank you and then had to work out where the cab line was as I was in the Uber and limo area. Itook a couple of deep breaths to remind myself to stay calm and I asked a man nearby where to get a cab. When I explained my SIM decided to stop working I couldn’t get an uber he kindly said “here is my Uber ride. Jump in and I’ll drop you on the way to my place”. Now I am always defensive of Americans when people say awful things (but sorry that doesn’t extend to Trump). This young man is a Jewish New Yorker and his kindness saved me $100 plus. He said he has experienced kindness when he has been in a similar predicament when travelling and people have been kind to him. I agree if you pay it forward karma looks after you. I got to my hotel at midnight dropped bags checked google maps and Times Square was a 12 minute walk. I could not go to New York and at the least go to Times Square. So I got my photo out front of the Times Square NYPD.

Walking around New York after midnight, even though the bitter cold wind continued, it didn’t stop me from wishing I was staying for a few days. This city has a feeling you get nowhere else in the world. But I was going to board my favourite ship, the Norwegian Epic in 10 hours, that was my reason for being in this fabulous city and I just cannot do everything, although I do try to.

I got back to my hotel around 2am and got to sleep finally when a friend from the UK rang to tell me he is so disappointed he was not travelling on the Epic. Maf is another solo traveller I met on the Transatlantic on the Epic in 2018. We had an impromptu dance on the board walk of Cadiz Spain and it is one of my fabulous travel and dance memories. The song was “in the school yard” and upon seeing the children in the school, we just had to dance. I’m hoping to make more of these lovely memories once I board the Epic.

Witch Sculpture Trail Barley Pendle Hill

Last week, Paul, the brother of my dear friend from Sydney Ann, took me for a wonderful country drive around Lancashire and came across this sculpture trail. It is a trail which takes 2 hours and we did not have enough daylight to look into this part of the countryside. Today, I had the opportunity to do the sculpture walk with Barbara, who is a wiccan. She is the mother of identical twins Becki and Hana who lived with me in Sydney. Barbara asked what I would like to see in her part of the world while I was travelling and I asked about this sculpture trail as I thought it would be of interest to her also. We had a fabulous day walking through this gorgeous countryside. It is so different to anything I have seen in Australia. We started with scones and hot chocolate in The Cabin in Barley. Must stop here before or after the numerous walks around Pendle Hill.

Then we started out to find the sculpture trail. Barbara was concerned about the mist, fog and rain and I was determined not to allow anything to deter us from this walk, even with the bitter cold which I do not particularly cope well with. Anyone who knows me would be surprised with me saying this, but this is such beautiful countryside and it is England. If I cannot cope with this weather I should not be here. But no matter how cold, how stunning is this!! The rain stayed away, the sun tried to peek through and the cold was bearable. At least it didn’t snow.

When we found the sculpture trail I have to say that the first two art pieces did not excite me. I didn’t quite understand how they are witch related.

But then we came across this creepy but enchanting chair with other mythical creatures.

The trail has ceramic tiles which represent the 10 “witches” who were hanged and hold clues for a quiz.

The Witch Finder General.

Some other pieces of interest.

A couple of witches at the Pendle Hill Inn at the end of the trail.

We finished off the day with dinner in Preston at the Bistrot Pierre. Highly recommend this place.

Thank you Barbara for a memorable day.

Blackpool

Blackpool is a 25 minute train ride from Preston. Cost is 10GBP offpeak. After spending a few hours planning my next few weeks of travel, I finally got on a train at 4:30pm. The “beach” is a few minute walk from Blackpool North Station. It is certainly very different to Australian beaches. But that is the beauty of the world being different. It was low tide and you can see the different channels which could be dangerous to anyone who doesn’t understand the changing depths when the tide is high. There are warnings around the beach. Different to the Australian warnings. Not sure I would go swimming here but it is a very popular place to go to.

People asked me why I am going to Blackpool, “there is nothing there!” and “it isn’t a good place”. Travelling I have learned that there is something to see and beauty in every place, you just have to open your eyes and “see” the place. It does look a bit run down but I expect it looks a bit “Vegas” at night. It does remind me of Atlantic City or Coney Island.

The Comedy Carpet is a celebration of comedy and made up of over 160,000 mosaic tiles.

Walking around town

The 3 piers. North, South and Central. North Pier was closed but a security guard let me in to get a couple of pics.

Of course I always find the Drag Bars in the world. At 6:30pm there was great dance music calling me into Garlands. Thank you Elsie Duchess for your music.

Liverpool

Today I met up with 2 cruise friends, Peter from Preston and Lynford from York. A day in Liverpool means looking up all possible to do with the Beatles as this is where they grew up and were they started their ride to fame. I took the train from Preston to Liverpool. Cost was 15GBP return and a comfy 1 hour trip. Liverpool station is huge! Not quite like the Liverpool station in Sydney.

We walked down to the Cavern Precinct looking for the John Lennon statue. Found the Cavern Club, Cilla Black, The Beatles Shop.

John Lennon’s statue was nowhere to be seen and then we realised it was under cover

Of course I asked a nearby worker if we could have a reveal of John Lennon as I had come all the way from Australia. He was so excited to hear my accent, Barney did more than remove the protective cover.

Before the City Sights Liverpool City and Beatles Hop On Hop off Off tour we had a look around town

Liverpool has a harbour and cruise terminal with lovely areas similar to Darling Harbour and Barangaroo. You can see today there is sunshine and it was glorious sitting outside without freezing.

The bus stopped off at the Penny Lane sign, Strawberry Fields, although the gates are not the original gates, John’s childhood home and travelled through areas including a street of churches. One of the fun things of this open bus was how many people wave at everyone and particularly when the bus passes by high up office windows and the workers wait for the bus to come by for everyone to wave.