I left Oxford on Wednesday morning, after watching some poor old lady take a dive at the floor of the train station steps and cut her head open on the concrete (I rushed off to get the paramedic on duty at the station). Lorraine and I drove west to start with because it looked like a good exit from the roundabout we were on. We didn't really have a place to go to but liked the idea of seeing Hereford because I had seen it on TV and Jo's place and it looked quaint. We never made it that because Lorraine recognised a town that her sister used to live in. After that I found a town called Stanton and we went there so I could pose for a photo with the sign. I took the time to look in the map index and found a whopping 22 towns starting with Stanton (four of which were just that, the others included Stanton-on-Hine-Heath and Stanton-on-Bridge). I thought my family was pretty big in NZ but we clearly colonised England first. The Stanton Estate in the Peak District looked really impressive.

Stanton In Peak	Near the village of Stanton
Lorraine and I on Mams Tor (Mother's Hill)

   So we drove around the Peak District that after noon, and on Thursday wandered around the hills above Castleton. The village at the bottom is nice enough but I really didn't like the way they commercialised all the caves around there and wanted to charge $18 for a visit. Instead we walked the hills and found a vein of amethyst which I attacked for quite a while but came away with only a few flakes. Thursday night was in Bradford with Stephanie, an old friend from Lewes Tertiary College days. She really loved telling people how long we had known each other. I guess after leaving Sussex in '98 her friends are all newer than me, much like my time in New Zealand.

   On Friday Steph guided us to the excellent Yorkshire Dales national park. It was such a beautiful place, really perfect little valleys (dales?) and lovely weather. The three of us walked to the top of Malham Tarn and enjoyed a great view and the occasional low flying fighter jet. Just like you've probably seen in lots of photos, the hills are crisscrossed with lots of stone walls, some in the most unusual patterns. One can only assume that the builders has also been out on the town with a bar manager the night before. With Steph safely back at home then we drove to Newcastle. We had left it a little late, and rush hour traffic didn't help but getting there was easy. Navigating the one way system in town however was not. After circling the uni a couple of times we parked a little way off and I ran down to find Rory and Effie at the lights.

The Yorkshire Dales

   Rory is a friend of mine from primary school and came to Newcastle to study ages ago. He has just started his Phd here and that will mean he stays up here for quite a while more. It's great to see him again after 5 years (when he toured NZ with his school rugby team), he's been guiding us through the city and tonight we are all going out clubbing in Newcastle. No-one parties like the Geordies. Jen, Ash and Sally (met in Munich) will be there too, so all signs are for a good night. Will update tomorrow.