1st July 2026 to 2nd July 2026
Distance: 12,000 Km
Flying Out
I was up very early on the Wednesday morning to get to the airport by 7am for a 10am international flight. Originally I had intended to go by train but my daughter volunteered to drive me which was wonderful.
The airport was quite a different matter. Gone were the rows of counters staffed by people who knew what they were doing, replaced by self service check ins. Did it work for me? no! it did not. I had to get a fella to help me but even he ran into difficulties However he did finally print out my boarding pass but then as a cherry on the cake the machine would not accept my baggage so he took me round the back to a staffed counter where it was manually transferred to the conveyor belt. The check in was a nightmare.
Getting through security was relatively easy and I was soon free to go into the Qantas lounge until my plane was ready to depart. Didn’t bother with any food but just had a cup of coffee from a machine.
The Flight
What can I say? I was comfortable, the attendants were very nice, the food was pretty good for preprepared food.
The section from Sydney to Hong Kong was on a Qantas plane, from Hong Kong to Heathrow and Manchester was with British Airways. The seating on the BA flight was obviously much newer that that on the Qantas plane though there was nothing wrong with the latter.
If I had a gripe, the BA Lounge at Heathrow was very crowded and difficult to find a seat. Heathrow and Manchester airport seemed to have very few staff able to help give advice or directions and those airports seemed to involve very long walks to get to anything you needed.
Arrival
As I say Manchester Airport involved a lot of walking with apparently no one to ask directions, eventually I found an Express Pickup place and my brother was able to retrieve me to drive me to his home in Macclesfield.
3rd July 2026
Slept pretty well the first night and was up early (ish) when I had a shower and made myself coffee, Being summer it is light at stupid o’clock and still light at 10pm in the evening – hence my judgement of the actual time is hopeless.
Set off to walk into Macclesfield to look around and get some exercise after two days of sitting down. It is a farther than I walked last time I was here and the footpath is a bit overgrown.
I stung my leg on nettles as I brushed past – Had completely forgotten about them but as I was stung immediately remembered them (of course). There are couple of hills too which was a change from the very flat walks I normally take.
Macclesfield still has the poshest car park in existence.
Macclesfield town centre has not changed much since I was last here 15 years ago.
4th July 2026
Visited the town centre again purely to try to book a visit to London but the prices were ridiculous, the girl in the travel agency said that they only dealt with one agency and she suggested trying myself on line.
There was a Gay Pride event in the main town square with stalls and various activities which was quite interesting.
Visited the local Aldi because it was close where I bought some odds and ends I needed like soap and toothpaste, afterwards walked back to home.
Spent the late afternoon on line and eventually booked five days in London with train fares and hotel for about $1200, I have to pick up the tickets from the local station.
Also made a loose plan for the entirety of my time in the UK.
That evening we all went to the local pub for a meal and a few beers.
5th July 2026
My brother had to visit his optician to pick up some new glasses so I took the opportunity to go with him and get my tickets from the station.
The afternoon was spent meeting neighbours, discussing our future plans and watching a bit of TV, actually Netflix on my laptop.
Not a lot to report today but it seemed to pass very quickly.
6th July 2026
Cheltenham
Today was my first daytrip, my brother and I are visiting Cheltenham.
My main observation was just the sheer volume of traffic on the road (M5/M6), it was like driving in a big Australian city all the time. Not a complaint but it was busy, however it kept moving with only a couple of slow patches.
The weather was beautiful and we made pretty good time, I think the speed limits were higher than Aussie ones. Cheltenham seemed smaller than I remembered it, not the size of the town just the size of the roads, though, as my brother pointed out, I was much smaller then.
First stop was the house of my great aunts, I remembered it as being a busy main road – it was a fairly quiet back street.
Then it was time to visit my grandparents house, once again the street had shrunk, cars either side made it a very narrow street. Neither this nor my great aunts’ house had really changed very much externally.
Finally the house where I lived until the age of five. The attic rooms have been added in the intervening 70+ years
Followed this up with a walk up onto the lower slopes of Leckhampton Hill where we had sledged as children called Daisy Bank, surprisingly it was very overgrown with brambles and other vegetation as well as Daisy Bank itself being fenced off.
The rest of the day was spent in Pittville Park and driving round Cheltenham
7th July 2026
Not a very busy day, just a walk to the local grog shop (actually a small supermarket) to buy some beer. They didn’t have any stubbies just cans. I bought a four pack of pint cans of Heineken.
During the afternoon we sat out in the garden enjoying the sunshine.
My brother’s grandson visited to play after his school and later his daughter came to retrieve him
8th July 2026
Blackpool
Drove to Blackpool today, somewhere I have never been before.
We parked at one end of the Promenade and walked back toward the tower and the piers. The first stop was to buy an ice cream which was very nice.
The town has double deck buses and trams.
On the walk back to the car I noticed an ad for place we would be visiting later.
We bought fish and chips for lunch, it was a very disappointing and the coffee undrinkable.
Overall a very enjoyable day out, the temperature was about 21° to 23° which was very pleasant. On our return to Macclesfield we called into the pub for a beer because the temperature was much higher – about 28°
9th July 2026 and 10th July 2026
Over the Border
Headed north into Scotland to visit my cousin who I had not seen since my last visit to the UK in 2011.
On the motorway heading north was completely stopped by a vehicle saying, “Do Not Pass” what the reason for the stoppage was completely unclear.
The rest of the drive was pleasant and uneventful.
Spent the afternoon and the next morning with my cousin and his wife, it was wonderful to catch up with them. The next morning went for a lovely walk in 28° temperatures which personally I found quite bearable but they found it very warm. We all enjoyed a snack at the local cafe.
We drove back to Macclesfield that afternoon.
11th July 2026 and 12th July 2026
A Quiet Weekend
A much needed restful weekend.
On the Sunday we were going to the Cheshire Steam Rally but decided even that was too much but were invited to a delightful BBQ Sunday afternoon at my niece’s home. Unfortunately I enjoyed myself too much and forgot to take any photos.
OZ Camper Travels 