ENGLAND

This part of the trip has more been able catching up with long time friends and family before they go than wanting to go to the England and see the sights.  In doing this however I have managed to work my way around the country.  My time in England has been divided into four main areas; Southport/Liverpool with Kylie and her new family; The lake District and Yorkshire Dales with my sister Rachael and soon to be husband Hamish; Ringwood (where my sister lives) and beyond with my friend Kate and then finally the big smoke of London Town before leaving to New York with my sister and new friends..

Southport/Liverpool
My time here seems like a world away now, which I guess happens when you move around a lot while travelling.  It was great being able to be grounded after what seemed like endless nights in hostels and hotels for a time.  Also great were having home cooked meals, conversations around homework, being able to wash my clothes in washing machine, and being quizzed on my musical general knowledge of Justin Beber and the like by Kylie's two step children. I am proud to say I failed miserably on the music front.


Southport is a decent sized port town about 45mins by train to Liverpool.  I have to say my first impressions were not the positive of the place though it slowly grew on me.  The place seems to be somewhere to raise a family and then retire based on the proportion of pushchairs and people in wheelchairs and/or with walking sticks.  To my delight though I didn't buy there were also a high proportion of good quality shoe shops.  I also managed to do the rightful thing and test out a few local pubs.  All I attended were successes.


In my brief time in Southport, I got to know the train system to Liverpool well.  By doing so it helped ease my anxiety around this form of transport.  For me catching the train can be more stressful than catching a plane.  This primarily due to not knowing English geography as all trains are based on the final destination which is hardly ever the stop that I am going to.  


Liverpool should be known as the windy city, especially when down by the pier. I was nearly blown over twice by the gales that come through.  I think however it should also be known for more than just the home town of the Beatles (the museum I did go to by the way and was more enjoyable than I had thought it would be) and a port/industrial town which I had known it for. I spent a pleasant and at times moving 1 and half days in the city, mostly at museums and galleries and could have easily spent more if time had allowed.  Much of the city that I saw reminded my of Wellington, though with less hills and less good quality coffee shops.


My most memorable and powerful experience was at the International Slavery Museum.  This is a relatively new museum and takes up one floor of the Maritime Museum.  For me who has been to Ghana and touched the "Gate of No Return" just over five years ago, the exhibits brought back many of the strong feelings I had at the time.  The museum acknowledged that slavery still exists today and that much of the discrimination many face here in the UK, Africa and further abroad is linked to the slave trade.  After my time at the museum it took me a considerable period of time to feel "normal" again due to the strong emotions that came with visiting such a place.  

The nest blog will cover the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales and will be done in the near(ish) future depending on how busy the USA keeps me and I will likely do the pics once all the blog for England is done.