Hibernation Mode :: Active

Another week and time for another post. I do keep getting nagged to do them more often but really over here there isn't enough interesting stuff happening to type up every day. So, other than for specific incidents, I'll not be updating more often than once a week until we're back. Depending on when I return (and it is looking very likely that I'll not be staying in Bulgaria when A goes back in March) we'll have to work out how it'll go then; I'll prob just nag A to write it while she's there keeping everyone including myself up to date with progress every day. But anyway, that's for the future.

For now, and for the next four months or so, we're stuck over here in the UK and it is having quite an effect on our sleeping patterns. It is probably a combination of having to have the curtains closed as there is a street light right outside, and the fact that this much further north it barely ever gets above dusk even at the middle of the day, but several times this week we have slept in til 10am and beyond which is totally unheard of. I have been able to wallow in such laziness all week as I started the week once again unemployed. My interview was to happen on Tuesday and, true to form, we left in such good time that we got there an hour early. This gave us time to drive around the local area and look at a couple of houses that we had found on rightmove near the offices. If I got the job and settled, similar to the plans for Sheffield, we'll just move to within walking distance.

This ended up being one of the strangest interviews I've ever done as my mate sat with me for half an hour before the hiring manager arrived, his boss, and then as we were starting to chat the bell went to announce the two minute silence for Remembrance Day and I do always observe that. Once we sat down we ended up having a very non structured chat about many different subjects and then went for lunch, where A rejoined us having been out for a walk back up to where the houses were and then on into town to pass the time. I must have done OK as later on that day I was confirmed that I had got the job. I had hoped to start the next day but in the end it was agreed that a Monday start date was best and this has actually worked out very well.

Wednesday night is reggae night now, officially, and will remain so until we leave this flat. We had invited Ryan to come for dinner, help me with some of the setup on this laptop for the new job (I was desperately trying to avoid having to spend the best part of £2000 on a macbook, and seem to have succeeded in this), and then go out to said jam night. This all worked out very well, with a lovely fish and potato dinner cooked by A, however it wasn't the jam night it was a Latin American band which was pretty awesome indeed. We sat round the corner so there was no real chance for photographs or videos but we were dancing away at our tables and, in a nice touch, some of the people we had seen the week before came over and said hi. Gotta love a good local.

Eating out, alone. I love it.

With my job confirmed the rest of the week was spent being really lazy and sleeping, or trying to get the laptop fully configured, or a combination of the two. Happily by Friday afternoon I had done as much as possible and was able to go out for one of the main things I have been looking forward to about being back in this country; The Whisky Lounge Blind Islay Fury night. I was meeting my housemate John, and Lee and one of his mates, as well as another ex colleague but for one reason or another (John ended up at the wrong bar, Lee was held up in traffic) no one made it into town in time to have food with me. No matter I ensconced myself in the restaurant area of one of our regular bars and sat in splendid isolation reading my book and enjoying the BBQ ribs.

The whisky selection

The concept of Blind Islay Fury involves six shots of whisky, each quite peated and gorgeous, and you get to taste and rate them (and try and guess the distillery) before the grand reveal at the end of the night. I failed completely and got none right, though if I had stuck with my first answer across the board I would have ended with three out of six. The best in the room was two so I was quite annoyed at myself. This was only a sideshow, however, and everyone in the room had a really good time as Joe led us through each whisky, describing as he went the process of making an excellent whisky, and then allowing us time to savour the flavour of each. At the end I helped tidy up, with John, and got to drink a few more of each which was a worthwhile deal. From there we went for a few beers and ended in a karaoke bar which I put up with for an hour or so before leaving the others to continue their night.

Just below the cloud level. By about ten feet.

Amazingly I had no hangover the next day, though the last pint was a bad idea I think, and I woke up pretty early though didn't get out of bed for a while. As we had been stuck in the flat all week with only the trip to the interview to break the monotony, we had decided that whatever the weather we would head onto the high peak on Saturday. It took ages to get through Mottram and Glossop, as always, and as we reached the top of the first climb the engine light came on again in Thomas. He is going to have to be put into the garage sooner than planned, I think. We pulled over to allow him to rest for a bit and took a quick stretch of legs down the gully by where we had stopped.

Rushing water

This parking place was actually one I was aiming for anyway as there is a nice walk up onto the moor above the cut however with the weather we decided not to go too far. The path was waterlogged and the mist was coming down even more while we were stopped. The stream was enjoying the rain, however, and gurgled happily as it bounced into the tunnel taking it under the road. We may only have been stopped for ten minutes or so but it was still lovely to get the fresh air and leg stretch in.

Pity about the "e" that has snuck into Whisky

We got back on the road but then a snap decision was made as we passed the Snake Pass Inn to park up and go in for a pint and maybe some food. This was a very good choice and we had a really nice time first of all chatting to the barman with epic dreadlocks who was into music and whisky and commented on my Robert Johnson t shirt and ended up shaking hands as we left. The food, after this chat, was also epic and even though I wasn't feeling that hungry I ate all the lasagne and most of the salad.

Wrapped up warm for a stroll

Win Hill (I think?) in the mist

We reached the Ladybower Dam and I parked up by the side of the road so we could again get out and stretch our legs. The weather was still too bad to go up on the high peak and even down here it was not nice enough to do an extended walk. It was pleasant to stroll up one side of the road back to the bridge, take some snaps, and then cross and come back the other side to the car. There were a lot of people out, despite the weather, and a large number were on mountain bikes taking advantage of the excellent trails in this area. It made me wish I had my bike working over in Bulgaria and maybe I'll have to put my mind to getting the tools and other stuff I need to be able to make it working again.

Gorgeous colours, but the reservoir is very low

One thing that was really obvious at the dam was just how low the water levels are at the moment. They must be about ten foot or so below where they normally are. I did overhear the nice chap at the pub talking about how it hadn't really rained that much, despite being overcast, for quite a long time. This is quite easy to see with all the rubble and rocks that normally make up the shallows being totally dry and not even with any algae on them. They must have been above the waterline for a fair while.

Two water birds on rocks in the reservoir

As we were heading back to the car we watched a large water bird fly across the reservoir and land next to a similar bird on some rocks by the shore. They stayed there as we walked closer and closer and I was convinced they were cormorants but then we weren't so sure. Anyway, this is the best picture of them that we got so if any twitchers out there can help identify, that'd be great?

A shamelessly stolen picture of Winnats Pass (from Wikipedia)

From here I drove us across the dam and through Hope and Castleton and up my favourite road in the country; Winnats pass. Sadly the one picture we attempted to take of this didn't come out at all so I have unashamedly done a search and found one taken on a nicer day so you can see just why I love it so much. We crawled up at slow pace, which is the speed you do this road, and when we got to the top we were completely in the clouds and couldn't see anything at all.

Amazing colours from minerals

Fossils in the limestone

An inverted whirlpool was here

Tiny stalactites

Another, excellent, snap decision was made to go to the Blue John Caverns to see if they were open and doing tours; when you can't see anything outside you may as well go underground. We were in luck (not least because the clutch of annoying kids that were by the visitor centre when we arrived had just finished a tour and so wouldn't be walking around with us) and booked on to a tour leaving in just 10 minutes time. There was a foursome from Holland on the tour, and us two, and that is just how you like it as we were able to take more time, be less rushed, and didn't have to wait too long for stragglers (which were most of all either me or A as we took lots of pictures).

A seam of Blue John

Amongst many interesting things we learned on this tour (and which I don't remember being told the last time I came here, with my dad, which I think I also blogged about) is that the name Blue John comes from the good people of Derbyshire attempting to say "blue with yellow" but in french. Think about it.

Looking up at the old river channel

Another factoid of note was that the entire cave system is natural; they obviously have mined in places but this has had minimal impact on the layout of the caves as the volume of Blue John available to extract is very small indeed. I think it is nearly played out now as they only mine for a month or so a year and the quantity brought up is tiny. Anyway, the factoid (hinted in an earlier picture) is that this cave was actually an underground river; formed when ice forced its way into cracks and then cut out as the ice melted and tore through the limestone. This picture really clearly shows how the channel was cut as it swirled through the softer limestone leaving harder rocks, including iron, behind.

Returning to the surface

It is not immediately obvious until you have climbed all the way back out just how deep the Blue John Caverns go. The areas open to the public extend to 100m below the surface and the whole thing goes an extra 80m or so further down before becoming clogged with rocks. Apparently if these were cleared away it opens out into the Speedwell Cavern (I think?) which is at the bottom of the Winnats pass and has a boat ride along an underground river. This picture was taken near the top having climbed back up out and I must say I appreciated the exercise.

If anything the fog had grown worse while we were underground and so we decided that going home was the best idea so took a slightly different route back via Buxton and into Manchester through Stockport and got back feeling quite tired, but really happy to have got out and about. The rest of the evening involved Fajitas (though I had to run to the shops to get Sour Cream and Guacamole to save dinner as we didn't have any in!) and then a film. Today is being a nice chilled day, though I have some accounts to do now which I have been putting off for weeks, so that'll take some time.

I am also starting to plan for the return already with a list of things I need to buy growing daily. It had Lyle's Golden Syrup (for S) and Daddies Sauce (for me) as a start and now I'm going to add "things to fix bike up" as an item. Tomorrow is my first day in this second new job so here's to my post next weekend having me still in the same job.