Magical Liverpool and Farewell NB Ferndale

We have just got back in from a night out with Ray, Toni, other Ray and Leonie, we have been out to dinner as NB Ferndale is leaving Liverpool tomorrow. We went to Bistro Franc as recommended by Yvonne off NB Fizzical Attraction, great restaurant. After dinner we went to McCartney's bar, they had some really fantastic old Beatles photos on display.

Once again tonight the water is dead calm in the dock. couldn't resist another pic, can a mooring get better than this?

Nearly forgot..........

Oh! I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

Today was the day for a day trip to Southport, plus a look at the iron men on Crosby beach.

We had 3 false starts ...

 1.  Elaine said, "Did I blow out the candle that was burning in the boat?"  We hadn't gone too far so I trotted off back and yes, it was out.

2.  We get about 1/2 a mile away on the way to the railway station and I said to Elaine, "Have you got the camera?"  "No" she replied.  Bugger - I had left it on the roof of the boat when I had gone back in again, so I quickly trotted back to the boat again ... and, yes, the camera was still there ... honest lot in Liverpool!

3.  I got back to Elaine and I said "Have you got the train tickets?"  "No" she replied ... back to the boat yet again!

(At this point we wondered whether we should be abandoning the trip completely!)

We decided to continue - so we headed off to  catch the train to Southport.  We didn't know really what to expect at Southport - we weren't interested in the shops, although it looked like a nice little town, so we headed off straight to the sea front and what to do apart from take a walk along the long pier ...


It even has a tram that runs down it if you don't fancy the walk.  It was pretty damn chilly so we took the brisk walk option!

Once we got back we went to a really funny cafe at the Southport end of the pier.  There was a 'turn' singing in the garden ... pity there was no one listening as it was so cold!  We were going to sit outside as we had the dogs with us, but the owner said we could sit inside in the conservatory.  Here is a pic of the counter ... classic !

It was lovely and warm in there.  For lunch I had home made steak pie, chips, mushy peas and lashings of gravy - I thought this could be a bit of a mistake as the place looked a bit run down but what a surprise!  I would have to say it was one of the best, if not THE best meals, I have had since being back in the UK!  Simple yet so tasty. 

If you look closely you can see 'Sooty' in the box in the background !

We had a good chat with Kevin, the owner of the cafe, and Chris, the singer, after our lunch - they were really friendly and welcoming !  Turns out they are good friends with Hermans Hermits (who are currently touring Australia and who often play gigs are his cafe!)  As we left, the singer interrupted his song to say, "Bye Aussies .. what's your favourite colour, Blue"   (By this time a few more people had arrived, so he did have a little audience!)

We walked back to the train station, past the multitude of seaside shops !  Rock anybody?

We got the train to Crosby as we wanted to see the 100 iron man sculptures on the beach ... we took our wellies as although it was mostly sand there are some very muddy patches.

Bombo was off - he just loves the beach!  Sam hates it, so we have to keep him on the lead in case he does a runner!

Bombo soon found one of the muddy spots and sank in it!

 

It is such lovely thick mud!

Needless to say he has had a big bath tonight !

The iron statues all face the Irish Sea and are covered in barnacles as the high tide completely covers them.  The only part that has no barnacles are their willies.....funny that!

Washing the mud off Bombo ...

 

The 100 hundred men are spread out along 3 km of beach.  We are not 'arty farty' people but they are just fascinating.

You can read about them here 

Meanwhile Bombo just ran around like a dog possessed !

or just a nutty, happy dog !

Elaine refused to grab his appendage!

So went for a pat on his bum.....Bombo just pissed on him!

And carried on running around ...

This one is closer to shore and is half buried - both the dogs decided to give this one a quick squirt ...



We got back to the boat in the early evening and had an impromptu drink on the dock with our Antipodean neighbours ...

Paul, Ray, Ray, Diane, Leonie and El

Yet another great day in Liverpool.

Oh nearly forgot............................

Chillax Day

Not that we really need to chillax, I cant think of a more laid back life than we are leading at the moment.

I toodled off the the Maritime museum this morning leaving Elaine to walk the doggies, we rendezvoused  later   in the morning at Tesco's, I was there to give Elaine a hand to bring back the shopping.....exciting stuff eh!

I then decided to do a bit of de-rusting on the good ship, nothing major, but might as well use the pontoon, electric and water when I can. Its all primed up ready for some topcoat tomorrow. Oh and my Black and Decker electric sander blew up!

Tonight it is back over to the Bierkeller to watch the Man Utd game on the big screen, oh we are enjoying the city life!

On the narrowboat movement front, 1 boat has left the dock and 1 boat has arrived so we now have 7 boats in the marina, I am amazed it is so empty, it is such a great spot.

Sunday Arvo in Liverpool

It was raining when we finally got out of bed this morning.  We just popped up to the shop for a few supplies and in the early afternoon we had a visit from my nephew, Phillip and his lovely fiancee, Nichola.

They also brought along their lovely little Westie, Ella ...


Sammy was in love with Ella and was a very naughty little boy!  As you can see, his eyes were popping out of his head ... 

It was a pretty crappy day weather wise so we just went for a quick walk round the docks then they had to head off home for a Sunday roast ...

Just as we got back to the boat we got a message from Ray and Toni from NB Ferndale, who were over at the Bierkeller and about to watch the Liverpool vs Chelsea game on the big screen.  We were there in a flash - what a great venue, watching the game surrounded by loads of scousers was sheer magic!   Elaine is no football fan but even she enjoyed the atmosphere.  We were joined later by Ray and Leonie from NB Firefly NZ.  Good game good score, bit strange about the Suarez biting incident though!

When we got back to the boat we took the dogs for their final walk of the day and decided to get a takeaway pizza for dinner.  Whilst waiting for the Pizza we walked down to the Mersey - wow, what a sunset!

Another great day in the Pool!

Ferry Cross the Mersey

After a late start we made our way towards the ferry terminal, passing the Echo and the Bunnymen lambanana!


We left on the ferry with the sound of 'Ferry cross the Mersey' blasting out of the ferry speakers.

Looking back towards Albert Dock and the dock entrance from the River Mersey ...

Looking towards the other side of river was Seacombe ...

We sat next to an Aussie chap on the way over - he was over here on business in London and Nice, he had come up to Liverpool, for the weekend to have a looksie. He lived in Canberra, and was very vague on what he was here for so I am guessing it was some sort of government business - it's nearly all government business in Canberra!

Of course the doggies came along, they are most welcome on the ferry.

Passing the tobacco warehouse which was, and still is, the largest brick building in the world!

Nice view of our favourite Liverpool building ...

With a ferry thrown in as well ...

There is even a beach the other side ...

We walked from the Seacombe ferry terminal to New Brighton along the boardwalk, a distance of about 2.5 miles.

This galleon is made up out of old drift wood, pretty swift I reckon.

All along the boardwalk the houses are rather nice and there were quite a few people out walking and cycling etc. however, when you get to New Brighton, it all goes a bit "how ya goin"!   I reckon there was a 'Shameless' convention going on! As Elaine said, they do seem to breed rather well in these parts!

Apart from that the beach was quite nice with a very nice lighthouse - oh, and look at that blue sky.

We had some nice old greasy fish and chips then went down the beach and chucked a stick for Bombo ...

On the walk back to the ferry terminal the ferry from the Isle of Man was coming up the river.  Now the interesting part, the ship is a wave piercing catamaran, built by Incat in Tasmania Australia....good eh?! 

The old and the new ...

There were very few people about as we walked back to the Seacombe ferry terminal.  It is a very wide boardwalk/cycle path with no motor vehicles allowed, but some how 2 cyclists smashed into each other ... one was a lycra clad nob on a race bike and the other was on a mountain bike wearing full camouflage ... obviously the camo worked too well!

Another wonderful day out in Liverpool!

Here Come the Kiwis!

 On Friday Ray and Leonie from NB Firefly NZ were due into Salthouse Dock, so we went for a walk to meet them and take some pics of their arrival.

On the way I had to get a shot of the Mersey Ferry, we are going to do the Ferry trip today, Saturday.


We passed this sign next to one of the docks!!!!  any ideas people?

After our visit to the Liverpool museum we now know what the Liver birds on top of the Liver building are all about.  The one on the right is a female, she is looking over the River Mersey, looking out for sailors in distress - the male, on the left, is looking over the city to see what time the pubs open!

Looking out into the underdeveloped dock area, these swans were making a nest out of the rubbish!  One local came past and said he had brought them down some straw the day before!

Derelict gate house on an old pier ...

Can't get enough of the Liver building ...

Elaine and the boys waiting for Firefly to appear ...

And here they come ...

Sailing past the Cunard building ...

Oh and I like the lambananas ...

Past the tall ship ...

Heading into Albert Dock ...

Into Albert Dock ...

And finally into the mooring in Salthouse dock ... not a bad destination for your first week on a narrowboat!

Last night all the crews of NB Ferndale, NB Firefly NZ and ourselves went on a Friday night pub crawl around the city.  Like most cities on Friday night it 'goes off'.

We got back to the boat about midnight, when I took this pic from the boat.  What a difference to the last few days - absolutely dead calm.

We just had a couple of visitors swing by the boat ... fellow Aussies, blog readers and narrowboat owners Peter and Jennifer from St Helens in Tassie!

Right, now we are off to catch a ferry !