Sunday: More old farty stuff

Thinking back on it, the whole weekend makes me feel a bit old. Sunday started with another full cooked breakfast and a walk around town so the Al & Steve could find things in English to take back to 'Duss': books, computer games and anti-virus software. We were all pleasantly suprised by Leeds centre, a very pretty old town. But we had to head off quite quickly to drop Al & Steve back at the airport, and Adam & I had real shopping to do at Ikea (Adam thinks we are too young to be shopping there but we can't resist, it is cheaper to furnish a house here with ikea than it is to furnish a house in Oz with anything).

We were very restrained, just looking at stuff in the showroom section, testing couches, looking at wardrobe and shelving options, until we hit our first real test where you can start actually shopping. And we failed. Adam picked up a mirror to replace one we had chipped. It was the thin end of the wedge, as the trolleys and kitchen stuff were just around the corner. But at least now we will have plates and glasses when we move house.

From there we headed up into the Peak district. The change within 5 miles of the motorway was amazing. All of a sudden we were in beautiful Ye Olde England, with stone walls crisscrossing the increasingly hilly landscape, and stone houses and barns. We headed through gorgeous steep valleys with forested slopes, and at the bottom, quaint little spa towns crawling with traffic, tourists and motorbikes.

We stayed the night in Buxton, where they still produce bottled spring water from the St Ann Spring at the centre of town. And people line up in the street with 20 litre bottles to get their own water. Our hotel's claim to fame, was that Mary Queen of Scots used to stay there when she was 'taking the waters'. And in fact, we think our room (Mary's bower) was in fact where she stayed. It was a night of luxury in our four-poster bed, with heavy dark wood furniture, a feature fireplace, and all with the modern convenience of an ensuite.