Made it to Buttermere and feeling better <3

Last update was a bit crazy, but now we’ve sorted some stuff out and have a good game plan, so here we go!

This morning we woke up relatively early to make sure we had enough time to have brekkie and take our wet (now dry) clothes out of the boiler room when they were drying, before the luggage transfer company came to pick up our suitcases to transfer them to Buttermere. Our only real option was to catch them as they were picking them up and ask for a lift to Buttermere. Very luckily for us, the van the driver (Andrew) was in was an 8-seat coach, with room in the back for the cases. That meant that us, and an American couple in a similar situation, got a lovely scenic drive through Cumbria with Andrew from Sims Travel. He was such a legend! We learnt so much about the area, both through Andrew and the other couple we were travelling with.

I felt like I could actually relax for a bit knowing we were getting to our next destination. The scenery was gorgeous, and Andrew insisted I sit in the front with him so I wouldn’t get car sick. Honestly what a sweetheart! He was telling us how in the afternoons he’d use the van to pick up some of the kids from the local primary school that lived in a more rural valley and drop them home. As we were leaving we asked him his plans for the rest of the day, and he said he would go home to make some lunch, then ‘pick my kids up from school.’ I mean come on, that’s too wholesome!

We got to Buttermere around 11:30am, and though our rooms weren’t ready for check in until 2pm, we could leave our suitcases there as we arrived. Just as we were hanging out for a bit in the foyer area, I spotted one of the Lakes Connections buses right outside, so I ran out to see what their route was like. Because Boot was so rural, there wasn’t a regional bus which went there, but from Buttermere there is one to Keswick, which is our destination for tomorrow! We’ve decided to retire the long hiking itinerary, we’re too apprehensive about my knee getting worse, but also, and probably more serious, getting lost in bad weather again. Instead we’re going to have brekkie each morning at a reasonable hour, check out around 11am, then take the bus to our next accommodation, where our suitcases will meet us early afternoon. Then we can do loop hikes from our next destination, depending on how my knee is feeling, or explore the town for a bit. Keswick is more of a major town in Cumbria so I think there’s a bit more to do around the area than the last couple of days.

There were some pretty amazing scenes today from Buttermere Lake, which we walked around in the early afternoon as we were waiting for check in. It was still a good distance, around 8km, which we did in an hour and a half. Luckily it wasn’t too hilly, and although wet in some places, I managed to keep my sneakers relatively clean. I’ve made sure to include lots of photos in today’s gallery, but just know they don’t even start to do it justice. Our room backs right onto the lake, my view as I’m writing this is another cottage, the side of a mountain, lots of beautiful trees and some of the water. Just stunning!

Overall feeling much more positive about the rest of this section of the trip, and although my knee is still pretty painful, knowing I don’t have to walk 20km on it every day is very reassuring!

Looking forward to Keswick tomorrow, should be very cool.

ALSO how could I possibly forget, I met my first highland cow today!! Not quite in the highlands yet, but we are pretty far north so I guess it counts (photos included of course).

Currently MIA,

Lauren x