New Years

New Years

Way back in 2010, I had met this pretty cool guy I went to school with called Ben. Being of the clueless persuasion, we remained good friends for 7 years until my trip back to NZ in 2017 when he was finally able to get it into my thick skull that maybe we should go out. Excellent plan Ben! Why didn't I think of that one myself? 

Obliviousness aside, with Christmas over, the date was fast approaching when Ben would fly over from NZ and our epic New Years would begin. Having been almost a year since we had seen each other (10 months, but who's counting!) I was dying of a mixture of nerves and excitement, taking the bus to London and waiting at the airport, he FINALLY (only an hour delayed) arrived! 

The adventure was about to begin, and what better way to spend an New Years in the UK than in a little stone cottage in the Peak District, complete with a fireplace!

 We had some bumps on the road as the trains were delayed, altered and broke down and told everyone to get off no less than three times (it was starting to turn into musical carriages by the end) but we finally arrived in the little village of Glossop, and ordered a taxi (hurrah for countryside and not owning a car!). The cottage was even more adorable than I expected.

 The views of the surrounding countryside weren't bad either

 It was bitterly cold, but there was still a Christmas festivity feeling, making it feel incredibly cosy. This is how winter is meant to be spent!

We settled in and decided to go for a wander, exploring that beautiful countryside before getting the fire (and dinner) started for the night. Typical Peak District scenery, we were surrounded by mountains and streams and waterfalls.

It made for beautiful walking, and even though it was freezing, we were lucky enough to have no rain. The area has a long history, from Roman occupation to medieval castle building. But from the 1600s onwards it was held by one family, who passed the land down to the second son - this and the fact that it was too wet and cold for any agricultural practices aside from keeping sheep makes me think it wasn't the most sought after gift!

We thoroughly enjoyed it however. On New Year's eve we had a chill evening playing board games and celebrated with a bottle of bubbly.

And the fire of course!!! Though lets not talk about how long it took us to get it going. Survive in the wilderness we would not.