The Lakes Aquarium

It was my birthday today so The Man picked out somewhere different for us to go. We'd never been to The Lakes Aquarium before so collected The B-I-L and along we went, despite it being school holidays. Why do parents take young children into this sort of environment and allow them to run about screaming at the top of their voices? No wonder this otter was hiding in its holt!

Some of the aquaria displayed fish that are found in Windermere but other creatures came from farther afield like the Asian otter. I loved the rays (Extra) curiously watching the human "exhibits" got in for its amusement, with its eyes above the water.

After we'd seen everything I went back to see if the otter had come out as it was nearly feeding time. It had!

On the way home we wanted to use up some time before a meal by having coffee at Hayes but the cafe was shut due to staff shortages. I'd done so much walking today that I had to resort to being pushed around Hayes garden centre in one of their wheelchairs. I tried Panadol today for pain relief but my knee still hurt.

As it was too early to eat in Ambleside we made our way up to Keswick, thinking the miles of almost standing traffic heading south meant the tourists had left the Lake District. Wrong! Keswick was packed. We went for a meal in the Wainright. It was standing room only until a nice couple urged us to grab some stools and join them at their table. It was just so noisy with too many barking dogs. We were glad to finish our meal and come home.