Travelog for: Penfold

Starting my adventures from here.
Looking forward to getting out and about after eight years in a box in a loft.

This is Chatsworth House, my first proper outing. It's there in the background if you look hard enough at the picture.

Felt like having a bit of an outing so hitched a ride to Oxford.  Went for a look-see at the 'dreaming spires' really. 

Here I am outside the Radcliffe Camera, soaking up the waves of academia and hoping some of it will have a lasting effect on me ...

Those In Charge have offered me a Top Secret Assignment.

I am in charge of a crack team of ToyVoyagers, intent on Release this weekend in the North West of England.

Destination:  Chester
ETA:  1400 hrs
Mission:  To find each ToyVoyager an optimum release site and facilitate their Release into the Wild.

Can I do this?
YES I CAN!!!

So this is my platoon of raw recruits.  I have 24 hrs to lick them into shape.

Could be a tough day ahead.  They all look a bit soft to me.

Chester: "The Science Bit"

*County town of Cheshire, England.

*Built by the River Dee, and close to the Welsh border.

*Boasts one of the best-preserved City Walls in the United Kingdom.


This is the Steam Mill on the City Road.  And such a once thriving centre of industry reminds me of my purpose:  WORK.

Off to train my troops!

Doing a 'recce' of Chester, on a route march round the City Walls.

Some of the others are getting weary, but not me!

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them start begging me to be released along the way!

Here's a pic of some of the City Wall (though I'm not helping matters by sitting directly in the way of the view....)

View of the some of the town from one of the walls...

Still looking for somewhere suitable for one of my friends to sit while they wait for someone to find them.....

There aren't many people around either.  Saturday shoppers aren't always on the lookout for travelling ToyVoyagers!

We will bide our time ....

Ok, so Kanga opted for a quick Release (she got tired of walking - her fault for boinging along rather than adopting my leisurely stroll) and so we parted company on the City Walls near Chester Castle.

I must admit, I don't favour her preferred technique - it looked a bit like she was in danger of strangulation - but you know what these marsupials can be like .... She went and did it anyway.

So we all continued our way along the walls, hoping that Kanga gets picked up soon, preferably before she garottes herself.

Taking a breather after helping Kanga to be released.  The first release of the day is always tricky:  you calculate number of ToyVoyagers wishing to be released, work out how much time you have in your chosen place, and then have a rough idea of how many you have to release per hour.  And then somes the tricky part.

You spend such a long time looking for the optimum place, and seeing if there is anyone likely-looking around who might take pity on a little lonely ToyVoyager, that you end up taking too long and getting too worried.

Here I am, sitting by the River Dee, considering Kanga's Release, and wishing her well in her travels....

Good Luck Kanga - we await your updates!

YIKES!

There was a muffled banging and shouts of 'Help!'.

Screwing up my monkey eyes with the effort, I could just make out what looked like a pink and white stripey cat, and some other poor toys, all trapped behind the glass window of a dentist's surgery instead of out travelling the world like me and my friends.

I got the binoculars out for a closer look ....

Through semaphore and the medium of dance, I ascertained that these three unlucky Toys had been trapped in this Chester dental surgery against their will, and,  upon hearing that ToyVoyagers.com were making a series of Releases in Chester this weekend, they had hoped to attract our attention in a desperate bid for freedom ....

Fear not, brave friends, we will petition your captors on your behalf. 

You will travel! 

You will see the world!

Still on the City Walls reeling from man's inhumanity to toys.

Only just managed to hold myself together enough to help one of the twins into a likely-looking spot for their Release (the other one wants to be left in an internet cafe - doesn't like the cold you see)

Tamsin was left in the Newgate tower on the City Walls.

Wishing Tamsin well, I carried along the walls with my troops in tow. 

Here's the view from the walls (the Clock Tower bridge) looking down onto the High Street.

So many people... they must have heard we were coming