To say the trip to the Lake District did not go to plan is an understatement by epic proportions!

It was meant to be three days of hiking, exploring and landscape photography, but was foiled by car failure 200 miles into the journey leaving us stranded unexpectedly in a small village in Lancashire! It has to be said there are worse places to be stuck.

With the issue being more than just a quick fix, we grabbed an overnight bag from the car and headed into Lancaster to a hotel, hoping to return the following morning to continue the journey - this was not to be!

Unfortunately I had left my film cameras in the car, and didn’t return to it for two days! I had packed the Fujica G690 and Chinon CE-5 for the trip with a selection of Fuji 400H, Portra 400 and Kodak Gold.

To make the best of the situation, we jumped on a train and headed to Windermere in The Lake District whilst working out how to get the car recovered back home, with only my Olympus E-M10 II in my bag. It is a great little camera, but not the Fujica G690 I was exited to use!

The day was spent walking around Rydal - reached by bus, so at least we got to experience a small portion of The Lakes. Not the wild side we were hoping for, but still. The weather was nice and warm, so a quick swim in the lake was nice and refreshing.

Knowing that military aircraft do low level training in the area, I was hoping for a bit of action, and sure enough this RAF A400M came howling around the corner and straight over our heads! Luckily the camera was set up just in case… There was also a quartet of USAF F-15’s blasting about who did three fast passes, but the 150mm maximum reach was not enough to capture them.

This is a beautiful part of the country, and one I have not really explored properly. This is my second visit, and the first did not go to plan either! Maybe a ‘third time lucky’ scenario will play out next time?

This was the closest we got to some rugged peaks, on a day that the original plan was to climb Scafel Pike and tick off another British summit.

Day three was mostly spent waiting for the recovery truck to arrive, with their ETA changing constantly! by 3pm the time stated was for arrival at 7pm! A quick search on Google Maps revealed an estuary with a bird hide and nice views 4km away from our location, and needing to stretch the legs - off we marched.

I am sure the Condor Green bird hide would be better if there was some water in the pool, but with the lack of rain this summer, it was bone dry. There were quite a lot of different bird species around, but my camera could only produce some rather questionable results so opted for more environmental shots with a hint of bird life!

The estuary of the River Condor is a nice place to visit, and a welcome distraction from the trials of the day.

Finally getting home at midnight, it was a long and stressful day, but reflecting the following morning whilst going through the images from the trip - it was actually a good one. We saw things and places that we would never have gone otherwise, and it will certainly be remembered!

As I am sure many people do - we buy a fridge magnet from our holidays, and this was no exception… However - the magnet from this trip is one featuring the Grade II listed Pennine Tower of the northbound Forton Motorway Services where we initially broke down! Lol!

Making the best of a bad situation!

Batch testing expired Fuji NPH400