Great Ayton

We visited Great Ayton where James Cook lived with his family as a young lad. Captain Cook went to school in this building until he was about 12. Great Ayton is the town that sold the Cook cottage to the town of Melbourne. Can you imagine disassembling a cottage, taking it to Australia from England, and putting it together again. I saw it when I visited the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne.

Jame Cook's statue is in the town green facing towards the sea.

Captain Cook's mother and sisters are buried in this quaint cemetery

When we saw this window display, we knew what we would have for lunch-mince pies and apple pie. The mince is just ground beef and very tasty. There was a queue.  (A line of people or vehicles waiting for something.) So we knew the food was good.  It was actually a butcher shop that also made wonderful pies.

After lunch we hiked to the top of the hill to the Captain Cook's Monument. We traversed the lovely moors. You can see Roseberry Topping in the background which we climbed in June.

In high school I sang a song-"And when the mist is in the glom'in, and all the clouds are holding still. If you're not there I won't go wandering through the heather on the hill - the heather on the hill." I never dreamed I would some day wander through the heather on the hill with my own sweetheart.