I crossed to the west shore of Lake Windermere in a small wooden boat. After getting off the boat and waiting, a minibus arrived shortly after. I sat down next to the driver's seat with a good view. The narrow slope between the stone walls surrounding the farm is just barely wide enough for a minibus to pass through.
I got off the minibus in the village of Hawkshead. There seemed to be a shop, so I had to buy some food here first. I bought lunch at the co-op. The milk was in pint plastic containers. It was strange that they didn't sell milk in the paper cartons that we are used to seeing in Japan.
I decided to walk over the mountain pass from here to Lake Coniston. I think there should be a footpath through the farm, but I didn't have a detailed map with me at the time, so I couldn't check it. I knew there was no way a car could pass by, so I decided to walk up to the mountain pass on the main road, which was only wide enough for a car to pass, but there was no sidewalk.
The slope with stone walls on both sides was quite a steep climb, and the hot sun was beating down on me. I finally reached the pass, but I still couldn't see Coniston Water. I turned left at the road that split off from the road that went straight north to the lake's edge, and walked towards Bank Ground Farm, a hole-house. Soon the road went through the forest. I somehow passed by a few farms named Ground Farm, and headed south parallel to the lake shore on a road that passed through high ground away from the lake.
It was past 3pm when I arrived at my long-awaited Hollyhowe. As I entered the road to the farm toward the lake, I saw many cars near the building. Looking out, I could see Kanchenjunga towering over the other side of the lake. Hollyhowe was divided into several buildings.

There was a reception desk just inside the small entrance. I took out the e-mail printout I had applied for from my backpack and handed it to a nearby staff member. Was this Betty who had sent me the e-mail? After that, I went outside the entrance and was guided to another building. It was a building marked Barn, and was probably originally a barn. It was a sturdy three-story building made of solid masonry, which didn't really live up to its name. The windows on the third floor were very narrow, probably because it was a barn. When I entered from the entrance, there were several doors on both sides of the corridor, like a small hotel. My room was on the first floor, turned left. There was a small window facing the lake, and there were two beds. There was a bathroom with a bathtub when I went out into the corridor. It was a B&B, but it felt more like a guesthouse than a guesthouse. It wasn't the country farmhouse feel I was hoping for. I wished that my dream home had been more like a farmhouse.
But first, I had to take a bath for the first time in a while. I've only been taking showers, so it's nice to be able to take a bath in hot water. After relaxing, I went to ask where the lounge was. Apparently it was through the breakfast room. And I found it, with a sofa and bookshelf. This is the Ransome Fan room. There are various books. You can see the lake from the window. I found a notebook, so I wrote down that I had finally come to HallyHowe.
When I opened the glass door of the lounge, I could walk gently down the grassland leading to the lake. I suppressed the urge to zigzag in the gentle headwind from the lake and walked straight down the grassland at a quicker pace. There was a small boathouse on the lakeshore, and a small jetty. Unfortunately, there was no yacht.

I returned to my room and spread out the map on my bed, thinking about how I would spend the rest of the day. I might be able to go to Dog's Home, which appears in "Summer Vacation on the Scarab". Tomorrow is the voyage to Wildcat Island, so today is the only day I can go.
With that decision in mind, I quickly set off. I packed the map and other things in my small backpack, left Hollyhaw behind, and started walking south along the Footpath. At first, I went through the pastures. The path between the grasslands was soft and muddy in places, and there were some things left behind by the cows. Eventually I came out onto the road and continued walking while looking down at the lake to the right. I could see machines collecting the cut grass. After passing Brantwood House, the road continued close to the lake shore. I compared the description in the guidebook "In the footsteps" with the records on the Ransamites' website as I walked.
It was difficult to find the way from the road where cars pass into the valley on the other side of the lake. However, I found a small footpath sign attached to a gate post blocking the road. The road was wide enough for a car to enter, but a large, wide wooden gate was closed. Following the arrow on the footpath sign, I climbed over the fence and entered the mountain path in the valley. Although I thought this was the path in the valley, I were not sure. At first the road was a few meters wide, but it soon turned from a grassy path to a rocky path and narrowed like a mountain path in a forest. I used a compass to make sure I were heading northeast. I were not sure if this was the right path, but I had no choice but to go a little further. I walked along a rocky and difficult path for a while.

Soon, I saw a small cabin ahead of the forest. This is it, a cabin made of piled up rocks. It has one big window and one wooden door. Yes, I found it, just like Ransom's illustration. The door was easy to open with just a string. When I went inside, a lot of light came in from where the window was. The cabin was larger than I expected, and there was a fireplace that Dorothea used. The stonework of the window was a little crumbling, but it was a sturdy cabin. I went outside and looked inside through the big window. There was a stone chimney on the roof where the fireplace was. The grass was too overgrown on the back side of the cabin, so I couldn't walk all the way around it.

Let's get back to Hollyhow before it's too late. I'm very satisfied that I was able to find the doghouse that Dick and Dorothea used on my own. I decided to walk home slowly. After my exploration, I walked along the same footpath through the farm pasture and returned to Hollyhow. It took about an hour to get back.

HollyHowe is a B&B. This means bed and breakfast, so dinner is not provided. There are no restaurants or food stores on this side of the lake, so tonight's food will be just stale bread and juice. If you boil water in a pot, you can make instant coffee, so you can relax on a bench outside overlooking the lake. Tonight you will be staying at the long-awaited Halihau.
The refreshing breeze and Kanchenjunga on the other side of the lake, the sun slowly setting.