Showing posts with label alnwick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alnwick. Show all posts

Monday 21 May 2012

Poisonous Plants at Alnwick Gardens and a moody Dunstanburgh Castle

Monday 21 May

We woke to a cooler, cloudier morning. After breakfast we prepared to move on. As this was our first journey after an overnight stop we made doubly sure that everything was safely packed away. Paul's seagoing experience came in handy as we "Secured for Sea State 7", so basically anything that could move was either strapped down, wedged in or put away. This worked well as we had no losses or spillages. Our first stop was at Alnwick Gardens.  Alnwick is unique as the long stay car park in Greenwell Road (NE66 1YU) had 4 spaces just for motorhomes. We enjoyed the gardens, in particular the Poison Garden - Paul wasn't surprised that Cathy knew more about the poisonous plants than the guide - as she is a white witch after all. We had lunch at Treetops Restaurant by the Gardens, an enchanting wooden castle-like structure built into the trees - the food and ambience is highly recommended, with rustic wooden furniture, an open firepit and lots of fairy lights. We had a walk around Alnwick and bought some cheese, bacon, sausages and a short extension lead to resolve the iPod dock problem. We continued on to tonight's stop at Dunstan Hill.  After parking up and having a quick brew, we walked down to the sea; it has a lovely sandy beach with views along the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle. Returning to Campie we opened a bottle of St Emilion red, switched on the iPod and are now chilling before eating. Tomorrow is a visit to Craster and then overnight in Beadnell Bay; an area we recently saw the Time Team digging at. Time to find some seafood and enjoy the sea views!