Cathy's Birthday Boat Trip to the Farne Islands

Wednesday 23 May - Cathy's Birthday!

I was woken at about 0230 by a flashing light. It was the fridge light and I noticed we had lost mains power. The fridge kicked over to gas and as it was too dark to check if there was a site-wide power cut, I went back to sleep. First thing in the morning power was still off; as we'd had fuse trouble earlier in the trip I checked those in the garage - all OK. I then noticed that the fuse box at the pitch supply had tripped so I reset this and power was restored! The moral of the tale is don't panic, carry out the basic checks and 9 times out of 10 you’ll be able to fix the fault, even a technical dyslexic like me! I made Cathy a breakfast brew which she had in bed (of course) and passed her the presents and cards she’d been eyeing up for days. Then followed her choice of breakfast - bacon, toast and duck egg, with another strong brew. Fully secured for sea and shore power disconnected, we set off for Seahouses.

The main car park caters well for motorhomes - drive straight through past the cars, coach parking and into the overflow area - there’s plenty of space to park on the grass. Seahouses caters well for the tourist with all the usual grockle (gift) shops, cafes, pubs etc. We filled up with provisions first, staples from the large Co-op, lovely fresh bread from the Bakers and lamb chops & sirloin steak from the friendly village butchers. Having stowed this all away we booked our boat trip to the Farne Islands. This was good value for a 3 hour trip, helped by mirror calm, clear, dark blue seas and unbroken sunshine. There were lots of photo opportunities, including one hour walking around one island full of birds - lots of noise, lots of birds and lots of sh... Guano! We particularly enjoyed the Puffins, who seemed to find flying such hard work! On the return journey we stopped to photograph lots of seals at play - they were having great fun. On return to the mainland we were hungry so bought fish & chips from Neptunes - highly recommended - which we ate perched on the harbour wall.

Then it was time to move on to our next site - Waren Mill, between Bamburgh and Holy Island. This is a very large site that caters both for both static caravans and tourers; the touring end was very quiet with only a few motorhomes and caravans. So we took the opportunity to have much longer showers and are both cleaner for it (well the cloud of flies following us have now gone!). With her birthday cards on the dashboard for all to see, I'm on cooking duty again tonight (same every night) and Cathy can choose from either barbecued lamb or sirloin steak, with a salad. And of course we have jelly and a Birthday cake with one candle (health & safety!). Before that we're enjoying a large G&T from the enamel mugs we brought with us - cheers! Tomorrow we’re off to Holy Island first thing, then over to Bamburgh - I want to visit the Grace Darling museum as the RNLI is one of the charities I support. Then we'll be heading inland to Haltwhistle and some time exploring Hadrian’s Wall - built to keep the Scots in - sadly it failed!

Great fish & chips in Seahouses

Birthday Cards!

Smokin' Craster, Chillin' at Beadnell Bay and Seafood Fest

Tuesday 22 May
An early start today! Cathy was up at 0445 - couldn't sleep, so she made a brew and I had mine laid in bed looking out over the fields. We had a very tasty cooked breakfast, cooked outside on our little gas stove with local sausages & bacon. The sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky. We were packed up and on the road by 0830, first stop Craster. We had the advantage of being the first vehicle in the car park, which meant not only could we chose our spot, but manoeuvring was very easy - top tip: get to your car park early to reduce driver stress! Craster is a small fishing harbour, but it's famous for its smokehouse & kippers in particular. We bought a dressed crab, smoked salmon, kipper pâté and, of course, one kipper to enjoy tonight. The great thing about the MH was that we were able to take these back and put them in the fridge before returning to the harbour. We stopped for a tea & coffee in the Shoreline Cafe. The Jolly Fisherman pub, opposite the smokehouse looked very nice with a fishy menu, but we wanted to move on.

Our next stop was Beadnell, to our next campsite. This appears to be a new C&C site; it's currently quite open but lots of trees have been planted and the site has some lovely views. However the staff knew nothing about the Privilege Scheme. But it is directly opposite the sea and Beadnell Bay has a beautiful, long sandy beach where we spent the rest of the day snoozing. Unfortunately the one shop in the village is only open 3 days a week and then only until midday, so we were unable to stock up. Luckily we bought our basics when topping up with fuel in Embleton; garages are another scarcity in this part of the world. But we forgave Beadnell this (and for hiding its one and only pub!) as the scenery is so lovely - add to that unbroken sunshine & clear blue (but very cold!) sea - and a very relaxing time was had. On our walk back we stopped to visit Ebb's Nook, a small outcrop pushing out to sea,on which once stood a Medieval chapel dating back to the 13th Century, and associated with St Ebba, a 7th Century Anglo-Saxon princess. Cathy's interested in archaeology and we recently watched Time Team dig in this very spot to uncover the chapel and several graves. Now back at the site, Cathy is soaking up the sun while I prepare dinner - all the lovely seafood we bought today, with a homemade garlic & lemon mayonnaise and some tomatoes, onion & aubergine roasting in the oven. I also 'found' a chilled bottle of sparkling Touraine in the bottom of the fridge which will accompany it perfectly! Following that we have some iced fruit cake with a strong brew to finish off the day. It's been hot but relaxing today, no doubt we'll be asleep early again.

Tomorrow is Cathy's birthday so she can finally open the presents & cards stowed away and her treat is a stop in Seahouses and a boat trip to the Farne Islands. Tomorrow night we stop at Waren Mill, near Bamburgh, with views over Holy Island. Right, must go, I can smell the roasted veg is nearly ready!

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!

A walk to Hareshaw Linn on our first full day

Sunday 20 May

We woke at about 0530 to birdsong and we were a bit chilly so I put the heating on, which soon warmed up the MH - too warm in fact so next time I'll pick a lower setting. We slept until 0800 then I got up to put the kettle on - blue sky and sunshine. Breakfast was the remainder of yesterday's bread toasted - with the door open, birds singing and sheep sheeping! The site is very peaceful. We're quite tidy any way but we're fast learning that items need to be used then put away again, as it's too easy to fill up all the seats and surfaces. Cathy made the picnic lunch for our walk while I caught up with this blog. We walked from the site to Hareshaw Linn, a lovely, secluded waterfall. It has been a relaxing day and we're now sat outside in warm sunshine looking forward to a Chinese takeaway tonight - I've even downloaded a Chinese Restaurant Music playlist on Spotify! Tomorrow will be our first stop at the coast, at Dunstan Hill near Craster. But first we're going to visit Alnwick Gardens & the town.

Our First Campie Tour begins - start of new adventures!

Saturday 19 May

We were packed up early and arrived to pick up the motorhome at about 1010. After completing the paperwork and having everything explained to us we were off! We headed up the M6 and stopped at the motorway services for lunch. The novelty of making lunch & a pot of tea, eating and using the loo, all without getting out of the van was not lost on us! After that we headed off North again and, after turning off the M6,had a lovely country drive in to the hills and across the moors. This included some very interesting hairpin bends. Paul found the MH surprisingly easy to drive; great vision, good acceleration and light steering. We travelled through some lovely villages and arrived at the campsite in Bellingham just after 4 o'clock. As this was our first ever Campie trip we took our time setting up. First was topping up with fresh water; the first lesson was to make sure that the hose is pushed well into the hole, otherwise you get wet feet. We had a pick of several pitches so chose one well away from the children's play area! I connected up the electricity and we had power. First thing was to switch on the water heater - we'll try the heating later if it gets cold. Then the electric kettle was on - Lesson #1 - bring a small extension lead as modern adaptor plugs (on the iPod dock) wouldn't fit into the plug as the overhanging work surface blocked it. We also found that Cathy's walking coat was still at home! We unpacked, made the bed and settled down with a brew to chill and listen to the birds, including a cuckoo. We were very surprised by the amount of storage in the MH - everything already has its place.

We walked into Bellingham along the bank of the River Tyne. Bellingham is a small village but with plenty of amenities; 3 pubs (and a hotel just up the road), co-op, butchers, hardware store, even a Chinese takeaway. When we returned I opened a bottle of Cava to celebrate our first night in a Campie and made some Bruschetta with toasted baguette rubbed with garlic, tomato and drizzled with olive oil. Then I made a garlic, chilli & tomato sauce and cooked some linguine. We had this with some Italian red wine - not a great idea after the Cava! We were very civilised with our linen napkins and a candle on the table. After clearing up we sat, read and chatted for a while. Then it was time to turn in for the night.

Campie 2012 - An Introduction

As we'd like to buy a motorhome, it made sense to try before we buy, so we hired a Chausson Welcome 85 from  Live the Dream Motorhome Hire, based in Anderton. The owners, Stephanie & Ian have been really helpful, providing lots of advice and inspiration. We would certainly recommend them to,anyone thinking of hiring a motorhome. So we decided to keep a blog about our travels and what we learned during our first ever Campie Tour. We chose to travel around Northumberland. It's a part of Britain we've always wanted to visit and reckoned that if we enjoyed our week in the cooler weather of the North East, several weeks in Southern Europe would be a breeze. As I sit and type this sat outside the motorhome, the sun is shining and it's lovely and warm - not what we expected at all! So I'll write a short piece each day and post it to our blog; I'll add photos when we get home.