Hanover Mill Week2Week Newcastle upon Tyne

Countries: 1
Miles travelled by Car: 1121
Miles Travelled by bike: Do trips to the supermarket count?
Fond Farewells: Numerous
Declarations of Jealousy: More numerous (because it includes a lot of people I don't even know)
Accusations of insanity: Even more numerous (because many people made more than one)
Bricks Shat: 53
Tasks left incomplete at time of departure: 2
Tasks able to be completed via internet: 2

... and it was all excitement again.

I said my farewells and looked back to wave as I passed through passport control, and then I was on my own.

Another short wait outside the 'King' and then it was on with the packs. Locked up the bike and found my way to my cabin with only one false start (went down to deck 6 - but on the starboard rather than the port side and there was no connecting corridor). I then donned my wind proof and ...

... up the bikes, we all headed off towards Scarborough to pop in and see Nathan aka the "Postman" & "Dot". Nathan rode from Sydney to London on a moped (named Dot) earlier this year and is a really lovely one off character. We all turned up & his Father supplied tea & biscuits for us all. Thanks Nathan & good luck with the book.

I was getting really excited ...

Well this is day one.

Left Haverhill at 10am this morning and was in Newcastle at the Angel of the North by 15:00. Not bad going for an old thing (the car not me!!!) lol. Stopped at the Angel of the North and took a few pictures, just need some wi-fi so that I can upload a few. Then off to my first stop over, Newcastle YHA. Checked in, handed over £20 and and went up to my room with a packet ...

... Red Dwarf.

So I have three months to.....

1) Not find myself, I often never know where I actually am and have become quite accostomed to the setup so will make the resolution that if such an unfortunate event occurs to quickly lose myself again.

2) Learn to firedance, it is crazy and beautiful and dangerous and utterly pointless. Then if I ever lose all my money in an opium den or similar haunt I will have a better way to make money that the ...

... then headed up "The Shambles" road and The little shambles road and had a look at the street market. I got a new 4 pound black case for the phone as I managed to crack the last one...I seem to go through them quite quickly, ah well at least the phone is protected.
We walked back towards the church to try and get a 2pm slot to climb up the spire. On the way we stopped at a fudge place where they made fudge in front of you, we got a ...

... church was built and they had his bones for 300 years before a beautiful chapel was built to house his mortal remains. For Bede, life was brief but held the knowledge of the mercy of Christ. He liked the English and wrote the first history of the English speaking people. I love his prayers but he is not in that black stone box; he flew to the light of his Lord long before the first stone was laid for Durham’s great Cathedral.

We got to Durham at 2 pm ...

Match day, and the geordies were out in force! Uncle had managed to get 4 great seats to the football at Newcastle United's home ground (St. James' Park), so we headed to the merchandising shop early to get 'kitted up'! Resplendent in our Newcastle gear, we went to the game whilst the girls did a bit of ...

... longest suspension bridge and has a karaoke bar! So I will be in Japan for 10 days or so, and then it's off to Thailand for 10 days where we will be visiting Bangkok for a few days and then head off down to the Islands...Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are on the cards. Luckily for us there is a full moon party scheduled while we are there. These seem pretty famous and come highly recommended from my friends who have already been to ...

... sink, a telephone, and a television. I thought the place was a little run down. But, my perception may have been colored by the fact that I'd spent the previous night in the relative splendor of Ratho Hall. However, the hosts were very friendly, which made up for some of the building's shortcomings.

I pictured Durham to be a sleepy town. Actually, it was quite alive. There were several pubs that were very noisy. Additionally, there were a lot of people wondering ...