Abandoned government buildings.

Wall

This afternoon we're taking our bikes and panniers by train to Huddersfield where we'll pick up a campervan to take north of Newcastle for three nights.

At £150 per day plus campsite fees and fuel it's not cheap but it'll be a good opportunity to see if we really do want to live in a van of this size for months on end.

We're going to be staying at a campground near the town of Embleton (where friends from York are staying) and will explore that coastal region while in the area. Lindisfarne, too!

Just got back to Manchester from a long weekend away in Northumberland with a rented campervan. We stayed at a campground near Embleton where friends from York were staying for the end of the summer school holidays.

This is the waterfront at the beautiful fishing village of Seahouses.

Looking from Seahouses north to Bamburgh Castle.

We cycled north from our campground to Bamburgh Castle. Here's Sally looking fit and healthy after 20km not realising we were being helped along by a stiff wind that we'd have to tackle on the way back. WeI also unwisely rejected Google's recommendation for a slightly longer route which, it turns out, was the main cycling route almost devoid of cars.

In the township of Bamburgh we pickup some some nice bacon from the local butcher for the next day's breakfast.

Inside the castle.

Later that evening we caught up with Dan, Leah and kids for dinner and popped down to a nearby pub, The Ship Inn. They make their own beer and it's about as good as you get.

On the Saturday we drove to Craster which is a nearby fishing village where we picked up some locally smoked kippers before taking a wander along the coast to the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. It's nice being able to unplug your house/campervan and just go driving to a place like this. We're very much keen on the idea of doing more of this in the years to come.

This is crossing the causeway to Lindisfarne which we've heard so much about in viking times and early Christianity in Great Britain. Lots of history here. It's only accessible during low tide.

The ruins of the abbey in Lindisfarne. I like how the stone has weathered.

The Lindisfarne castle itself. Hard to see here but it's largely covered by scaffold. They've been spending millions on restoring it over the last few years.

Kippers this morning for breakfast before driving back to Huddersfield to drop the van off and then back to Manchester with our bikes and panniers.

This weekend we're in Broadstairs visiting Sue (an old friend from Auckland) and her folks.

Cliffs of chalk and flint.

Last days of summer. A gorgeous morning walk from Broadstairs to Ramsgate where we met Sue's folks for breakfast. From there we visited a food festival for lunch and back home for a kip before dinner.

We're up in Newcastle for Sally's work do yesterday and extending our stay to explore the city over the weekend. Super impressed so far!

Cool tilting bridge in Newcastle