Holy Island

It was like the excitement of Christmas Day. I’d always looked at Lindisfarne (Holy Island) on a map and wondered what it was like to visit. We parked up at the Lindisfarne Inn and after a great coffee and helpful info from the lovely lady on the bar, we walked the 4 miles to cross the causeway, making sure we checked the tide times first!

The weather could not have been better. Enjoying the priory ruins, the views to the castle and sitting on the beaches - the day just flew by and before we knew it we were walking back along the ‘Pilgrim’s Way’ off the island. It was quite a meditative walk following the posts through the pools of water, which were warm from the heat of the day’s sun. I kept wondering what it would have been like to do this same journey in winter, especially at the time St Aidan and St Cuthbert were there.

The few people we spoke to said it was their second or third time visiting, which I think tells you that it’s a pretty special place to go if you ever get the chance.

Castles and Coast

Our luck continues with the weather as we have just spent the last few days exploring Northumberland, as well as a brief stop in the city of Durham where people were visiting the impressive Cathedral, rowing boats on the river and lining the streets adorned with bunting, enjoying coffee in the sun.

Our English Heritage membership has guided us from castle to castle and I’ve taken recommendations from Martin Dorey’s book ‘Take the Slow Road’ on where to park up to admire the views across bays, beaches and seaside towns. Our journey has taken us to Amble, Warkworth Castle, Alnmouth bay, Craster, a windswept walk to Dunstanburgh Castle, Embleton bay, Low Newton, Beadnell Bay and onto Bamburgh. The roads have been great to drive and we have met some lovely local people, aswell as a couple from Germany who now live in Lincoln. They said it has taken them ten years to see as much of the UK as we’ve seen in the last couple of years. How lucky we are!

Very excited for today’s adventure. I am sat with a coffee waiting to cross the Lindisfarne causeway to Holy Island, a place I’ve always looked at on the map and wanted to visit. Poppy I think would be more than happy to stay fast asleep, soaking up the sun! 

Roaming in Roo

After a short adventure in Asia, I am firmly staying in the UK to enjoy the rest of the summer. A return to van travel in Roo, back on the road with Poppy as my only passenger and no route planned; just an idea of heading north.

As we left Norfolk at the weekend, we stopped in Fring in the west of the county for a beautiful circular walk filled with wildflowers and the sights of the harvest season in full swing. From Norfolk it was a drive through the Lincolnshire Wolds. I love the road from Horncastle to Louth (past Cadwell Park.) It’s better on a motorbike, but driving it in Roo still saw a smile creep on my face as I remember making the journey to Cadwell for race meetings so many times with Dad. 

From Lincolnshire it was on and up through the Yorkshire Moors, covered in carpets of purple heather. The weather has been just perfect for walking - sunny skies, but not as hot as in the south. Unexpectedly we joined the English Heritage after walking to Rievaulx Abbey from the bustling market town of Helmsley. After walking along tracks and shaded woodland you reach amazing ruins of a Cistercian Monastery, tucked in a valley with an amazing, small museum onsite too.  

So a great start to our unplanned ventures!

Two Sides to Every Story

Summer is here! I find myself just arriving back to the UK after exploring two of the ‘Stans;’ Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, that lie at the heart of the Silk Road with a backdrop of majestic, snow-capped mountains. They also say Kyrgyzstan is the ‘Switzerland of Central Asia’ for the colourful carpets of wildflowers.

I could continue by telling you about the delicious food, the sights of galloping horses and the incredible mountain roads we travelled on, however, there is also another side to travel. Our flights over there were of Ryanair style, which for short haul flying is great, but after twelve hours on the most uncomfortable seats, surrounded by screaming toddlers on hot planes, we learnt not to choose that airline again! Two days into our trip, after a night at a yurt camp on the lake shore of Song Kul we became sick. Really sick. For the following two days we could eat nothing, had raging fevers and literally moved from bed to bed being cared for by the kindest, gentlest people. Two days doesn’t sound very long, but when you’re far from home it can seem like it.

So, yes, I have incredible photos to treasure of the landscape of these two young countries and memories of hiking there but, it will be the kindness of someone bringing me bottled water to drink late at night when I had run out, the feeling of a blanket being laid over me whilst all I could do was sleep and the patience of our bus driver who stopped along the endless gravel roads when my body needed to. 

Will experiences like this prevent me from travelling again? Absolutely not but it definitely reminds me of two things. Firstly that our health is the most precious thing and secondly that wherever you are in the world there will be people to show you love and kindness. With those thoughts, I look at the world map and wonder where my next adventure will be…

Reunion in the Cotswolds

 It’s funny how things work out and we end up in unexpected places. After my A levels didn’t go to plan, I took a year out to work full time and accepted a place at my second choice university. It was during the first week of uni that I met four girls that I would become beautiful friends and housemates with. We all studied different things and came from different parts of the UK, but we seemed to make a good team.

Twenty years since we graduated and we found ourselves together in the sunshine exploring the Cotswolds, a lovely area of our country with pretty villages and footpaths to walk. We all slowed down and enjoyed time to sit and catch up in many a pub and tea room to celebrate our friendship. Poppy of course came to!