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USA, UK and Norway

August - October 2019
We start with a week in San Diego visiting Michael’s family. We fly to London and spend 6 days there, then north to spend time with Omnia and Gill and Bob. Next the 12 day walk along Hadrian’s Wall and then Norway and a boat up the coast and fjords Read more
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  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 26

    We have finally left Carlisle!

    September 24, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Today we left Carlisle for the last time! And we are now out in the countryside - we walked to a small village called Walton, but were picked up there and are staying at a very beautiful guest house at Brampton nearby. The walk today was about 20 kms.

    So we set out early, that is straight after breakfast. Quite a lot of rain was predicted but we have realised you never know exactly when, and how heavy it will be etc...so when we started it was cloudy but fine, and stayed that way for quite a few hours. It was beautiful walking along the river and again through fields with cattle or sheep. Still quite muddy and boggy in parts, and quite hard work.

    So all was well till finally the rain did start. We sheltered under a thick tree and hoped the squall would pass, as it looked bright around the edges! And that paid off, it did calm down and we walked on, in rain gear but not in a downpour.

    Then finally, when we were seriously close to our destination it teemed. We found a shelter - they have these - a place with refreshments - chocolate, chips, drinks, even ice creams, with an honesty box to leave the money. We didn’t need the food as we had lunch from last night’s Band B, but we needed the shelter and we could sit and eat our lunch and watch the rain. We almost called the taxi that was to pick us up at Walton from there, as this time it really looked set in rain, but it finally did ease and we decided to set off again. And were happy we did as it was a beautiful section and it was barely raining.

    When we got to Walton we found a bus shelter as it did start to seriously rain again and called the taxi...it was funny, as after a while a car pulled up by the bus shelter and we waved and started to get in ( we weren’t actually in, but obviously approaching) and the woman looked surprised and laughed and said she was just posting a letter, not picking us up!! Finally our ride did come and we came to this amazing gorgeous place. I would take a photo except it is raining and I’m not going out in it! But will try in the morning before we leave.

    The very gracious hostess said to leave any wet things and she put them in the drying room, and we were shown to our rooms. Now sitting in a cosy living room with a fire, having tea and wine! Dinner is here, we have just chosen from a menu. There is a sweet blond 17 month old called Archie who wanders in now and then - very good, doesn’t touch the tea things, just checks us out and peeps behind chairs. I think his grandmother is our hostess, and the daughter appears now and then ...I think they are busy making dinners. Several other cars of people have also arrived. Very comfortable!!    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 27

    Day 4 of walking - now at Gilsland

    September 25, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    We left our beautiful hotel this morning and sadly I forgot to take a photo before we went...it was such a lovely place and worth of recording! Dinner there last was great, also breakfast. So they drove us back to Walton where we resumed our walk.

    Of course rain predicted all day, or showers etc, but we had none!! I never put any rain gear on, and occasionally there was the odd drop, but never enough even make you damp. So that was lovely, and I think I see rain on the window now that we are safely ensconced in tonight’s B and B.

    Today we walked 14.3 kms. It is hard to describe today’s walk specifically as it was more of the beautiful rolling countryside looking like a picture postcard. Sheep and cows, green hills. But we did come upon real Roman ruins, and a length of the Wall! And now we will be seeing quite a lot of Roman rubble as Amr would say. Also we crossed a fast flowing river, which has black water from peat, which once had a Hadrian bridge over it. We keep being told there is some strenuous walking coming up...climbing up and down rocks, but today was relatively easy. We did cheat now and then by walking along the road when the official path went parallel but in a field that was muddy and boggy after yesterday’s rain. They are quiet country roads, and the sloshing in mud isn’t fun!

    We are now at a village called Gilsland at a very nice modern B and B. Amr and I are in a room in the annex above the garage - just lovely, spacious, with washing machine and dryer!!! So you can imagine that is heaven for Amr! We go up the road for dinner at the local pub, where we had a beer when we arrived as the village, as the B and B people never want us till 4 pm. We booked to have dinner at 6.30...it seems that quite a lot of people eat there and the bar lady recommended to book...looks a good menu so here’s hoping.    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 28

    Day 5 completed, now at Twice Brewed

    September 26, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    A successful funny day. We walked almost 18 kms- and these are fairly tough kms. The path is signed, with the very discreet acorns, and sometimes a signpost with Hadrian’s Wall path engraved in very old wood, almost rotten and falling apart...but it is very easy to go off track. So it is better than the Coast to Coast experience, but not without a bit of stress, and today I have to say that at the last 2 miles we admitted defeat and descended to the road visible beneath us and walked the last 800 metres or so to our destination!

    But we had fun. Set off at about 9.15 - cloudy, no rain - and all went well. More of the beautiful countryside that we have been accustomed to. We did make a small mistake quite early, but easily got back on track and walked along another section of Wall, and up quite a climb of stone steps, with a stunning view at the top. The trouble is that you follow along fine, then go over a stile or a gate to the next field and you really have no indication where to go. There is no definite track, just grass with no direction, and it is easy to pick the wrong way. And these are HUGE fields, many acres, and there aren’t so many people that you can follow along. Sometimes it is obvious and you can see a stile or gate or signpost in the distance, but not always.

    So we muddled along, mostly on track, and avoiding as much mud and bog as we could, loving the scenery and views, and the Roman bits that are there. Quite a lot of wall - more than I had expected - and all quite amazing. Every now and then it rained slightly - enough to put on coats, but never lasted long, and was sometimes even sunny.

    By the end, when we knew we were close we just couldn’t find the right way. We had followed some bad advice to follow an easy low track rather than the high one which would have been correct. She had said it would all lead to the right place...but it didn’t, for us anyway, and we muddled along high in the hills, but not as high as the wall, and finally gave up and descended to the road. That was in itself extremely difficult as it was uneven with tufts of long grass and holes, and when we reached the bottom of course we had to cross a seriously boggy patch. Later looking at the map we found that that area was called the East Bog! However we made it to the road, and found our accommodation right on that road, except that we approached it from the other direction. So in a way we had taken a short cut! Anyway, it was an adventure and our B and B tonight is another lovely place and we stay here for 2 nights, as tomorrow is a sort of rest day. Not really, as the plan is to do a 15 km walk round a lot of Roman ruins and museums near here that are not on the trail. But we are sort of free to do what we like in our own time.

    So tonight we went for dinner at the pub down the road, the Twice Brewed Inn. Good food and atmosphere, and we’ll go there again tomorrow night. The other end of this village is called Once Brewed! Crazy! Anyway, all good.    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 29

    Semi rest day at Twice Brewed

    September 27, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Today was set aside as a circular walk from here to see the local archeological site and museum- Vindolanda. The route they suggested took us up on the official walk for a couple of hours, then down and round via the museum etc. but we decided to skip the walking part and have a day off as would have to do it tomorrow anyway (except we figured later that if we had done it today we could then get a bus to the next place and resume from there) - but we didn’t, so we have quite a big walk ahead tomorrow, with some notorious climbs! Amr and I had a reconnoiter of how to get back to the track (as yesterday we accidentally arrived through the bog!) and found the track and also saw what an enormous climb faces us first thing!! A bit daunting, but at least we’ll be fresh.

    So today we did walk anyway, to the places of interest. Vindolanda was a Roman fortress and the whole town is gradually being excavated...it is so interesting....feels a bit like walking round Pompeii. And they are still digging up many objects that are displayed in the museum. We wouldn’t have had a chance to visit it without this day of no definite plan, and also it is so good to stay in a place for 2 nights.

    It rains on and off, and will continue to do so by the look of it, but not often does it pour drenching rain, and there are many gaps with no rain at all, so it’s not miserable. And our accommodation has been exceptional. We are now relaxing in the guest lounge, sipping wine or in my case a Pedro Jiminez sherry! Amr says to assure Paul that they are Riedel glasses! There is an honesty box for the wine - £2.50 for a glass. We will go to the Twice Brewed Inn again for dinner...it was good.    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 30

    A wonderful day, the best yet!

    September 28, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Today was fabulous! We had anticipated difficult climbs and a long distance, and although this was true, it all worked out amazingly. We started with the first steep climb that Amr and I had looked at, and it was manageable - you needed to take great care on the stone steps, a mistake and you could break your leg, but somehow it was not bad - maybe because we went slowly and carefully - but whatever, it was ok, and the rewards were magnificent views as we walked along the ridge. This continued, as we knew it would, after a level ridge walk down we went again, and up the other side - no zig zag to get up and down. This continued many times. One of the most spectacular downs was to Sycamore Gap which is famous for being the spot where they filmed the Robin Hood movie Prince of Thieves. We all had photos there, and another group of people took all four of us, and we took their group etc. there were quite a lot of walkers out today, and we realised that it is Saturday and people are out for weekend walks. Lots of locals, not just people like us.

    Another feature of today’s walking was MUD....lots of it. This is not a complaint, as we had no rain!! Occasionally there were droplets of most, but I never needed to put on my poncho, and it was beautiful and even sunny sometimes. The mud situation was bad, but then got funny once we had to get through an unavoidable bog and all had to go deeper than our shoes - even Amr in his quite high boots got waterlogged. So for the rest of the day we walked with wet feet and socks squelching along, and it still was good. Our shoes were so muddy that when we arrived here at our accommodation the first thing we did was to get a hose to clean all the mud off before it dried on.

    But it was fantastic with views of this gorgeous countryside, walking amongst the cows and sheep who all mix together in the fields, and today we were well marked with acorns and signs - we are getting expert at spotting the little white dots of the acorn sign in the distance at a stile or gate.

    So after the many ups and downs we finally walked smoothly, that is on the level, along the Wall and finally came to our end point of walking which was the Chesters Roman Fort. It was a marathon 22.3 kms, which doesn’t sound all that far by Camino distances, but this was tough walking. Carole and John were Trojans as we knew this was very arduous for them, and we all made it with gusto.

    We had to telephone when we got to the Fort and were picked up by our host, Dave, who is at present salmon fishing in the North Tyne river, but his wife, daughter and granddaughter are here looking after us and we have just had dinner and are retiring to our rooms. When we first arrived, after we had cleaned the shoes and left them to dry, there was the cleaning of ourselves and particularly our socks which took many rinses to clean! But after dinner, wine and showers we are very content.

    I will put on photos of today, but there is no way photos can capture the perspective of the steepness, or the whole picture. But I will try.    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 31

    A wet walk day

    September 29, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Today we walked 13 kms and it was grey and sort of rainy all day. Not heavy penetrating rain, but constant enough that we needed to wear rain gear, but didn’t get wet through so it wasn’t bad. But I did get sick of climbing over stiles with a billowing poncho. And we did have our share of mud today, though not as much as yesterday! The water just doesn’t seem to sink into the earth - I think it is clay - so it stays in enormous puddles, and muddies the pathways.

    Anyway, not a lot to say today. The scenery wasn’t spectacular like yesterday, just pleasant pasture land and animals, and we are going now fairly straight next to the road - the site of the old Roman military road - and I think it will be like that to Newcastle. Tomorrow we reach the outskirts of Newcastle and Tuesday arrive at the end - Wallsend.

    Not many photos today - I did take one of some mud - have to confess it wasn’t a field that we had to walk through, but it was a good example of the problem! Now we are happily installed at tonight’s B and B. A lovely little place in Corbridge which is quite a town - bigger than we have seen for a few days, and we have booked at the Indian restaurant here which is supposed to be very good. Just 5 minutes walk from where we are staying. We were taxied here from the path, and will be taxied back to resume walking in the morning. All very efficient and our accommodations without exception have been excellent.    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 32

    A lovely sunny walk

    September 30, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    It was a lovely sunny day, and Amr’s birthday!! We had a 17 km walk to Newburn. Carole and John were feeling the wear and tear from walking in the mud and uneven surfaces so they opted to take a bus to Heddon-on-the-Wall which was the first 10 kms, and we all met up there and walked the last 7 together to Newburn, which is a small town but on the outskirts of Newcastle- only 11 miles away - and right on the river Tyne. This was a happy arrangement as it was good for us all. We are staying at a lovely stone pub sort of place, not in the town but in a lovely park like area near the river.

    So this morning Amr and I set, after a sustaining breakfast of a feta and mushroom omelette (plus fruit and yogurt) off along paths, not quite as muddy as before, beside this very straight Military road, built on top of the Wall. Occasionally we were routed round farms, but it was quite beautiful, and mostly grain growing fields now, with stubble or ploughed ground. We got to Heddon-on-the-Wall by about 12.30, had a drink at the pub there, a sweet little town on a hill, then resumed with Carole and John, our path leading us down and down to the river, through very pretty woods. Much more civilised now, mainly on paths, no pastures, and virtually no mud!

    We got to Newburn and found our instructions to find our lodgings not very clear...luckily ran into an Australian couple from Brisbane who were walking in the other direction, but were staying in the same place, so we followed the instructions they had, which retraced a bit of where we’d walked and found this great place. All cleaned up, and I have ceremoniously cleaned and packed up my sticks as tomorrow will be more or less city walking into Newcastle and Wallsend, the end of the Wall!! We are actually staying tomorrow at a place on the coast - Whitley Bay just to see the other side of England!! But we get a metro from Wallsend to there!! Lots of fun, and only one more day of walking.

    Now about to have dinner here - a birthday celebration!    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 33

    Last day of Hadrian's Wall

    October 1, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    As predicted, it did rain all night, and was still rainy this morning so we made the unanimous decision to forego the 17 km walk and take a bus to Wallsend, the final destination and the eastern end of the Wall. And as we had the 50 minute ride on the bus, which wended it’s winding way with many stops, we were so glad of the plan - we went through almost entirely industrial areas which would have been tedious to walk through even on a warm sunny day. The walk for some part would have taken us along the river Tyne, but that would not have made up for it. Even the book said it was acceptable to do it!

    So we arrived at Wallsend, still a little wet and made our way to Segedunum - “where Rome’s great frontier begins”. This is the site of the end of the wall and there is a museum there which we visited, and the site of a Roman fort, which had been covered over and built on over the centuries, but was unearthed when they demolished the old shipbuilders’ houses and we going to build high rise apartments when they discovered the Roman ruins underneath.

    So we ticked the end of our walking ad Hadrian experience, and found the metro nearby, and took it here to Whitley Bay, a seaside resort suburb of Newcastle and very pleasant. Amr and I thought it was a bit reminiscent of Brighton (maybe all English seaside towns) with its row of houses with bay windows and to us rather charming. Many guest houses and we are staying at a lovely B and B, just up from the waterfront. This is the last one organised by the walk people, and have to say that each one has been faultless, and all different with their individual quirks. But all charming, with delightful hosts, and good rooms.

    We arrived earlier than usual check in time, but Paul, our host, was fine with that, our bags had arrived, and our rooms were ready! So all was perfect. Paul had also agreed to do some washing for us, so we have handed him all our muddy smelly walking clothes and will have a clean start for Norway!

    The 4 of us set off to check out Whitley Bay, it had stopped raining by now, and we found a place for a sort of lunch break. Then we had a wander along the waterfront. By now it was sunny (!), though quite cold and very windy. There was a visible wind farm out in the sea...Amr and I continued walking, quite a walk but our dose for today, along down the coast past Cullercoats, Tynemouth and towards North Shields till we came to a ruined abbey and castle and the mouth of the Tyne. Lovely in the sun (it is about 10° I think) and even the wind was invigorating. Just back now, having a quiet time till we all meet for dinner at a recommended Italian restaurant down the road at 7 o’clock.

    From now on our bags are our responsibility....they have always arrived perfectly at our accommodations, but tomorrow we lug them ourselves on the metro to central station where we catch the train to Edinburgh.    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 34

    Last day in the UK

    October 2, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We are now in Edinburgh, but first I have to mention last night. We went to dinner at the Italian restaurant down the road from where we were staying, along the waterfront. It had been a fine afternoon and the reports remained fine so we set off, no umbrellas, full of optimism. When we got to the waterfront we found it was blowing an amazing gale off the North Sea, plus it was high tide and the water was splashing up against the seawall and right across the road - like walking round to Shelly Beach times 10!! So we got battered by wind and spray getting there, but had a great meal....then going home, the wind had dropped a little, but suddenly out of the blue it rained...only lasted a short while, had stopped by the time we arrived back, but what fickle weather.

    Anyway, this morning there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was sunny, which was great for us wheeling our bags to the metro stop (now responsible for our own bags) to get to central station to catch the train to Edinburgh. All worked perfectly, we had good coffee at the station while we waited. The train was late but didn’t matter at all to us having no deadline or connection, and we got to Edinburgh about 1.30.

    John and Carole had been at the hotel when they arrived from Seattle, so they knew the drill and we got a tram on Princes street which took us to our Novotel (not an Ibis this time!) and the tram continues from this stop on to the airport. Extremely handy for tomorrow when we fly to Bergen...this was the plan, but it has worked perfectly. Quite a fancy hotel - we even have bathrobes and a huge room!

    So after checking in, we all set off back to the city in the tram and wandered round. A lovely sunny day here too, and we always love Edinburgh...beautiful city. Found a restaurant where we all met for dinner, and had the most perfect farewell to the UK dinner. We had a Ramon Bilbao Rioja wine (Paul note) and I had scallops and mussels...so I was in heaven. It was the sort of old fashioned restaurant when you could talk, a live pianist playing old favourites in the background, excellent food - just right.

    Now we are back at the hotel having our complimentary drink ( being such faithful Accor patrons) watching a soccer match on TV between Liverpool and Salzburg....actually they are watching and I am writing this...    Read more

  • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
    Day 35

    A new adventure - now in Norway

    October 3, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    It’s already 9.30 (8.30 in the UK) and I haven’t written anything yet...so will quickly recount our day. Woke in our very perfectly handy to the airport hotel in Edinburgh, and we about to get the tram the one stop to the airport when the checkout person said it was cheaper to get a taxi - £12 for the taxi, and £6 per person for the tram!! Good advice - there is airport surcharge, like Sydney, for the airport tram.....anyway, we got to the airport and caught our Loganair flight, in a small 40 passenger jet with a tartan tail, to Bergen. Arrived about 2.30 and got the light rail into the city after negotiating the ticket machine - Amr is always a whiz at that - and also he found which stop to get off at as his SIM works in Norway as well as UK and he could google it....and we alighted and immediately actually saw the hotel about 300 metres away...perfect when you arrive in a strange place and are illiterate in their language (though they aren’t in ours...).

    Anyway, great hotel, very Scandinavian - clean and well designed, and central. We are here for 2 nights, then leave on our boat on Saturday. Our impression as we arrived was that everything looked new and clean - no immediately visible old historic type buildings that you associate with European towns. Very picturesque and of course Bergen is surrounded with high hills/mountains and the trees are very prettily changing colour. We all walked round the town a bit after depositing bags in rooms etc, and it is as attractive a town as it is reputed to be...

    We walked to where the Hertigruten boats leave, and decided it was rather a long way to lug bags when we leave, but it was an easy walk, and then we walked more looking for places to eat dinner, and have a glass of wine. Rather surprisingly there aren’t all that many places - I mean lots of eateries, be except for Italian and Asian restaurants they appear ridiculously expensive.. we knew this, but the most extreme was a place that certainly wasn’t fine dining which had a menu outside which listed hamburgers at $AU 100!! - but it included French fries!! They weren’t all like that of course, but not may cheap and cheerful places that appealed. We ended up at a buzzing nice Italian place, but even that was a lot...I won’t go on and on about cost, this is life in Norway and we knew this, but I do find it so contrasting to other places - makes the UK seem so reasonable, and as for France and Spain....

    So after we had quite an early dinner, as we found we were hungry having not had lunch as we were travelling then and sort of forgot, Carole and John wandered back to the hotel, and we walked round a bit more (which was when we did some checking of the eateries) - it was so beautiful in the setting sunlight . And everyone is extremely friendly and helpful and English-speaking.

    So I think we are going to enjoy our Scandinavian sojourn!    Read more

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