Quite a full day and my ankle and knee are really feeling the effects of three days of more walking than I have done in quite a while! We left at 9 am and it was about an hour and twenty minute drive through lovely countryside and much more  in the way of signs of autumn.I wasn't wearing the seat belt so when the driver it is a wonder I didn't end up on top of him, whacked my  bad knee and the bruise is beginning to come out. Used the seat belt after that! This picture is heading onto the causeway,

We were there not long after low tide, but there was still a lot of water covering the road. I didn't go out to the castle, it was quite a way and we only had an hour and a half. I had a good look around the priory ruins.

Two of the castle, the close up was because I had the camera with the good zoom!

Another view in the priory.

Two statues.

A view from the grounds.

The Holy Island Parish Church, St Mary The Virgin.

A lovely little church inside and a charming lady who said that I could take photos.

A brilliant statue of the monks carrying the coffin of St Cuthbert.

A beautiful sculpture on the font cover.

Leaving the island, it is a desolate place, but beautiful.

We went to Bamburgh, It started to rain really heavily so I took a photo of the castle and then get back into the coach!

Then we drove on to a fishing village called Seahouses. This statue, called The rescue, was on the sea front.

You can see the Farne Islands from Seahouses, they do trips round them in good weather.

Last photo for today, great coffee shop display!!

Have probably bored you to tears now, and I had lots more pictures I could have put in! Have had mu last dinner here now and packing is the task for tonight. Metro Centre tomorrow.

I slept fairly well, heard one plane go over at about 11.15 pm and if there were any more I didn't hear them! Breakfast was good, plenty of choice to set us up for the day. The new driver, another local man and very nice, collected us at 9.30 am Much chillier today but bright and sunny as we set out. Lovely journey, about 40 minutes and we passed the Angel of the North again. The coaches are not allowed up in the city centre so he dropped us off at the coach park, but there was a shuttle bus up to the cathedral. 

No photos allowed in the cathedral, I didn't bring any sketching materials with me but went into the library shop and bought a Liberty note book (very posh and about the size of  standard photo) and had a pen I was writing postcards with. So sat and did a sketch of an unusual pillar!

Took a couple of views through the cloister arches.

The castle is near the cathedral.

This house looked gorgeous with the virginia creeper.

This display was in the cathedral grounds.

I actually used this quaint post box.

I caught the shuttle bus down to the market square, this statue and church were in the square.

I wandered down to take a look at the river.

I caught the shuttle bus back to the coach park. Will end with a couple of 'arty' shots, funky reflections and a halo'd sun!

Have had quite a bit of pain in both ankle and knee today so am resting up for the trip to Holy Island tomorrow. Had a lovely dinner again tonight.

Darren took me to the station this morning in good time for me to catch the coach for my 'National Holiday'. Lovely sunrise this morning, took this from the coach before we set off.

 The driver was a geordie which was a good start and very friendly. He was bemused by the fact that we were first pick up and then he had Filey and Bridlington. We passed Scarborough station again at 9.20 am having set off at 8 am.A lovely drive on the Whitby road, beautiful sunshine then to help us enjoy the views. Then we went on to Guisborough for a comfort break, a most unlikely 'services' but it had loos and this basic watering hole!

We were then on our way to spend some time in Newcastle, it started to rain very hard for a while on that part of the journey but dried up again for us in the city. We passed the Angel of the North on the way, bit higher that in a car so did get a bit of a shot out of the window.

We had just over three hours in Newcastle and I did manage a fair bit of walking around. This was a very unusual statue.

I had a snack in a cafe linked to the Cathedral church of St. Mary. A lovely building, especially inside.

There was an interesting sculpture near the Life Centre.

There was a painting of the Tyne Bridge way up on the side of a building, which caught my eye.

I had a coffee near where we were being picked up and was very taken with the loo, they had decorated the whole room with an old atlas!

Might have to try that on a wall when we move! We came to the hotel, a Britannia and right by the airport terminal. Very comfortable room and a lovely evening meal, so all good so far. Off to Durham tomorrow.

It was grey and did rain for a while this morning, much brighter afternoon. I wrote several letters and then went for a walk via the post box. I went through the park, this fuschia  bush is really lovely.

There were some signs of autumn but a lot of the leaves have already fallen with the wind.

It has started to rain, but I had my waterproof coat on and went down to the bay. Very cold and grey down there today, and pretty wet when I was there.

This afternoon I have alternated between House, painting, ironing and packing, have finished the first plaque and it just about balances on the plate stand.

I will probably paint a message and the date on the back. Dinner had been made and eaten and I am almost packed for the morning. Looking forward to the Strictly results show tonight.

Am having a quiet weekend to try and rest the ankle before my coach holiday next week. Walked up the road for my paper and then did some crochet and watched an episode of House. When Tina came home we had a trip up to Poundstretcher, parked in the Tesco car park which is quite near. We had quite a lot of goodies, lots of bargains to be had and only spent fifteen pounds. Back home I looked on line for a suitable picture of a snowdrop to use as a guide for painting on one of the wooden plaques. I marked it out with grey paint first as I had to paint it straight on.

I made a start before I went down to get on with dinner.

I had also sorted out a recipe to make an open apple tart, something I have not tried before. It looked fine, and tasted okay, but will not use that recipe again as the sugar and apple juice didn't set.

Made the little jam tart as well as I had some pastry over. Watched a little bit of Strictly downstairs then came up here to watch the rest. Great show, fantastic dancing for week 4. Did a bit more to the plaque but will finish it properly in daylight tomorrow.