Great North Fun Day 11

I learned three very important lessons today:

1. The best way to ensure glorious sunny weather all day is to carry your waterproof with you at all times.
2.  When you're running worryingly low on fuel and stop at the first place you see, rest assured that just 2 miles further down the road the fuel will be 2p per litre cheaper.
3.  No matter how hard you beat and shake the doormat outside, the moment you bring it inside and accidentally tap it, very gently, against something a fresh shower of bits will fall onto your nice clean carpet.

Low Force

As promised, today we returned to Low Force and walked back along the river to High Force.  It's something I'd definitely recommend. The walk is nice and easy with only one short climb up a set of stone steps, and it follows the river the whole way.  Once at the top of High Force we found a lovely spot right next to the falls to devour our packed lunch. Close up you can see how red/brown the water is making the whole thing look like someone emptied in a giant tanker of cokacola upstream.

After that we wandered off to find Gibson's cave.  I'm not 100% sure who Gibson was and what he did in his cave but it was jolly pretty.  I'm always amazed (and rather pleased) at how relatively deserted these places are. It was 5pm on a warm sunny Sunday in August and we were the only people there. Beats me why identikit city centres all over the country are crammed with thousands of people while the stunning countryside around is practically empty. Like I say, I'm quite pleased about it too as I like the peace and quiet but I still don't quite understand it.

Gibson's Cave

On our way to tonight's campsite we started to run low on fuel and so had our eyes open for a petrol station.  We drove over 30 miles along an 'A' road before we found one. I was beginning to wonder how they powered their cars up here and thought perhaps the fair people of the north had cracked the mystery of perpetual motion and just not told anyone.

The campsite is not far from the A1 and is one of those odd CLs where you're camped in someone's back garden about 30 feet from the house. Still it's a nice enough spot and tomorrow we plan to be very domesticated and get some washing done and then maybe track down "the chippy to beat all chippies" - if we manage to find it I'll let you know how they are.