I enjoyed the work, particularly at Newcastle where I was based at The Sage, Gateshead. It was buzzing with music, on walking down the corridor one day I heard a male voice choir in one room, a jazz band in another and a string quartet passed me in deep conversation about their next concert. It was a fantastic feeling to be in the middle of all that. To top it all I had an email one morning asking if I could do my next tour in Portugal in May. Needless to say I replied almost instantly to say I would be happy to go.
Edinburgh was beautiful, I had never been before and because I only worked a half day on my last day, we spent the afternoon exploring. I forgot to take the camera though, so don't have any pictures.
As it was then the weekend and I had to be in Newcastle on Monday morning, we decided to make our way slowly down the east coast and stay in a hotel halfway. We ended up in North Berwick which is a lovely coastal town. Being obsessed with boats I had to take some pics:
We decided to take a boat trip out to Bass Rock to see the seabird colonies nesting there, but it was so misty that the trip was curtailed before we got there. We did manage to see some seals on one of the islands though:
The next morning was beautiful and we stopped further down the coast for a cliff walk:
We saw some hares boxing in a field, but they were quite distant, so the picture isn't very clear. I am now saving up for one of those huge lenses so I can get some close up shots of wildlife.
In the afternoon we arrived at Whitley Bay and decided to visit St Mary's Island which is a good spot for bird watching. However you have to be really careful and time your visit right, because it gets cut off by the tide.
When we arrived the causeway was clear
It being a Sunday afternoon there were plenty of people about. There are quite a few warning signs before you cross explaining that it gets cut off by the tide, but the sea looked a long way out when we crossed. Phil looked at the tide charts and predicted that the tide was due to cover the causeway within half an hour. I really didn't believe him, but sure enough as we came back, having had a brief walk around the island the sea was starting to lap at the path. The problem is that when you are on the far side of the island you have no idea what is happening on the shore side as you can't see.
We came back to land just at the right time, but there were still many people still on the island, so we joined a group of locals to watch how things would pan out. They clearly came up regularly at this time for a bit of sport. It was funny to watch people's expressions as they discovered the encroaching sea. Most poeple ended up taking shoes off and paddling across as it wasn't very deep at that point.
A group of lads on bikes left it quite late and bravely rode through to applause from all of us on dry land
Unfortunately there was a couple who were still on the island once everybody else had got off. By the time they came around the corner and saw the sea, it was about knee deep. They still had the opportunity to get over and we all waved at them to go for it, but the lady flatly refused. We watched her partner gesticulating and trying to convince her to come over, but her body language said it all - 'No way!' Eventually it really did become too dangerous for them to cross and we left them forlornly looking across at us all with the prospect of a six hour sojourn on the island with no food, water or shelter. (The island is uninhabited)
We wondered who would get the blame for that miscalculation and when they might speak to each other again.
We finally arrived in Newcastle and although I was working very long days we managed to get out for some nice trips in the evening and of course we had to visit The Angel of the North which was spectacular
Despite having had a lovely time, it was still great to get back to the boat. My friend T wondered whether, having had the luxury of hotel baths and beds, the boat would pall suddenly by comparison. It is good to get away every so often, but it is so fantastic to come back home and get into our cosy little nest. Phil thinks that narrow boats have an almost womb like feel about them which gives an atmosphere of peace and security and I think he is right.
We were met with exciting news, but I will leave that for my next blog.......
Bye for now
Al :)
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