Our last day in Northumberland

After a decent nights sleep, we woke up to a sunny morning, if a little chilly. We had a lovely breakfast, then popped back upstairs to pack up a few things.....we extended our check out time, so we could have one final treat, in their Spa.

I had a shoulders, neck and head massage with nourishing hair essential oils....it was heavenly. Had to shower to get rid of the oils, before going for a swim, then a spell in the sauna, then another swim.....whilst hub had his shoulder and back massage, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Once we had checked out, we headed towards the little coastal village of Amble. It had clouded over by the time we arrived, so we took a quick walk around the harbour, (last extra) and a stroll around their high street, it started to rain, big blobs, so we headed back to the harbour, as we had spotted a lovely little coffee shop, we were not disappointed. Our timing was perfect, as the heavens opened just after we sat down.

We were going to have lunch in Amble but as it was raining we decided to hit the road and head South to our next stop.

National Trusts' Cragside (main blip) is situated in a protected valley, surrounded by stunning old trees. We had a light lunch in their cafe before heading out to explore. It is very hilly, hence the name I guess......hubs knees were feeling it after an hour, so he waited at the foot of some steps that led up to one of their formal gardens, (second extra). The views of the open countryside from up top were gorgeous (first extra). We had another wander for a little while and departed around 3.30pm. Not long enough to do it justice really.......

We took the cross country road, that bypasses Hexham, across to Carlisle.....what a fabulous road it is to drive, straight as an arrow, lots of ups and downs, I really enjoyed it!

We stopped off for a quick break at Tebay for one or two bits then headed on home, arrived about 7.10pm, all in all a lovely few days.....and to top it off, I whizzed round to get weighed at 7.30 and I had lost half a pound :-) I had been exceptionally good for the prior four days, damage limitation ;-)

This was our first visit to Northumberland, dont think it will be our last :-)