A very enjoyable adventure to Holy Island

Following my visit to see my friends Ade and his wife Amanda yesterday and being at a slightly loose end as I am off work, (supposed to be taking it easy) I suggested to Ade 'why don't we go somewhere tomorrow. I am useless trying to think of new places to go so asked Ade did he have any thoughts. 'oh I wouldn't mind a look to Holy Island, sometime', he said thinking that we could maybe do that sometime in the future. Ade really wanted to head up that way and get some shots of the Puffins that frequent the Island. So I suggested 'hey why don't we just go tomorrow'. I mean we both didn't have any other plans and now I have my little car, it meant I wasn't leaving Ern vehicle-less. 

Looking over to Lindisfane

Amanda checked the tidal times that evening and I arranged to come up for Ade at around 6am the following morning. I then headed home and ended up having a late night, so come 5:30 am when my alarm went off I had only had just over two hours sleep. Strangely enough I awoke feeling quite good, my niggley cough which I have had the last few weeks didn't seem as bad and I felt like I had a little more energy. I got up, washed and dressed, grabbed my gear and set off for Ade, no breakfast this morning I just didn't have time.
Arriving at Ade and Amanda's, Amanda had made me a lovely cup of tea and I only had to wait a little while, whilst Ade got his camera gear and other bits and bobs sorted, then we were off.

I'm getting to grips with the new head unit I have put into Tango. It's a canny bit of kit for the money. I bought the unit off Amazon after looking for head units with a Sat Nav function. The Unit is a Pumpkin 6.95" Android 4.4 Universal In Dash HD Touch screen Car DvD player with GPS Navigation, stereo Am and FM radio support, as well as offering SD/USB ,Bluetooth/3G/Wifi/OBD2/ 1080P

Nice features and seems to work well

A little play around with the Sat Nav and we soon had a route to follow. The unit comes with iGo maps installed on a micro SD card and once you get used to the format of how to input stuff the Sat Nav works extremely well. As I recall I think the Sat Nav said we had around 70 odd miles to get to Holy Island. 

The ride up was lovely, both Ade and I being treated to a beautiful sunrise. The time seemed to fly by as we chatted and listened to some songs that I had downloaded on to a Micro SD card and placed in the head unit. Before we knew it we were on the approach to Holy Island and heading up the cause way. We knew we had to depart around 11:50 am as the tide would come in then we would be stranded for a while until it went out again.

As we got over onto the Island we found the large car park and I proceeded to park up. We then went for a little walk, our first priority was finding some toilets as we were busting. Toilets discovered and about the same time we also discovered the Castle which is upon Lindisfarne. The sun was trying to break through the clouds shafts of light penetrating here and there. I had my Pentax camera, known as my 'Big Camera', and I am worse than useless with this bit of kit. If I ever get a decent shot it is by pure accident and today well I had no accidents which meant I had no good shots. Ade said we may struggle to get some decent shots as we were shooting into the sun. Anyhoo I tried my best and upon looking at my efforts I have been disappointed. That said it doesn't really matter as I enjoyed the day so much.
 

The castle at Lindisfane

Following on from shooting the castle we had a stroll up into the Islands small town. There we discovered the Post Office and we went in to order something to eat. A quick browse of the menu and we decided 2 full English breakfasts would go down well complete with a nice cup of hot tea. I was feeling a bit chilly as I had popped a pair of new shorts on, my usual attire, but like I say today I felt a bit cold. The breakfast and tea really hit the spot, we said thank you to the waitress on the way out and headed back to my car.

 

I had come prepared, bringing a pair of jeans along with me, however there was no where to really get changed so I just removed my shoes and dropped my shorts in the car park. I got a few funny stares from a lady sitting in a car opposite, maybe she hasn't seen a bloke with one leg before, or it was just the fact I was standing in my boxers, then hopping about trying to get my feet in my jeans and pull them up. Ok sorted I now felt a tad warmer. Both Ade and I jumped in my car and we headed off for a drive around the Island. As I came out of the car park I noticed one of the shops we had passed earlier which was closed, was now open so I pulled up and both Ade and I went in. Whenever I am away somewhere I always like to try and get my dad a fridge magnet. A quick peruse of the shop and a little chat to one of the shop assistants and I bought a little magnet to mark our visit. It was in the shape of a small life ring with Holy Island wrote upon it.

Back in the car and we drove along to the Priory. We had a quick wander around, but didn't go into the Priory as you had to pay. Instead we had a look around the surrounding graves. Time was getting on so we got back in the car and drove along towards the castle on Lindisfarne. On the approach it said no vehicles, unless disabled, see I knew I had my leg off for some reason, out of every negative there is a positive and free parking and disabled access are just two of them lol As we drove along we both spotted what could potentially make for some nice photo's of some boats so I pulled in to the side and we got out and shot a few pics.

  

Tango

Sun looked lovely as it was on the bay

Looking over at the bay and Lindisfarne

 Now time really was getting on. I drove a little further towards the castle and we got out once more. Ade took a few photo's of me standing by some rocks and of the castle. Just as we were getting back into the car a very friendly couple with a dog came along and we had a little bit of a chat, they sounded Scottish and were very pleasant, both admiring the lens Ade had on his camera.

Ok time to hit the road, before the tide comes in. We didn't really have any plans other than to just drive back along the coastal route. So we used the sat nav to plot our route to get to each place on the way back towards home, visiting Beadnall, Seahouses and Amble but to name a few. On the way from Holy Island I had just got about 2 to 3 miles away when Ade said words to the effect of 'Aww crap I can't find me phone'. Ade is a bugger for loosing stuff. I was about to pull in to a lay by, turn around and high tail it back to Holy Island and try and beat the tide, when Ade discovered his phone Phewww!!!. We then had a good laugh as I said he should have everything tied to him, you know a bit like baby's have those strings to keep their mitts attached. I then went one further and said he should be like Inspector Gadget, but knowing Ade it would be 'Go Go Gadget, awww Feck I've lost it'.

I was proper struggling on the way home as I was soooo tired. I had to wind the window down and really concentrate. Ade complained my choice of music wasn't helping so I allowed him to take control of the tunes. We visited a few more places on the way home as we came down the coast one of which was Warkworth and a little picnic area. We also visited some other place but I can't for the life of me remember where or what it was called. I do remember we spoke to a lovely couple from Surrey who were holidaying up in Northumbria and they commented on what a beautiful area it was. As we got talking my job and what I do cropped up and the woman was so very positive in her comments, commending me for working in the NHS and saying what a god job I/we all was do. This was lovely to hear and although I am feeling much better in myself anyhoo, made me feel quite good.

Following on from Warworth I suggested to Ade could we have a ride back home as I was really feeling knackered. It seemed to take ages to get home and after dropping Ade off I came home, made a quick sandwich then  proceeded to fall asleep immediately on my bed.

Yet another awesome day with one of my best friends,new sights and new memories created. Far better than sitting in the house on a lovely day watching day time tv lol...

Hopefully get some photo's to add from Ade and I will pop them on here.

The end.