Moving on from Sandringham we started on the way is North as the ultimate destination was Dunoon… we just had a couple of detours arranged en-route…. first stop being to see Paul and Carly (Keith’s brother and wife) in their new home in Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

Having only moved to the area three weeks before we arrived we felt that it was important to help them check out their local area to ensure it was future proof… a pretty good CL (Stone Cottage CL, Cleatham £15 per night) and a fantastic pub (The George) Although to be fair, they had already done a pretty good job by finding an amazing Farm Shop (Uncle Henry’s) as well as a pretty good Fish and Chippy…. we think all of which are worth another visit!

It was a lovely couple of days of catching up – not to mention gastronomy – as always, and although unlikely that anyone will ever be passing through or visiting the area as it really is the middle of nowhere, I highly recommnd the CL, The pub, Fish and Chips and the farm shop – whose parking is big enough for most motorhomes!

Leaving Lincolnshire behind us – and in fact England too – we headed North, crossing the border into Scotland and arriving at Kirk Loch, just near Lockerbie, where we had booked to stay on the small council run campsite right on the edge of the Loch (£28 per night)

The wardens at the campsite had given us very clear directions as apparently if we came in from the opposite direction there would be lots of cars parked on the road making access difficult. With the welcome we had, we thought that it couldn’t have been a huge amount more difficult than the route we took – but to be fair to the wardens, they probably had no idea that the golf club had a charity event on and the cars were going to be parked all over the place….and that isn’t to mention the coach. All was good though and Keith did a stirling job avoiding both walls and cars and by the time I drove out on the Monday the road was completely clear!!…. and if we had have come in the other way we would have had the additional obstruction of low hanging branches too…

Despite being a little wet – that wasn’t just the Loch – it was a lovely quiet location and very pretty walking and running…. it’s just a shame that the town had definately seen the last horse bolt as there really wasn’t anything else there.

It was just for a couple of nights though and we moved on getting to Gourock, just East of Glasgow just before lunch to buy our ferry tickets and to do some food shopping before crossing over to Dunoon….buying the return ferry tickets in advance and not on the ferry is almost half the price so well worth it.

Fawks’ first trip on a ferry and it was a little one at that! Despite wanting a bit of action, he was pretty happy about the fact that they had carefully placed him in the middle of the boat when the spray started coming over the front….muttering something about it not being good for his nuts or something similar….

It is only a 20 minute ferry crossing and although the skies looked pretty grey and nasty, it wasn’t too choppy at all as it is fairly protected by land, although if you are particularly against ferries you can drive all the way round which would probably take a couple of hours.

We had popped up to see Ian, a friend who moved over here in his motorhome 9 months ago and we can definately see why – it is stunning…… it is just a shame about the midges!

Walking along the seafront wasn’t an issue and actually for most of our time there we didn’t have too much of an issue with the midges during the day… morning or evening but the last night they got into the motorhome and ate both of us alive whilst we were doing the washing up after dinner – perhaps we should we take that as a hint to leave the washing up to the morning in the future!!

If it wasn’t for the midges we would have taken more time to travel round the islands a little and explore the area further as it is very special, we will however just have to return when the midges have either been burnt to a crisp (unlikely as I am not convinced that the heat wave will be making it that far North), or frozen to death…. so we moved on and headed South again for now, to Jedburgh.

Apparently Jedburgh was far enough South to escape the midges…. albeit some decided that they felt it important to come with us in the motorhome they were soon alured into that bright blue light, it was just unfortunate that the bites live on, and get worse.

Despite being the Jedburgh festival we had managed to find a fantastic CL (Bairnkine £18 per night). It was however – like most of Scotland – very, very hilly…. the morning run wasn’t for the faint hearted with 150m ascent but it is fair to say that the countryside just kept on giving – and these were just the views from the CL we were staying on.

Despite the weather being a bit of a mix, we appeared to have been lucky enough to have missed the worst of it whilst we were out walking, running or doing our exercise in the mornings – and of course the rain just makes everything that much more luscious.

As we enjoy the punishment of hard walking, we stayed four nights in Jedburgh before moving slightly further South, crossing back over into England and into the Northumberland National Park. – which in turn was incredible generous with its beauty and surroundings…

Last year we stayed at a little campsite about 3 miles outside the Park and it was amazingly beautiful, however we had walked passed Brandon Farm CL (£18 per night), and in fact had also tried to book it without any joy, but earlier this month they opened a second site and this time, we were in luck and got a pitch.

Brandon Farm CL is just inside the National Park which means that many of the walks and trails are that much more accessible without having to play with the trafic… always a benefit we find, especially when out for a morning run!

We were only there for 3 nights but managed to get some fantastic walking in, only really touching the tip of what was on our doorstep, we can definately see this as a place we come back to on a frequent basis…. and we fancy trying out Jess’ cream teas which she delivers to the motorhome as well as The Bosk, a little restaurant just over the bridge and round the corner!

Moving on though we did a short hop, skip and a jump over to Alnwick – which we passed through last year (or should I say round as the bridge in town is too low for us to get through) without stopping and had been told it was worth a visit.

We had found East Cawledge CL (£22 per night) which was just on the edge of town, next to the A1 and booked it for a couple of nights thinking that it’d suit a purpose for access if nothing else, but actually it was really peaceful and right next to a beautiful forest as well as a cycle path alongside the old railway line out into the countryside and towards the coast… perfect for walking and of course more very hilly morning running!

Alnwick is a really lovely market town with a pretty castle and lots of interesting shops and eateries – worth a visit if you are passing through, we will be back to explore further, especially over towards Alnmouth as it is such a beautiful area and pretty accesible.

Managing to dodge the rain – well whilst we were out walking at least – we headed that little bit further South, with our next stop being just outside Durham in a little village called Witton Gilbert (Old Bridge End CL £16 p/n).

We arrived just before lunch and somehow managed to get set up and sorted – it really doesn’t take much despite being a very sloping pitch – before the skies opened and the electric storm set in. And it was a pretty impressive (and very close) storm…. so close in fact that when we headed up the road after lunch to the farm shop at the top of the hill we found that they had been hit by lightening.

The skies cleared up as quickly as the storm came in and the following day after another hilly run, we jumped on the bikes and cycled into Durham to check it out.

Luck had struck as Durham was hosting a Brass Band festival over the weekend, which although by the sounds of it was a bit of a washout on Saturday, had everyone dancing in the streets on the Sunday…. some fantastic music and ambience to go with the beautiful architecture….can you believe that it costs £200,000 a week to maintain and run the Durham Cathedral??? It is beautiful, but wow…. that is some hefty sum.

Durham is a really interesting city, far smaller than either Keith or I expected, most of which is contained within the city wall perched up on top of the hill…. and occupied by the university, including the castle itself which must be a fantastic place to live – Harry Potter here we come!

The sun stayed out for us and even enabled us to catch up on some washing on Monday – helped by the incredibly strong wind, and we had a lovely circular walk through the forest and back past the cheeky goats at the farm…. I think someone quite fancied himself!!

Tuesday morning however was very different, and the clouds came over and it has been raining on and off ever since…. ah well, shopping and moving just a little bit further south to Bernard Castle.

We have been cooking, we just have too many good recipes that we need to repeat them occassionally to remember what they were like! The new recipes we have been playing with recently are as follows:
– 3 Bean Paella – a great mix of flavour and texture
– Dhal with poached eggs and Raita – Delicious served with Nan bread for breakfast, lunch or dinner
– Pav Bhaji – an unusual flavoursom dish made with Marrowfat peas
– Salmon and Brocolli Quiche – Quick, simple and delicious alternative to a pie
– Kolamba’s polos (Jackfruit Curry) – really tasty spice combination only found by chance as we were given a tin of Jackfruit!
– Tomato and Cucumber Raita – refreshingly tasty to go with any dish
– Upside down Fish Pie – A transformation of fish pie as we know it ….. but a pretty good alternative!

and of course the all important map up until yesterday morning at least….