Good morning all!!!! What a lovely sleep we had, who needs sleeping tablets or Rioja when a 5 mile hike is the answer to a good nights sleep 🤣🤣🤣. Nisha has gone for her early morning swim, hold up, she’s already back…and already bouncing which means she’s had a good swim session!!!

Breakfast has been ordered and should arrive very soon (it’s 7.45am). On the menu this morning is another hearty bowl of porridge (we’ve decided to carry out porridge testing in every hotel we stay at), along with a platter of fresh fruit, plain yoghurt, orange juice and coffee. Still managing to keep it healthy, the lure of black pudding hasn’t hit Nisha yet!!! Only a matter of time I think 🤣🤣🤣

Breakfast eaten, we give it a score of 8 / 10. Showered, packed and after a quick check out, we reload our overnight bags and set off to Jarrow for a quick visit to Barbour and then onto Bamburgh.

Jarrow was an indulgent affair, that’s all we’re prepared to say!!!

On our way to Bamburgh (Seahouses) the rain decided to come down. Nisha was on the case, straight onto the Met Office website which reported that the rain would stop at noon, that was only 9 minutes away!!!! It did stop but it was 1pm!!! We checked in, got another reduced rate, Nisha has a daily routine as the navigation officer where she checks all the hotel rates and makes a mental note. Biggest bug bear is that she always forgets the snacks we need to munch on during the drive!!!

Room is nice, and will do for the night, bags are dumped, bathroom has been tested!!! And off we rush to Billy Shiel (he’s our mate who does the boat trips around Farne Islands), also met a Carol and someone else, but never actually met Billy!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Sea sickness tablets were quickly swallowed and we were ready for the choppy North Sea!! The boat went up and down, right and left, even this way and that but never the other 🤣🤣🤣…nothing came up, the tablets were working!!! Frame island here we come!!!

We saw birds and water…more birds, more water, we saw birds, seals and even more water!!! We saw puffins (guide says 70,000 but we only counted a few thousand 😜), guillemots, razorbills, terns, and Atlantic and grey seals, and more water!!! 🤣🤣🤣

It was cold on that boat, I forgot to pack my hip flask!!! This was the perfect time!!! Needed a swig and few to warm up our cockles!!🤣🤣🤣

Back on shore, we rushed back to the hotel, jackets off, bathroom tested once again and off we went for ‘tea’…or as us London people say…food because we is hungry!!! 🤣🤣

Starters are beetroot and goats cheese panna cotta and cheesy garlic bread, followed by roast butternut squash risotto….the risotto came out, Nisha took a bite and straight away she hunted down a waitress, the risotto wasn’t hot enough for her…off they went and before long they arrived back steaming!!! Okay, for those of you who haven’t realised, today is a vegetarian day with Guinness and wine!!! Can’t do both a dry and veggie day in one 🤣🤣🤣. Dessert will be a Mahavir special!!! (Mahavir makes and sells Indian sweets)!!! Tea has been consumed and next on the agenda is to read a chapter or two, I’m reading John Grisham, and Nisha is reading a novel by the ex con Jeff Archer!!!

The cold boat trip got to us so we had an afternoon snooze and woke up in time for a coffee and snack!!! Our latest health philosophy is to have a big lunch and a small dinner…seems to work for us!!!

Reloading for our next hotel stay has already happened, talk about highly organised 🤣🤣🤣. This evening will be spent relaxing and watching Ronnie O playing snooker.