Day Two

On our first whole Day in Northumberland, we checked out the Tide Times and headed straight over to Holy Island. We drove across the Causeway and completely marvelled in the change; the large expanse of rippled sand with small pools of water left from the retreated sea.  The great swathes of Pink Thrift as far as the eye could see. The grass covered small mountain like Dunes. I could walk up and down that Causeway all day long. We reached the Village and carried on walking down towards the Castle. 

We paused many times to take it all in; to smile at Herring House (what a name!), the view back to the mainland, the Bay, the Boats and the Lime Kilns. I love how the Castle just seems to be completely part of the rock, it just emerges out of the landscape. I love the name of Volcanic mound that it sits upon, Beblowe Craig, just saying that aloud makes me smile.

It was a dry day but the Sky was completely grey, but hey, I can live with that, it just means Black and White photographs. We spent the morning wandering around the Castle, exploring the rooms and the enjoying the views. I particularly liked the Flowers that had decided to live in the walls and the variety of Flora that decided to make the Castle home. I really enjoyed Gertrude Jekyll's walled garden. I've always been a fan of her Garden designs and it was so nice to see that the National Trust have kept to the 1911 planting scheme.

We then wandered slowly back through the field of rather chilled out sheep and bought a few postcards from the local shops. We enjoyed a Picnic from our rarely used Picnic Hamper complete with Cherry Slushies before setting off back down the Causeway onto the Coastal Route. The Coast in Northumberland is breathtakingly beautiful. From the almost square shape of Bundle Bay to the Dunes of Bamburgh.It makes my heart almost ache. We ended up in Seahouses as we wanted to work out what the options were for getting to the Farne Isles. I loved the Boat Ticket Huts, each a different colour, offering slightly different trips. We picked up the leaflet for our chosen trip and decided to return later in the week as we had missed all the Boats that day. We bought some Shellfish and headed down the Harbour. We sat and watched the crowds from a Boat returning from the Farne Isles. It seemed like every single person came off that Boat exclaiming quite how amazing the trip was. We enjoyed our seafood and the warmth since the Cloud had disappeared. 

We then had a wander around Seahouses and found a rather delightful shop called Drift. It was full of pretty Seaside gifts and we bought a rather lovely Beach Hut as we quite like the idea of Summer Seaside Mantel display on our return home. We also purchased a Northumberland Tea Towel as we always get one when we go away as I have big plans on turning them into a Patchwork Quilt one day.

The hour was becoming late so headed back to the Caravan where we played on the Swings in the Children's playground and walked along the Riverside where we saw a Hedgehog. It really was a very, very good start to our Holiday.