I am constantly amazed at the hospitality that I have received along my trip and Newcastle has been no exception. Rory and his lovely ladies (Effie, Izzy, Anna and Rachel) have been wonderful hosts, making us feel really at home and making it a tough decision to leave here this morning. On Saturday afternoon we went to the beach, though it wasn't exactly beach weather in my opinion. We were wrapped up warm and ran around after a bright yellow frisbee until it was time to get ready for the evenings entertainment. After dinner we all went out on the town and met up with Jen and Sally (from the Munich beer hall episode) and their friend Louise. I really enjoyed the night though it was a little pricey. One place even tried to charge us $30 NZ to get in. Needless to say we didn't stay there. On Sunday I went to watch Rory play hockey in the rain. It was bitterly cold and yet he was quite happy to run around in shorts and put himself in the way of a number of large wooden sticks. Nutter. In the afternoon every one at the house (Rachel was away) went to Hadrian's wall. It was a fantastic spot for it and I took lots of photos. It was such a classic outting, just a bunch of friends going for a drive in the country, watching sunset over a national monument and then warming up to a cup of tea at some local country hotel. On the way home Anna executed a brilliant emergency stop to avoid a young deer that was staggering across the road in a frightened panic.

Rory, Effie, Izzy and Anna

Hadrian's Wall

   Yesterday Effie, Lorraine and I spent the day in town. we visited the excellent Baltic art gallery and met Rory, Jen, Sally and Ash for lunch.

(rushing now to pack up and go)

Last night was another party evening, fun had by everyone, me especially.

Thanks Rory and Effie for taking us in, thanks Jen, Sally and Ash for coming to see me, and thanks to Newcastle in general for being a cool town. And now for the lake district :-)

A video (3.2Mb) made at The Angel Of The North just outside of Newcastle.