The first nights sleep went well in the dunes in Cresswell. We woke up around 7 am and there were a few dog walkers around. The weather was dry but threatening to rain, so we quickly got up and packed our tents. The annoying thing with packing the tent first thing in the morning is that it’s wet from the morning dew. I allow myself to pack a wet tent when I know that I’ll be unpacking it again in around 12 hours time. If I was a bit better prepared and a little less lazy, I’d carry a sponge to wipe the tent down.
Once our bikes and bags were packed, it was time for breakfast. Like I said in the previous post, we were pitched up only a few minutes walk away from a fish and chip shop and a cafe (the drift cafe). We decided we’d enjoy a nice breakfast at the cafe and take the opportunity to wash our faces and clean up a bit. This was a doubly great idea because as soon as we began making our way over it started to chuck it down with rain. The cafe wasn’t open when we arrived. It didn’t open until 9 am. Luckily, however, the cafe had a room open that we could keep dry in while we waited for the main building to open.
After a nice breakfast, we set off up the Northumberland coast to Bamburgh, with lots of views of rapeseed fields and the sea.
When we got to Bamburgh we began our search for a camp site. Unfortunately, the one we had planned to stay at had an event going on and our options were kind of limited. I rang around to see what was available and they all seemed pricy. We were looking for somewhere in and around Budle. We stumbled upon a holiday part, “Waren Caravan and Camping Park”. I went in to ask for prices and the receptionist said it would be 20 something pounds for the night, each! That didn’t sit right with me and the receptionist could see that. She then went onto suggest a farmers field down the road, a few minutes cycle away, who allows camping for 5 a night – obviously with no facilities.
Now that’s more like it!
She called the farmer on her phone to tell him two cyclists were looking to stay. The farmer told her to let us know it’s fine if we stayed on his field and he would take no charge.
Wooop!
The lady directed us to where the field is. She then suggested that, if we were to come to the camping park and buy a drink/dinner, then she would turn a blind eye to using the facilities. Perfect! Needless to say we had a drinks there while we got showered up, and breakfast there the following morning before we set off.
Side note: always always always double check your bicycle if you’re using or have been using bungee codes. After unloaded our bikes and putting up our tents on the farm, we got our shower stuff and cycled up to the holiday park. Penny had left bungee cord lose on a her which jammed into her rear wheel/cassette. We spent a good half hour so ripping that out. Would have been useful to have a sharp knife that day (a purchase I have since made!)
