Day 29 - Thursday May 18, 2017 - Newcastle
After a somewhat restless night, we head down to level 7 for the buffet breakfast. The usual assortment of continental-style cold meats and cheese and sausages, bacon, beans and over-cooked scrambled eggs. After three goes through the toaster, my white bread toast has a slight brown tinge to it.
After we finish breakfast, we go back to the cabin, finish packing up and then eventually head back down to level 7. When I ask the customer service desk what level we’re going to disembark on, the answer is ‘5 or 6, depending on the water level’. We dock on time at 9 am …. and then all stand there on level 7 while they get the gangway in place. After an interminable 20 minute wait, with more and more people piling into the space at the top of the stairs from level 7 down to the lower levels, we’re finally allowed off. Given that the stairs are relatively narrow, it’s like getting a gallon (never mind a quart) into a pint pot. We’d managed to position ourselves up against a wall fairly close to the top of the stairs, so when the melee started managed to get going fairly quickly.
As we’re walking along the gangway towards immigration, it occurred to me that, unlike Helsinki (coming in from Japan) where I used my UK passport and Anne-Margaret came in the otherwise-empty EU line with me, this time it might work in reverse and the non-EU line might be better, given that most of the other passengers were Dutch or British. Sure enough, there was nobody in the non-EU line so, after some aggressive questioning from the immigration lady, we were through pretty quickly.
We found the ferry-provided bus in to Newcastle. We had prepaid for the ride, though the confirmation from the ferry company for both the Amsterdam and Newcastle bus transfers showed the bus transfer date as May 17. After the driver fatuously pointed out that was yesterday, he gave us our two tickets, time stamped at 9.30. At 10.10, we were still sitting there. There is only one bus and it doesn’t leave until everyone is off the ferry. Had we known that – or more particularly, had the driver had the commonsense to let people know that – we would have just taken a taxi. After 30 minutes, when it was still not clear what time we might actually leave, one couple did get off as they had a train to catch. At that point (10 am) even a taxi seemed unlikely to get them to the station in time for their 10.24 am train. When the bus did finally leave, it took over 30 minutes to get into town to the station. Just about every ‘completed’ company (hotel, ferry etc.) on this trip to date has sent us an annoying follow-up survey (which I routinely ignore) so I’m hoping DFDS Ferries does the same, so I can send them some suitably pithy and ‘constructive’ comments about their bus transfer service.
We met Jenny ok but, rather than being at the station earlier than her as I had hoped, she had to wait for us to turn up. We went and found the car rental office and dealt with the paperwork but then went for coffee before returning to pick up the car.
We made it out of Newcastle without any bother, heading north up the A1. With no concrete plan in place for the day, we just meandered our way up to Bambrugh. We had originally intended to go to Seaton Delaval, a National Trust property just north of Newcastle, but when we checked the opening times, it turned out they were closed on Thursday and Friday this week and next week – must be ‘closed on Thursdays and Fridays in May’.
After a while we turned off the A1 and followed the signs for the ‘Coastal Route’ though it never really became clear exactly where this ‘route’ was or why it was ‘coastal’. Closer to the coast certainly but in many places you only get to the coast if you make a specific detour to do so. We meandered our way up to Warkworth, where we stopped for some lunch in the Masons Arms, drove around Alnmouth (though we didn’t stop), went for a walk on the beach at Boulmer, drove around Craster and then made our way up the coast through Beadnall and Seahouses to Bambrugh, where we had coffee at the Copperkettle Tearoom. All very English.
The hotel is just outside Bambrugh though we had some difficulty finding it. We knew more or less where it was so when we encountered a sign for the hotel and a left arrow, we turned left up the road immediately after the sign. As we eventually discovered after calling the hotel, not that left but carry on slightly further and then turn left into the driveway. There is a large sign for the hotel at the bottom of the driveway but none of us saw it (if indeed it is visible at all) before making our ill-fated left turn up the side road. Our mood was not improved when we arrived to find the only time available for dinner on our dinner, bed and breakfast rate was 8.15 because all the other times had already been taken.
A typical English country hotel, the Waren House Hotel is certainly pleasant enough, with the typical English socio-economic clientele one would expect. We went down to the lounge about 6.45 for a (long) pre-dinner drink and eventually headed into dinner at 8.15. The food is good, if a little pretentious, with a certain amount of confusion over some of the terms (and typos) in the menu. What’s ‘comfit’? Do the ‘complementary’ potatoes go well with whatever you may choose or do you mean they are free? Given we had one and a half hours to kill, the menu was subject to a rather merciless critique. We have reserved dinner for 7 pm tomorrow so hopefully will be able to cut to the chase rather faster. Our included dinner gave us three courses and free rein from the menu but none of us could manage dessert, particularly given the not anticipated amuse bouche soup and the palate-cleansing sorbet. It was very hot in the dining room so I think we were glad to make our escape and go off to bed.