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Tour photos

Cheers

The Stats

 As promised, some stats from the tour.

Total mileage for the tour, 4,559 miles. You will see from the pic, that takes Ginny to just shy of 21,000 miles.

Fuel

Total litres = 392.22

Total gallons = 86.28

Fuel Cost = £509.56

Average MPL / MPG = 11.70  /  53.18

Other Bike Costs

Bridgestone BT23 GT F & R tyres @ 19,622 miles = £261 inc. fitting

800ml BMW Motorrad 5w40 Advantec Engine Oil ≅ £13.00

2 x garage forecourt air line usage = £1.00

Hotels

Number of Hotels = 22

Cost of accommodation / meals = £1319.40

Additional Tour Costs

Ferries, x7 = £30.50

Other tolls / Parking = £2.50

Keeping track of all these costs may seem frivolous but it actually serves a very good purpose and we'd be screwed without my spreadsheet. Being able to log the outlay at the end of each day, made it possible to keep the difference paid between I and Grizzly down to just £86.00 by the end of the tour. Grizzly is not a man who likes to be in debt, so he was constantly on to me to tell him how much he owed. With some hotels auto charging to my card, as the booker, others taking from whichever card was presented on arrival, I had to explain it wouldn't be clear until the last night. IF The Darnley in Ilfracombe could have been bothered, they could have charged Grizzly's card instead of mine, in which case the difference would have been only about £4.00, but then they could hardly drag themselves out of bed in time for our departure!

I think Grizzly would agree, it was another great tour, albeit quite tiring without any layover days. We only experienced rain on 5 or 6 days, so we considered ourselves really lucky, though the times we did get caught in it, it could be very heavy and persistent. Along the way, we had some quite scary moments, most notably the ride from Lynmouth to Porlock in driving rain and thick fog/cloud but also some brilliant ones too, where we both got off the bikes and said "what a great ride that was". Both bikes played up, the Shadslow with its sidestand issue, Ginny with her thirst for oil and the non starting on the last day, but neither of us would change anything of the last 3+ weeks, except maybe the stopover in St Leonards, the Highlands Hotel being, to put not too fine a point on it, a real shithole.

So, that's it for this tour. Next up, a tour of Italy. Grizzly has requested this as his 70th birthday tour, unless one of us wins the lottery, in which case he has his sights set on the US of A.

As always, thanks for taking the time to follow the blog, I hope you got some entertainment out of it and don't forget to look out for the next one. If you've signed up for email updates, then I shall auto enroll your for the Italy / USA tour. If you haven't signed up, why not?, I've told you enough times.   

Cheerio

Day 25, Home again

Woke up to another gloriously sunny day. I had breakfast and then got ready to leave. A prod of Ginny's start button produced nothing but a whirring sound. Hmm. Another prod, same result. My heart sank. All this way and for it all to end with the final journey still to do and a call to the RAC. It sounded like something wasn't engaging, the starter motor maybe. Why I thought that moving the bike would help I don't know but I flipped up the sidestand and wheeled her back slightly. One more prod on the button and Ginny burst into life. Relief swept through me.

Just around the corner from hotel is an Asda, where I fuelled up. Then, it was onto the M4 for the last 186 miles of the tour.

Despite the forecast, once I'd crossed the Prince of Wales Bridge, it clouded over. Not cold by any means, just not sunny or the heat of Wales. It stayed that way all the way home. 

I arrived home at 12:20, after a smooth and uneventful ride. Another tour over.

I'll get some stats together soon, then I can turn my attention to next year's tour, Italy. 

Day 24, Farewell

The last morning of the 3 Nations Tour.

With  checkout at 11:00 and Grizzly's ferry not till 14:45, we could afford a lie in. Not sure if Grizzly got up any later but there wasn't the usual frenzy to get his bags on his bike. I had an extra 30 minutes under the duvet.

We had our breakfast, then took  a walk into town. There is very little to do in Carmarthen within walking distance but luckily for us, both things of interest to us, were within 10 minutes walk of the hotel. 

First up, Carmarthen Castle. There's not too much left,  the main gate, part of a tower and some of the original walls.

From the castle we made our way down to Merlin's Walk, where, surprise surprise, there is a wooden statue of Merlin.  11 years old and 11 feet tall, made from oak. 

After marvelling at Merlin, we made our way back to the hotel. We had talked about hanging around the hotel until midday  but when we got back Grizzly said he wanted to get going. We did our final packing, said our goodbyes and then went our separate ways. Our tour together had ended, after 24 days.

I arrived at my hotel for the night about 12:45. I'd chosen the scenic route, the A40 into Brecon,  rather than use the M4, a much more enjoyable ride. I stayed away another night,  so I could visit my grandson James again, rather than do the journey home in one big hit.

I spent a nice few hours with my daughter,  her husband and the boy, and had dinner with them. Then it was back to the hotel. Grizzly messaged me to say he had got home at 20:45.

Tomorrow I'm heading home. Brekkie is at 8:30, and I'll need to fuel up as soon as I leave the hotel. I reckon I should be home around 13:00.

Day 23, Mumbles to Carmarthen via Tenby

Our last full day of the tour and thankfully the forecast was for dry and sunny weather. It didn't disappoint. 

A nice ride along the Gower coast took us to Llanelli, where we fuelled up. I took the opportunity to add some air to Ginny's tyres  as they looked and felt a little soft. Not easy to get the pressures right with warm tyres.

Whilst I was doing that, Grizzly went to Tesco to use the loo, his 5th movement! That's a record,  even for him I think.

From Llanelli we had a short ride to Pembrey and a photo stop at the race track, the home of Welsh motorsport.

I know what you are thinking, a racing circuit and the Shadslow in the same photo!

From Pembrey to another P famous for motorsport,  the world land speed records, Pendine Sands. It's easy to see why they chose here to fight it out. It's a fantastic beach.

There were two things of note from this visit. One, a low trailer lorry with a tank on the back, broken down halfway up the steepish hill out of the village. Two, the aerial assault on  Grizzly from a seagull! 

I had just crossed to meet him when I heard this noise and suddenly there was this mess on his shoulder. He thought  I'd thrown something at him. I  looked up but the culprit was nowhere to be seen,  a stealth bomber. He was so lucky it didn't hit him slap bang on his head. I had to laugh 😅. Some good news though, a negative PCR test, so he's good to go home tomorrow 

We continued round the coast, past the stricken tank, to Tenby. A particular favourite bit of beach was Amroth, where besides the golden sands, there's a castle right on the beach road. 

We parked in the multistorey car park and took a walk. Tenby was heaving, like many seaside resorts we've passed through but this was another level. Social distancing,  forget it. There's a fabulous beach there, so not hard to understand its popularity. 

By the chippy, we came across this BSA chop. We did wonder how it would ride over some of the bumby single track roads we've encountered over the last few days. it's a NO from me.

From Tenby we made our way back to Carmarthen where we spent our last night of the tour.

As it was the last night, we splashed out on dinner, having a starter! Our end of tour meal went down a treat,  washed down with the obligatory few pints. 

Tomorrow we'll go our separate ways, Grizzly to Pembroke for his ferry,  me back to Cardiff to drop in on my grandson again. We'll have a quick look round Carmarthen first though. 

Day 22, Ilfracombe to Mumbles

An early start, as we had to get to Barnstaple for Grizzly's PCR test at 9am. Meant missing breakfast,  as they don't start serving till 8:30. Apparently the owners like a lie in, as when Grizzly rang the bell to pay the bar bill, on the third occasion, the woman came down and said she'd been in bed! Morning Fawlty.

From Barnstaple we made our way to Lynmouth, the approach to which is a very steep and twisty road. Tricky in the dry, doubly so in the wet, as it had been raining since we left Ilfracombe. It's a very pretty village. 

If getting in was tricky, getting out would surely be as bad. Hill in, hill out.

As it turned out, the hill was the least of our problems. Though not as steep as the one in, the way out took us into the cloud and almost zero visibility.  Thank fuck (no apologies for language) the road had a white line down the middle,  as that was all that kept me from going off into the greenery or the oncoming traffic! Reminiscent of a similar incident in Portugal in 2019, this was as, if not more scary. For mile after mile  I crawled along keeping my eyes on the white line, constantly wiping my visor from the rain. For the best part of 12 miles from Lynmouth to Porlock, this torture continued. Only as we dropped out of the cloud did the vision improve and my body relax. Not something either of us would care to repeat in a hurry. 

In Minehead we stopped for breakfast, courtesy of the  golden arches.

Continuing along the coast,  we passed through  Watchet, where a steam engine was puffing away at the station, before we eventually arrived at Weston-super-Mare. A quick stop for a photo  across the water of where we would be not so long after and then our fuel stop.

From Weston-super-Mare we had to adjust our route, which took us on the M5/M4. Not ideal but did make up some time.

Through the back roads of Newport and Cardiff and on to the lovely seaside  town of Penarth, we made our way to Barry Island,  where we stopped for coffee and a lemon meringue muffin. The muffin was very nice. I managed to persuade Grizzly to pose with the Gavin and Stacey crew before we left. He hasn't a clue who they are. 

Refreshed, we rode the last leg to our hotel in Mumbles,  Swansea, though somehow we got separated,  so I had already checked in by the time Grizzly arrived. 

Tomorrow is our last full day together and we have a trip round the coast to Tenby to look forward to. 

Day 21, Penzance to Ilfracombe

A wet start to the day again.

First stop Lands End.  Had hoped to get a photo with the bikes at the signpost but no vehicles allowed due to covid, for some reason. Had also hoped to meet up with adventure biking legend Tiffany Coates but that fell through, so ee ended up at a wet and windy Lands End on our own. We had to pay £2 each bike to park, yet 12 years after my last visit, there's still no specific motorcycle parking. Happy to take your cash though.

A walk to the sign revealed a white post. The guy was just putting on the arms. If you want your photo taken with it, it's £10.95. We took some phitos and Grizzly's  photoshop will do the rest.

That was our only scheduled stop, apart from a fuel stop and we were there about 20 minutes.  RIP OFF.

We made our way along tight twisty and very wet roads,  staying as close to the sea as they would allow.  At times it was very slow going but some of the views of golden sandy beaches were quite spectacular. We managed a lunch stop but tge toilets were out of action, so it was looking like the hedge may be necessary.  I pulled in at one lay-by  but Grizzly was worried passing vehicles might see something amongst all the folds of his waterproofs! We eventually came across a village that had public toilets,  so that problem was solved. 

A little further on, we came up behind a traction engine pulling a trailer. Things don't come much slower than that,  not even the shadslow. How on earth the driver thought he was going to get up the next wet hill, I don't know. 

As we continued,  Ginny flashed up a warning on the dash.  No indication of what the problem might be. The fuel stop wasn't far, so we continued. As we arrived, the oil check light came on and the temperature hit red. Water was ok but she needed more oil. I'd already put some in on the tour and she was full before I left. That sorted that. Hopefully she'll get home on what she has now.

We arrived at our hotel just as the heavens opened, so must've looked a sorry sight, dripping water on the lobby floor.

Dinner was Chinese from a takeaway down the road,  which I went down to get. Lucky I packed my brolly. We then watched the football in the bar. Least said about that the better. 😫

Tomorrow we will end up in Wales, Mumbles near Swansea. First,  a stop in Barnstaple for Grizzly's PCR test.

Day 20, Torquay to Penzance

Forgot to mention yesterday,  I clocked up 3,500 miles and Ginny 20k.

As expected this morning it was peeing down. Waterproofs on.  First stop, a fuel stop. 2nd stop, the lower ferry to Dartmouth from Kingswear. Now I know the road was twisty and it was raining but the Shadslow excelled itself this time, in how far it dropped back. 

I arrived to find the ferry waiting,  with just a lady foot passenger on it. I told the chap there was another coming and paid for both of us, then waited and waited and waited.  Then I notice dozy bollocks making his way into the car park. The big letter F E R R Y on the road obviously meaning nothing to him. Meanwhile more vehicles came aboard. Grizzly reappears and I think he's seen me waving from the ferry but no, he stops, then gets off his bike. The guy on the ferry then has to walk up the quayside to tell dozy bollocks that I am already on the ferry. 🤭

With him finally on board, we make the shirt crossing to Dartmouth and then on into the Devon countryside. 

Next stop, Slapton Sands memorial. 

I'd told Grizzly this commemorates the list of soldiers training for D-Day in 1944 but this is actually a thank you to the locals who gave up their homes to house US troops. Further down the road is the memorial for the soldiers lost, along with a Sherman Tank, recovered from the sea, after 40 years on the sea bed.

Carrying on, our next stop was another ferry, Devonport to Torpoint. No problems this time, as Grizzly was close on my tail.

The sun was now shining and we were sweating in our waterproofs.  We stopped at a garage for lunch and took them off.

We continued on a long and often arduous journey towards The Lizard, the UK mainland's most southerly point. On the way though the heavens opened and we had to quickly pull over to get the waterproofs out again. 

At The Lizard we parked up and got chatting with the National Trust car park man. As we were only staying long enough to use the toilet and take a few photos,  he let us the parking charge. He proudly  announced it  was the most southerly point, so when I told him we'd been to the  other compass points in the last 3 weeks,  I burst his bubble a bit.

Another fuel stop was taken care of before we arrived at our digs in Penzance. The room is up some quite steep and narrow stairs but we are only one floor up and at least we have a sea view.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be bad again, so our proposed visit to Lands End doesn't look like being much fun.

Day 19, Bournemouth to Torquay

After brekkie  with Simon and Viv,  we took some photos of them with Dudley's bandana, then we said our goodbyes and made our way to our fuel stop. It was also a chance for me to get some air in the tyres. After the usual struggle with the forecourt hose, I managed to get the required pressures. 

Next stop Sandbanks, home to Harry Redknapp. We didn't see him but had timed our arrival perfectly, to just roll on the back of the ferry across to Studland. Barely had time to take a photo, when we were across. A quid each.

Our route took us down to Swanage, then looped us back up and around the base of Corfe Castle, which was a very impressive sight as we came down the hill into the village. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to stop to get that perfect photo.

Our journey continued on to Lulworth Cove, probably the most perfectly shaped bay you will ever come across. On the way we passed an MOD camp, the signs saying 'Sudden Gun Shots', make you sit up and take notice! We made a brief stop for the loo and a wander down to take some photos. I don't recall ever having been there before. It's very popular, as you would expect.

Just up the road is the village, a chocolate box image, with lots of small thatched cottages lining the road. Not sure the photos will do it justice.

The next leg of the trip took us through Weymouth and down to the Portland Bill Lighthouse, another place I have not been to before. This was our lunch stop and gave Grizzly another chance to feed Steven Seagull, cheesey chips.

It was interesting on the way out or off Portland, to pass what looked like a quarry. It would make perfect sense, as that is where the stone comes from. Also on the way out, I was almost witness to another accident, as some chump came straight out of a side road, only just missng hitting a Smart car on front of me. Better it than me I suppose.

The ride from Portland all the way to Sidmouth in Devon was really good. At one point we could see the coast stretching out for miles and miles,  absolutely stunning in the sunshine. Coming out of Sidmouth on a single track road, was interesting,  with several blockages at passing places, needing cars to reverse. At one point the one in front of me started to reverse. Think again pal, this lady ain't for turning!

Passing through Budleigh Salterton,  Exmouth and skirting Exeter, our next stop was Dawlish Warren, a regular family holiday destination when I was knee high to a grasshopper. It's changed a lot in 55 years but there are still things there from all those years ago. Memories I have from here are the sort I'd like to create with my grandson James, so when I'm long gone, he can say, I remember when Poppa did that with me there.

Dawlish and Teignmouth were next on the route, as we neared our hotel in Torquay or more probably Babbacombe. 

Tomorrow we head to Cornwall,  spending the night in Penzance. We'll have two ferry crossings to negotiate and a few stops to make. Weather looks like being very wet for the morning at least.

Day 18, St Leonards to Bournemouth

So, we survived the night. I knew this place was rough when we arrived but that was confirmed this morning as we awoke to effing and blinding in the car park. 2 guys squaring up to each other,  apparently workmates. Followed shortly after by white van man, blocked in the car park by hotel owner (still in bed), also effing. Eventually owner dragged himself downstairs to move his car, with words exchanged. We made a hasty retreat!

No brekkie at hotel, so stopped at McDs a little way up the road. We continued west, along the coast, through Bexhill, Pevensey Bay, Eastbourne, Seaford, Newhaven (I never new it was there) and on into Brighton. Through, Shoreham and onto Worthing  where we made a brirf stop, so someone could ring back home to get his lottery numbers placed, €15k the prize. I took this photo whilst waiting, in Steyne Gardens. No idea what it is. 

As we've seen everywhere this tour, there's no shortage of  holidaymakers at the seaside down south, Worthing being no exception. 

Next stop was at a memorial to an RAF crew  killed when their Hampden bomber crashed near the site in Bognor Regis,  during WW2. 

With a brief stop for lunch and loo, we pressed on through Portsmouth and on to Southampton,  where we crossed the Itchen Toll Bridge, thankfully free to motorcycles. 

Once free of Southampton,  we entered the New Forest. It was lovely to see the ponies including many foals, as we approached  Beaulieu, home of the National Motor Museum. 

At Beaulieu the going got tough, as we got stuck in a queue of vehicles following a wide load lorry carrying a big yacht. 

Eventually though we made it to our hotel in Bournemouth,  the Celebrity. The entire hotel is celebrity themed, walls covered with pictures of the famous and each room name after someone,  each except ours, which is just Room 122. WTF? I don't think any of the celebs would have stayed here but it seems there is some celeb connection (see pic below)

Our Route 66 chums Simon and Viv arrived from Wales and we spent a nice few hours over dinner chatting.  It's great to catch up with them again. We'll have breakfast together tomorrow before they head home and we make for Torquay

Day 17, Chatham to St Leonards

Back home with the wife last night was really nice.  The  3 of us had dinner and watched the football. 

This morning, our first stop was Ryder Motorcycles in Sittingbourne for Ginny's new boots. She'd got many miles out of the old set, too many if I'm honest. The pics tell the story.

Actually quite ashamed to have been riding with it in that state. 

From there we made our sway along the north kent coast, through Whitstable and Margate. Weather was ok but cloudy. Not raining, that's the main thing. A shame for Grizzly, as he'd bought some new waterproof leggings in Ryder. After passing through Ramsgate we stopped off at the Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum at Manston. Both aircraft on show were restored by my Spitfire Club,  that's  MAPS.

Miving on, we arranged to meet my brother at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne. We had just enough time to use the facilities and take some photos before he arrived.  

We then followed him back to his house where, Claire, my sister in law prepared some sandwiches for us. 

Moving on we made our way down to Dungeness  and through Camber Sands before making a brief stop at Rye harbour.  We had a fuel stop in Hastings,  which left us a short drive to our Hotel.  I had a feeling it might be a bit of a dive. I wasn't wrong and the clientele are a bit rough and ready to say the least, totally flouting covid rules. We were the only 2 wearing masks.

We got ready to go out, as there is no meal option and we didn't fancy sitting watching football with that crowd. 10 minutes down the road, we found tge Royal Victoria Hotel on the seafront. Posh looking it has probably seen grander times but is miles above what we are staying in. We got a table for dinner and a space in front of the telly for England v Denmark, so all was good. Meal was very nice and pints of Stella washed it down nicely.  England won, so almost the perfect day.

Tomorrow we head for Bournemouth and a rendezvous with our Route 66 pals Simon and Viv.

These boys were in the hotel briefly,  to support  England no doubt. Noisy blighters. As bad as Grizzly's snoring 🤣

Day 16, Lowestoft to Chatham

The day didn't start well,  raining and strong winds by the time we set off. Waterproofs on. 

First waypoint was at Southwold. The place was deserted.  Not hard to see why, as the wind was so strong here, it nearly blew Ginny over as we came to the end of the road. I've never been in wind that strong before on a bike. Quite scary. I was worried enough to avoid a right turn with the wind battering us.

Away from the gale, we wound our way through small wet country lanes, either covered in water, mud or gravel until we came to Sizewell. Again deserted, with little to see but the nuclear power station, one of several we've passed so far this tour.

Thorpeness,  Aldeburgh and Orford were all paid a visit, maybe even worth a stop under better weather conditions but we just rode through, finally making a stop for coffee on the A12 near Woodbridge. As we rode by Sutton Hoo I couldn't help thinking of my ma and my recently departed uncle Roger, who took her there years ago.

By the time we'd finished coffee we'd decided to abort the rest of the twisty road route and just head straight for our fuelling stop, then to home. We both agreed it hadn't been pleasant tiptoeing around the lanes, never knowing if you would be faced by gravel, mud or just some muppet going too fast in the middle of the road. It's a whole different experience in the dry.

The route to the fuelling stop would have taken 2 hours. We were all the way home in that time, greeted in Chatham by the heaviest rain of the day. Welcome home.

Tomorrow we are on the road again, this time headed for St Leonards. One the way I shall be having new tyres fitted to Ginny, and we hope to meet up with Paul my brother, for a spot of lunch maybe.

Day 15, Grimsby to Lowestoft

Probably the worst day for me. The weather was, once again, very nice and we avoided any showers but the taffic was a real pain.

We hit Cleethorpes first,  another nice seaside town, then down the coast to Mablethorpe. After this the land is quite flat, so you cant actually see the sea, as it's hidden behind a huge sea wall. The next time we saw the sea was at Skegness, where a diversion to the seal sanctuary for my kids, with Crocs, etc, proved fruitless, as I was unable to get another photo. From Skeggy, we moved inland to Boston, where we stopped for lunch at BK. The disappointment for me of riding through Lincolnshire, was not seeing the BBMF in the sky.

It was after this that the traffic got really bad, as we moved towards Hunstanton and Kings Lynn. Hunstanton is another nice and very popular resort but a bugger to get through. We weaved our way through Norfolk. In all honesty, it's hard to say where we have been, as we are following a blue line on TomTom all day but some names stick in the mind. We passed some manor houses and windmills but the most unexpected sight as I rounded a tight country lane had to be, a Spitfire on a pole.

A replica, it stands, until October, on the site of former RAF Langham, alongside the Langham dome. I've not yet read the blurb but I believe it was used in air gunner training. 

Time was getting on and we decided to skip some stops in Great Yarmouth and head straight to our next fuel stop. Unfortunately, that was closed for works but we found another not far from the hotel. Our last stop was at Ness Point, the most easterly on the UK mainland.I couldn't find anything to attest to that but I'm assured by a friend that there is a plinth And that the wind turbine is called  Gulliver.

 From there, it was just a short hop to the hotel. We arrived just in the nick of time to bag one of the 3 remaining parking spaces.

Our room, like so many it seems for Booking.com customers has a shit view and like most for us, is furthest away from reception. The view from the bar makes up for it, though the picture doesn't do it justice. I expect it looked a lot nicer earlier in the day.

Tomorrow we head for home, Chatham. That's not the end of the tour though, just a stopover in my own bed, as we continue around the south coast. I've now clocked up over 3000 miles since I left home on June 20th.

Day 14, Stockton-on-Tees to Grimsby

Grizzly threw the curtains back and the sun streamed in, onto me, still in bed! And it pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the day.

We just had 2 parts to our day today. There were no real stops planned apart from a fuel stop but after a couple of hours on the road we decided a stop was in order, at Flamborough Head. On the way down we'd stayed close to the coast. I never knew the north east was blessed with such lovely seaside towns and beaches, Redcar, Saltburn-by-the-sea, Bridlington, etc. We skirted Whitby and Scarborough too.Everywhere we rode, there were dozens of people, some even brave enough to brave the cold north sea.

Flamborough Head was the last waypoint before our fuel stop but was too nice to just ride to and straight out again. We parked the bikes, had a wee, then Grizzly fueled up with coffee and a buttered scone, whilst I had a waffle cone with raspberry razzle ice cream. The place, like everywhere we've been or ridden through, was thick with people, hardly surprising given the glorious weather. We have been very lucky with the weather, though as I type, it is raining hard and thundering. Looking at the forecast for tomorrow, we could well miss the showers again. Fingers crossed.

      The New Flamborough Lighthouse, 1806

                   The old lighthouse, 1672

Fuel stop was Bridlington Tesco. From there we continued south through more lovely seaside villages, Hornsea and Withensea, the latter reminding Grizzly of a place in Cork. I swear he got all teary eyed!  We ran down to The Spurn, basically a pointy outcrop of land at the Humber estuary. There wasn't really anything to see there, so we made a plan to stop at the next petrol station for coffee. On the way we went through a village called Easington, where there was a huge gathering of twitchers (bird watchers), so there must have been a rare bird sighting of some description. There were some very big cameras on show. A quick Google is talking about a black-browed albatross!

Following our coffee stop we crossed the Humber Bridge. It's free to bikes and we even had a lane of our own, sailing by all the cars queuing to pay. Wow! I had no idea that the Humber was so wide. It's a bloody big river and a bloody big bridge.

After a long hot day in the saddle, we arrived in Grimsby, our stop for the night. The view from our room is a bit mixed St James' Church and Wilco's roof!

There's a nice memorial on the green,  to Grimsby fishermen.

Tomorrow, as we start week 3, we are heading for Lowestoft. Hopefully the weather will hold.

Day 13, Edinburgh to Stockton-on-Tees

Day started off badly, just yards from the hotel. Not for us but for a squirrel. Could have been a sticky end had he been trying to play chicken with Ginny. Instead, he picked on a cyclist and luckily boubced off the wheel,  thus living to fight another day. 

For us, it was a really nice morning. Dry and reasonably warm, we made our way east/south, passing golden beaches and ruined castles galore.  Our first stop was at the border, as we entered England.

A few miles on and we entered Berwick-upon-Tweed, then over the old bridge, reached by a steepish cobbled street. Grizzly was probably having kittens at that point. Lucky they were dry.

Just over the bridge, we stopped at the Bridge Cafe for a coffee and some photos.

Next stop Alnwick for some lunch. The place was heaving, like so many places we have passed through. That's staycations for you. After a circuit of the town, we nabbed a couple of parking spaces. I think they are supposed to be for locals but there wasn't any wardens. Toilet, coffee, and for Grizzly a subway wrap. Whilst he was at Subway, it started to rain,  so waterproofs went on.

We stuck to the coast pretty well, which made for slow going. The rain didn't dampen the spirits of the English seaside holidaymakers, walking the prom or on the beach wearing their cagools! I had to laugh.

Ginny clocked up 19,000 miles at Tynemouth. Not long after, we went through the Tyne Tunnel. 

It was still raining when we made our fuel stop but fittingly the sun came out again, as we entered Sunderland. From Sunderland we continued down the coast some more, before heading inland to our overnight stop a Stockton-on-Tees. We can just see the River Tees from our room, along with a  covid testing station. 

The hotel, Hampton by Hilton has a car park.  When we arrived I stopped at the barrier, which was down. Seemed we needed to be let in. I pressed the button to speak to someone but no answer.  I was just about to ride along the pavement to get in, when the barrier opened. I obviously wasn't close enough. Simultaneously,  Grizzly had realised that there wasn't an out barrier, so he went in there. Had to laugh.

Tomorrow we are off to Grimsby.

Day 12, Inverurie to Edinburgh

Barely on the bikes, when we stopped for fuel, 3/4 of a mile up the road. Getting away from Inverurie and Aberdeen meant dual carriageway. It wasn't long though before we we on single carriageway roads and tracking the coast, well, after a fashion. We'd had some issues with Tomtom reading a higher mileage than the route planner, which was a bit of a worry for fuel stops. I couldn't explain it.  We'd not been on the coast road long when Tomtom took us inland, onto the A90. Tomtom sometimes does its own thing if you don't have enough waypoints in. A stop at a garage, so Grizzly could have a coffee allowed me to work out a plan and it wasn't long before we were back at the coast, through Montrose and Arbroath. Clearing Dundee, Tomtom seemed to have a grip again.

The weather was very good  and we were enjoying the ride, then it all seemed to unravel when we got to St Andrews. It's a quant old town but heaving with people and cars. We were caught in a traffic jam for a while. Out the other side we were bowling along nicely but the mileage seemed to be even more than it had been,  so we made another fuel stop for Grizzly to top up. I had plenty in the tank. 

Checking the route against Tomtom again, it appeared we we somewhere we should never have been. The reason,  I soon discovered, one of my waypoints was in the sea! Doh!

Eventually we were back on track and stopped for the loo at a lovely little beach in a place called Elie (below). We had thought about food but the pub/restaurant was full and had a queue. In the event, we stopped at a petrol station and had a sandwich. 

Our next stop was on the outskirts of Edinburgh at Queensferry but not before another Tomtom diversion! Another fuel stop, then we parked up in the shadow of the Forth Rail Bridge, an iconic structure. 

Just up the road is the Ferry brewery. It would have been rude to ride right by and not stop,  so I popped into the shop and bought a bottle. Might exchange it for a cuppa and sarnie in Hythe next week maybe?

We arrived at our hotel to be almost immediately greeted by a chap, who advised us to park the bikes by the front railings, and handed us a chain, to chain to them. Edinburgh it seems is a hotspot for bike thefts. A nice touch.

Tonight is our last in Jockland and tomorrow we are heading for Stockton-on-Tees. Back in England as they take on Ukraine in Euro 2020. Come on England.