Hexham

We rushed to Durham train station (lucky we had reservations, another biker was refused access). Short but crowded ride to Newcastle. Jack stayed with the bikes.

We waited about 20 minutes for the Northern train to Hexham (no bike reservations available, first-come, first-served). Again, crowded platform. We didn't know where the bikes would go and had to wait until the train arrived to find a bike sticker on one of the cars. We were the first bikers on and squished in so one other bike could join. About an hour's peace before arriving in Hexham.

For the ride to Twice Brewed Inn, we had mostly quiet country roads with a bit more incline than we were really prepared to encounter. The setting sun was a beautiful sight. We rode mostly in twilight. Very meditative. The rain held off, which was much appreciated.

We were very cold and tired when we arrived. Dinner was a half-pint and full pizza for me. Full pint and triple burger for Jack. I hope I never forget the expression on his face when he was trying to figure out how it could fit in his mouth.

Slow out of bed. Jack was still full from last night's dinner but insisted on having a full Northumbrian breakfast "for tradition".

We set out for the Lambley Viaduct, which didn't disappoint. Took a little exploring to figure out how to get to the river level. We had to lock up the bikes and take the stairs. There was an old narrow bridge over the Tyne river that got the best view of the Viaduct.

Unfortunately, standing still for too long put a chill in us. I could barely feel my fingers most of the ride back. The sun peeked out just in time to warm us up and give us a second wind to visit Vindolanda.

Tricksy sun then disappeared and we nearly froze trying to eat our Co-op sandwiches in the courtyard. Started pouring rain at that point too. We rushed down to warm up at the cafe. I quite liked the special Northumbrian blend tea.

The museum attached to the cafe was excellent. They've found so much stuff on this site! It was not so pleasant walking back through the ruins in the wind and cold but I'm glad we went.

No energy left to visit Sycamore Gap before dinner. Discovered a delicious cherry stout beer called Nox (picked up a few more bottles for home consumption). Then it was time for the main event: stargazing!

Now, it had been a very cloudy, occasionally rainy day, so expectations were low. But Wil (host, astronomical fellow) and Thea (stargazing assistant by night, electrical engineer by day) put on a great event.

Outside, at the beginning, there were a few gaps in the cloud and we used telescopes to get impressive views of:

• Earth's moon
• companion stars
• a star cluster
• a nebula
• Mars

At one point, the clouds completely lifted for about 10 minutes. It was magical. But it couldn't last.

We returned inside and it started to rain again. Wil ran out to take care of the seven telescopes at the top of the hill. When he came back, he somewhat guiltily said he would leave the fourteen at the bottom to Thea.

As if on cue, Thea ran in seconds later, damp and out of breath - she'd already covered the bottom telescopes.

We got up for an early breakfast because we wanted to walk to the Sycamore Gap* before checkout. On the way there, we walked along Hadrian's wall. Sometimes up some very steep, rocky steps.

We descended to the foretold gap. The sycamore tree is truly lovely. Also known as the Robin Hood tree for featuring in a movie where Kevin Costner has a baffling accent (non-accent? I don't know what was going on there).

On the way back, we took the flat path, but it was very swampy. I stepped on what I thought was a rock and almost lost a shoe sinking into ankle-deep mud.

The bike ride to Newcastle was a bit hectic after our lunch stop in Hexham because it had taken us about 2 times longer than I had estimated to reach that point. We were rushing to make the 16:36 train.

Very skillful navigating by Jack through Newcastle City Center. We arrived, exhausted but triumphant, at 16:28 - only to look at the departure board and realize there was no 16:36 train.

I had misremembered the time. Our train was actually at 16:26. We'd missed it by two minutes. Devastating.

Thankfully, there are lots of trains from Newcastle to Durham on any given day, so all was not lost but was a long, cold wait in the open-air station for the 17:30 train.