England 13/05

Last year we gave accommodation to R's great nephew and his betrothed. They were very agreeable house guests and we did take them out to the Dandenong Ranges and a couple of restaurants. They cooked for us once and they were no bother. I think it was October or September and still a bit cool. They bought a couple of warmer items while here. They were the best house guests ever, even if they told us what their plans were. Well, they didn't really plan until the morning of the day. From here they journeyed north along Australia's east coast before going west to Darwin and then on Asia.

They offered to take us out for a day. They are great company and it was nice to be with young people who weren't talking about ailments and old people's stuffs, but rather their futures. L, the woman, has a rather old car but that was fine. J doesn't have a car. He sold his BM Trouble You before he came to Australian on their world trip and has not needed one since. Like all drivers in the UK in my experience, L drove fast within limits and competently without hesitation. Soon after we left they were again away in eastern Europe for over a month. They will settle down but they don't feel a need to rush. 

This time we really did visit Cullercoats.

We had a nice cup of coffee outdoors at a cafe with them having something more exotic and fluffy. 

We motored on to Whitley Bay where J's mother, R's niece 2 and her husband and one of their teenage sons joined us for a fish and chips lunch. 

More on this place at Whitley Bay in a future post. 

A little of J in the passenger seat and a glimpse of L in the rear view mirror. They are a handsome couple.

They took us on to weekend market at Tynemouth, under a grand railway station roof. 

The market was really good with many original works of art

One of my wants when visiting Newcastle was to travel on the Metro train line. I didn't but I saw enough of the station, the train and the heavy loading and unloading to understand. It is a very basic train with hard seats, somewhat old but an efficient people mover. 

It was a great day. L dropped us back to Sister 3's. My what a big boiler she has. This heats water for tap hot water and for the radiator central heating.

The kitchen light was a bit trippy. One day a man arrived from the council and with an app on his phone, he checked the the smoke detectors and the fire alarm system inside her flat with his app. The smoke detector's alarms went off, all at the control of his phone. Big brother has arrived.

Next morning a layer of mist lay over the River Tyne if you were up early enough, and I was.