We left home on July 18th. Our plane landed on Newcastle Int’l
Airport at 11:55 pm.
Home is Stavanger, Norway, and we are Gjermund, 44,
Kai, 21 and Benoni, 12. A father and two sons.
The aim for our trip to England was to cycle the
C2C route, inspired by reading the C2C Guide site.
Transportation to England
We cycled from the airport to Derwent Park Camping and Caravan Site in Rowlands
Gill. Pitched our tent and met fellow camper, Joe, who had done the C2C route
a few days earlier in 13 and a half hours. He strongly advised us to get the
official c2c map. Unfortunately, we would not follow his advice.
Transportation to Whitehaven / Whitehaven-Lamplugh
We cycled from the camping site in Gateshead to the Newcastle Railway Station.
Bought tickets for two adults and one child to Whitehaven – GBP 37.50. We had
to wait a couple of hours before we got on a train to Carlisle that had room
for our three bikes. One more hour to wait in Carlisle before we and our bikes
were on our way to Whitehaven.
At 6 pm we were ready to leave Whitehaven, heading
for Inglenook Caravan Park for our first night on the route. At
Kirkland we met a young man and a child who welcomed us to Britain.
Not only the scenery, but also people seem to take on a new significance
when you travel on a bike as opposed to by car. A nice experience.
Lamplugh - Troutbeck
We could hear the raindrops falling on our tent throughout the night. Luckily,
it stopped raining before we unpitched our tent. The climb up to Whinlatter
Pass seemed endless. The descent down to Braithwaite made us feel like being
home in Norway.
In Keswick we had a long stop for doing our laundry and dining at “Ye Olde
Golden Lion Inn”. I visited the Keswick Tourism Information Centre on impulse
to get help to find a suitable camping site for the night. – I think I’ve got
something that belongs to you, the member of staff said to me. I wasn’t missing
anything, but I recognised the item he showed me. It was Kai’s toilet bag containing
his contact lenses. So if you who handed it in read this; yes the owner got
it back. Thank you!
We put up our tent for the night at Gill Head Farm in Troutbeck.
Troutbeck - Alston
 This
was to be our toughest day in England. The Ultimate C2C Guide says: “Pace yourself,
secure in the knowledge that there is a cuppa waiting for you at the Hartside
café at the top.” Well, we reached Hartside Summit at 5:30 pm – and
the cafe was closed. What a bummer! We didn’t know then that we only a few
minutes later would get a hot meal at “Country Kitchen” in Alston. After dinner
we tried to find “Tyne Willows camping and Caravan Site” in Alston. The entrance
of this camping site is camouflaged by a kind of a junkyard. The campsite itself
is nice, though.
Alston - Consett
A quick shower and breakfast at the Alston Railway Station. We had a sickeningly
delicious custard flavoured cake for breakfast. We wanted to take a ride on
the train, but the locomotive seemed to be a diesel engine disguised as a steam
engine. It was also sad to note that most of the hares we encountered on the
road were two-dimensional and motionless. I cycled with a Norwegian flag on
my large rucksack. Thus we attracted fellow countrymen on our way. In Allenheads
we bumped into a Norwegian mother with a son and a daughter also cycling the
C2C route. The daughter found it hard to accept the fate of those hares, or
was it rabbits?
The high point of this day was the beautiful scenery on the Waskerley
Way. The low point was getting lost around Consett. I did not ignore
signs for Lanchester
Valley as the C2C Guide said I should. At 8:30 pm we pitched our tent at “Manor
Park Caravan Park” near Castleside.
Consett-Tynemouth-South Shields
A nice journey on mainly off road sections through urban areas. In Newcastle
we had the pleasure of seeing the arrivals of some of the vessels in the Tall
Ships’ Races.
In the afternoon we suddenly found ourselves in Tynemouth. Where was the sense
of achievement?
Tourists
Today we gave our bikes and legs a well-earned rest. We had pitched our tent
at “Lizard Lane Caravan and Camping Site” in South Shields the night before.
We bought a Day Saver ticket on the Metro and acted like ordinary tourists
the whole day.
South Shields – Newcastle Airport - Returning to Norway
This was the first morning we had to pack our tent during rain. We got up as
early as 5:45 am because we wanted to allow ourselves ample time to cycle to
the airport. At 12:25 our plane took off for Stavanger.
We slept in our tent all the nights, and we carried our own camping gear. Not
only did the weight slow us down, but it was also hard to get up before 10
in the morning after a night on a hard surface.
We treated ourselves to one decent meal each day. Apart from that, we settled
for fruit, biscuits and diet Coke.
The total daily cost of our trip was about GBP 40.
Absolutely!
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