Slow Travellers - Edinburgh to Newcastle

After a week and a half visiting friends and family in and around Edinburgh we say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and begin our return journey to Berlin. Our first stop is in Newcastle Upon Tyne, about 1 1/2 hours on the train from Edinburgh Waverley. The train journey is one of my favourites - hugging the east coast you get a wonderful view of the North Sea coastline and several picturesque towns such as Berwick Upon Tweed. 

With Newcastle's Metro network it's possible to get close to the ferry terminal (with an additional 20min walk) but we are visiting and staying overnight with some friends in nearby Whitley Bay. But first we wander around the city centre for the afternoon, leaving our bags at a cafe next to the central station using the Stasher App - which helps you locate nearby insured premises to stations which provide luggage storage at an affordable rate. 

We take in some of Newcastle's Georgian streets and the bridges across the Tyne river (including the Tyne Bridge, designed by the same team of engineers as the Sydney Harbour Bridge) before getting the Metro out to the coast to stay with our friends (and their giant dog, much to Marla's excitement) and enjoy some local fish and chips together. The following morning we take a stroll along the beach and prominade and enjoy and ice cream and paddle before heading to the nearby ferry port, kindly dropped off by our hosts.

Boarding goes very smoothly, the DFDS ferry feels marginally smaller than the P&O ferry and not as busy. Our room is still very comfortable with bunk beds rather than single beds, and it's own en-suite. Having stocked up on food beforehand we snack on the deck whilst watching the ship pass North Shields pier and lighthouse. The on-board entertainment seems a little lower key than on our previous ship so we decide to watch a film on one of the two screens in the on-board cinema before heading to bed.