England-Easier to Just Finish than to Figure How to get a Ride Out

June 4

We woke that morning and knew we were going to finish- we weren’t determined, just resigned. Mike commented that it might be harder to call a taxi and tell them where we were than to just walk to end of the trial. We wore our running shoes again because everything hurt, but that was a big mistake this day. There was a heavy layer of dew on the grass and our shoes got immediately soaked. Also, there was a heavy mist that morning, which kept everything wet throughout our hike.  

That morning, Mike talked to another lady hiking with us and she recommended not using the water from the restroom because it had a flat roof and, very likely, had a water collection device that stored water for who-knew-how-long. That meant we started about a 16 mile hike without carrying any water. Luckily, this was the coolest day yet and the sky was overcast. The good news was that it was primarily a flat route for the day. We mostly hiked in fields alongside a highway. It wasn’t the prettiest of views.  

When we arrived at where we thought we would eat and get water, the little village wasn’t open yet. We sat on a picnic bench between stores and ate a snack and debated using their spicket attached to a side of a store. Just as we finished our snack and we’re going to use the spicket, people drove up. Mike asked a lady, who looked like a baker, whether we could get some water and she gave us a couple of water bottles. When we offered to pay, she refused to accept it. She was quite nice. And now we had some water for the hike.

We hiked fast. Mike was on a mission to finish. I trudged along behind. We finished the hike fairly quickly. Near the end, there was a shortcut to where we would pick up our luggage and catch a bus. The shortcut directions were terrible, and we ended up hiking at least two miles and maybe more out of our way, along a dirt trail and, of course, up a hill. I was not happy. At one point, the trail ended at someone’s house. We weren’t sure what to do. While pondering our next move, a guy came out and told us to push a green button, which opened the gate to his residence and continue along the trail. There is no way we would have done this without him telling us to.  

We eventually found the farm we needed, after asking another farmer where it was. The people were so nice! Of course, we had virtually walked past the farm we needed before getting lost. The conclusion was a little anticlimactic. This woman gave us our luggage and that was it. No congratulations, no metal, no fanfare. We were hungry and tired and I was grumpy and yet we had to figure out how to catch a bus to Newcastle. It actually was quite easy and the bus driver was nice too.  

We made it back to Newcastle, collected the rest of our luggage from Viewpoint, and took a cab to our hotel by the airport. We flew out the next day on an uneventful flight home. It was a really good trip, and we had some fun stories to tell.