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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
5th July 2017 Mt. Biking: Goswick to Holy Island Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: 16.13 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 22 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Wednesday 5th July – Bike ***** Goswick to Holy Island – sunny periods 22 miles covered, out 7hrs. 20mins., 16.13kt max speed Slept really well in our quiet spot at the end of Goswick Golf Club carpark but we are in the middle of nowhere! Thank goodness, the rain has gone and it was even blue out over the sea. Mag checked the tide times for Holy Island as the causeway floods for 3 to 4 hours at high water. She discovered that the time you had to avoid was from 11.35 to 4.50 so we needed to get a move on. Quick breakfast, Mag packed yummy salad, I sorted the bikes and we left the van at 8.40! We followed the National Cycle Route 1 all the way to Holy Island, starting off on a tarmac lane turning into a Private road to Coastguard Cottage and Beachcomber House. The tarmac ends as we pass the houses with dunes on our left and sheep filled flat pasture to the right. We passed through several gates but some sheep had escaped from their field and were sitting in the middle of the path. They moved quickly out of the way as we approached. We had a quick walk to see over the dunes and the vast Goswick sands with the sea a long way off. The grassy path is quite wide but the sheep have made narrow tracks so you have to concentrate on where you are going. We soon reach a small sluice over South Low reaching the road onto the Island which is busy but there is a cycle path to the start of Holy Island Sands. There are signs warning of the dangers of the tide and a nice carpark which has sadly been blocked off, must have had some trouble here at some point:( Got to the Refuge Point where the causeway narrows and we stop for a 40-foot lorry that is leaving the Island. Several cars stop behind us, then all hell breaks out as drivers start shouting at each other with one reversing into the car behind, even the lorry driver has a moan as he squeezes past. We just stand there slightly bemused waiting for it to calm down so I could take a pic! The Causeway and dune road to the hamlet is surprisingly long about 3 miles and the cars just whizz past:( There are signs about no overnight parking and then we pass the large carpark everyone has to use, we didn’t see the price as we carried onto the village. First stop The Priory where you had to pay an extortionate amount to visit the ruin but you could enter the grave yard and small church for free – result. It was a lovely old chapel with fantastic weathered stone, top grave stones and a cool inside with nice stained-glass windows and life sized wooden carved monks carrying a coffin! We carried on through the pretty village with its flower covered cottages, past the harbour to the castle which sadly is covered in scaffold and closed! There was a wide grass footpath leading off past the castle and being quiet we decided to bike up it. It leads to a beautiful small walled garden with my Mum’s favourite sweet peas and we had a nice chat with a couple of ladies one of whose husband came from Ipswich and they had been in Suffolk last week! The good path continued around the top of the Island to a large white stone pyramid at Emmanuel Head over flower filled meadows like the Machair of the Scottish Islands. As we came to the dunes and fantastic white sandy beaches the good path ended becoming a narrow sandy track and we had to do a bit of walking with our shoes getting covered in burrs! We now had a decision to make head off the Island as high water was approaching or relax and wait for the tide to drop. We decided to stop leaving the bikes and walking through the dunes to a top deserted beach with white sand with a lovely blue sky out to sea with a line of white cloud over our heads! We went for a great walk along the beach to the end to the rocks passing several Eider Ducks with fluffy young resting on the rocks. Then around the corner to small rocky cliffs with stunning rock layers and Fulmers nesting. Walking back to the beach we found a good place to sit leaning on a big piece of drift wood for our picnic, relax and read. The beach even got busy with nearly 30 people on it at one point, one brave man even went for a swim! After a relaxing hour+ we decided to see if the causeway was still flooded, the road took some finding through the dunes but we made it. As the road was very quiet and it was only 2.20 we assumed it was still flooded, which it was with several vehicles waiting to come onto the island. A few cars had tried to leave but had turned around but then a white 4x4 driven by an old boy came fast along the road with no intention of slowing down! In a big splash, he hit the sea water and made it across with plumes of white water spraying up! But it was touch and go and nobody else was brave enough to try for the time being! We found a place by the massive beach for our chocolate bar and another chapter before leaving the island at 3.15. We returned by Route 1 again being out for 7hours and 20 minutes – another top adventure covering over 22 miles mainly biking! Another cream tea, I finish my latest ‘Vera’ book then doze, this holiday making is exhausting then we had a nice egg foo young style veg/chicken stir fry and we stop here again tonight:) Photo Gallery here |
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