Day 6 - And now we are four!

We had been talking about when and if Zoe would be rejoining us and who to deal with the fact that 5-6 hours in the car travelling home would make her back worse. The idea of flying home came up and the receipt of a copy of her return flight details confirmed that she'd be back - hooray! I had been feeling a bit selfish as everyone had 'been there' for me but not for Zoe when she was ill.

At breakfast there had been some discussion of who would be running and who would be transporting the packs and dog to the next location. Although I would really have preferred Jorgen to be with me on this stretch so I could have run if I'd wanted too I was not going to upset my hubby by saying so, afterall he had stepped up to the plate the previous day. I was a little worried that his feet were a bit sore though.

So, Jorgen dropped us off in Castleside (we originally though we were in Consett but had not really checked and there was only about 1 mile difference on what was going now to be a 12/13 mile day). We set off from Morrisons - which strangely we found does not have a loo and we needed one! S'OK we found the facilities in the local park where they also had an interesting display about the old steel works.


Once on the Derwent Walk section of the path we kind of knew where we were as we used to cycle this a lot with one of the friends we had met the night before. The plan for today was 15 miles from Consett to the Tyne Bridges (final hotel being near the Millennium Bridge in Newcastle). Although we were walking we were still getting tired and slowing down and I could tell that Dan was really hungry and tired but he refused my offer of a protein bar or Kendal Mint cake. I managed to hold things together far better as I had someone else to worry about and when we hit the Metrocentre we took a detour to TGI Fridays of all places for a full sit down lunch! Even though I say it myself, my Quesadillas are far better than theirs!

After lunch we did manage to drag our heavy stomachs out again and it seemed that in no time we were seeing the bridges in the near distance - I had expected to get all emotional when I saw them but I didn't, I just took loads of piccies! We called Jorgen to let him know where we were at lunch and again once in sight of the bridges - he'd already checked us in and put out kit in out rooms, star that he is!

A relaxing bath and rest later and we headed up to the station to meets Zoe (train in, plane out). We got there early so we could have a pint in the Centurion where most of the clientèle came over to ask about the dog! Once Zoe arrived we headed back to the hotel for dinner and drinks.

Dan had worried that the last hotel (Malmaison) was an extravagance but it was worth it he agreed later. We made a plan for the next day including a lie-in til 9 and brekky at 10 in a local cafe and then the 3 of us would be setting off on the final leg.