I was pleased to set off in pleasant sunshine and a cool breeze back following the coast. I was heading home!
The beach at Spittal was very busy with lots of families enjoying the sun. The coast was a mixture for sand dunes and low cliffs.
I came across the first sign for Avian Flu after about six miles and almost straight after the sad sight of a dead gannet.
I reported it to the “shore bird wardens” who were busy trying to stop families often with dogs from wandering into an area where terns and plovers were nesting. The birds had raised young and the wardens were very concerned that the flu would come and infect them.
I left the beach and followed a road through a golf course. There I was waylaid by Paul a cyclist and as it turned out fellow wild camper and we exchanged stories of wild camping so far.
I have noticed that as I get further into my walk and both I and my kit get more weatherbeaten and scruffy I get stopped more often by other walkers.
Often it’s just to pass greetings but I’ve had a 15 minute discussion on walking poles and numerous discussions about which way the path goes.
I’m also fitter than when I started so I now have the ability to overtake people which again leads to conversations.
I reached my campsite at Beal with 15 minutes before the cafe closed for 48 hours. I wolfed down a coffee and cake and then put up my tent.
As luck would have it someone else had a tent like mine so I had a surreptitious look at how it was pegged and set up and studiously copied it.
A welcome warm shower ended the day.