Mini Getaways

VALENTINES WEEKEND AWAY

Published on February 23, 2025 by simplycarinaxo14 Comments

Last weekend Luis and I packed up the car and headed up to Cresswell for a long weekend at our favourite caravan. We first came across this holiday let on Airbnb last year and enjoyed our time there so much that we keep returning. I think this was our fourth visit. The caravan is situated in the Cresswell Towers Holiday Park and is only about a 5-10 minute walk away from the beach. It’s really reasonably priced, always clean and well kept, and offers a quiet and relaxing spot for a seaside holiday. Note, we’ve only ever gone off season, so can’t speak for what it’s like during peak times.

Cresswell is about an hours drive for us so a good distance for a long weekend away. With my travel anxiety I don’t like being in the car too long, especially if we’re only going away for a couple of nights, so this is an easy enough drive for me to do. The first 30 mins are just up the A1 and then we tend to turn off at the Seaton Burn services, which although kinda dirty, rough and run down, are in a good location as a half way stop to settle my anxiety before we continue on through Cramlington, past Blyth and up to Cresswell.

We both still had to get some work done on Friday, but managed to finish a bit earlier and ended up leaving the house at about 4pm. Once we arrived we unpacked and before wrapping up warm and heading out for a short walk to the beach.

For Valentines dinner I made a vegan spaghetti bolognese which turned out yummy even though I forgot the herbs and spices at home. After dinner we cosied up and unpacked Patchwork, a new game we’d got for Christmas from our friends. I didn’t know what to expect but it turned out to be an easy to understand and really enjoyable 2 player game.

On Saturday we headed out to Amble for a mooch around the Marina. It was icy cold and rather miserable, but it was good to get out. We stopped off at the supermarket on our way back and got some pastries to enjoy with a coffee for once we got back to the caravan and settled down to another game of Patchwork.

On Sunday it rained on and off for most of the day and we enjoyed a cosy day inside. I read my book, Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, spent a lot of the day crocheting, trying to finish my granny square cardigan and got stuck into trying to solve some Murdle logic puzzles with Luis which was good fun. It was a lovely relaxed day.

Check out was at 10am on Monday and so we got up early to start our day by heading out to watch the sunrise before having to pack up. It’s something we’ve been doing since our first visit. Although I always find the 10am checkouts somewhat stressful, starting the day by watching the sunrise is always so worth it. We really should make the effort more often to get up early to watch the sunrise – it’s always so beautiful – such a magical time.

Frozen after our early morning beach walk we headed back to the caravan to have breakfast and then pack up the car. It’s always sad having to leave the caravan – we’ll have to stay longer than a weekend one day, but it was another lush weekend away for Valentines. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.

A MINI GETAWAY IN NORTHUMBERLAND

Published on October 7, 2024October 7, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

The other week, my best friend Emily and I finally had our annual holiday together. We’ve been friends for over 20 years now, but as we sadly don’t live in the same city anymore, we don’t see each other as much as we’d like to. We try and make time for a little getaway together once a year. Our annual trips are a cherished break from our busy lives, allowing us to catch up on a deeper level and make lasting memories together.

Whilst planning this trip, my travel anxiety annoyingly acted up however, and so I didn’t feel up to going very far. With only two nights away planned though, it also made sense to opt for somewhere a little more local and not waste time traveling. And so, after browsing Airbnb, we came across a caravan listing in Northumberland. It looked like the perfect peaceful getaway for a couple of nights, just under an hour’s drive from Durham and nestled in a picturesque woodland spot.

We set off on a gloomy Sunday afternoon, the rain a steady backdrop to our journey. Hidden amidst fog-shrouded trees, we found our caravan and hastily unloaded the car. The heat was immediately put on, as well as the kettle of course, and we enjoyed the comforting warmth of a cup of tea as we unpacked and settled into our wee space for the next couple of days.

The rain eventually subsided, and we bundled up for a stroll and explore of the small caravan park we were staying at. We spotted lots of wild rabbits hopping about the grounds and allowed Emily’s daughter to burn off some energy in the small playground, before heading back to warm up again with some more tea.

After dinner we got Emily’s daughter ready for bed and then settled down to play a game together. We both love a good game and I was excited to introduce Emily to Fungi – one of my new favourite two person games. Unfortunately my relaxing evening was interrupted when sometime that evening I stood up from the couch and something in my back just went, giving way to extreme pain.

Although I managed to get to some sleep, I could still barely move on Monday morning and had to rely on a heavy dose of painkillers to cope. Not wanting to just sit around all day though, and hoping gentle movement would be beneficial, we ventured into the nearby woodland for a small walk before lunch. The misty, autumnal atmosphere was both kind of haunting and beautiful.

After lunch and a game of Qwirkle while Emily’s daughter napped, we decided to brave the rain for a little mooch around Hexham. We were fortunate to find a convenient parking spot and made our way to Hexham Abbey. The abbey was a beautiful place to visit; filled with intricate stonework and stained glass windows, it had a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere. There was also an interactive museum wing, which offered a glimpse into the abbey’s history and allowed us all to have some fun dressing up.

Having spent over an hour at the Abbey we sadly didn’t have much time left to explore more of Hexham that day, but as Hexham also wasn’t new to either of us, it didn’t really matter too much. If you haven’t been to Hexham before though and are ever in the area, it really is a delightful place to spend an afternoon and well worth a visit.

On our final evening, we enjoyed a simple oven pizza and played another round of Fungi after Emily’s daughter went to bed. We also decided to get crafting later that evening and while Emily worked on her current knitting project, a miniature pumpkin, I finally started a little embroidery experiment for a potential Christmas gift idea. If it turns out well, I will hopefully be able to share the project with you in a future blog post.

Checkout on Tuesday morning was at 11am – which was a huge relief. I love a later checkout when I’m on holiday as it allows me to relax and avoid a stressful morning rush. With plenty of time to spare once we’d packed up, we could also still enjoy a final stroll through the woodland to take some photos of Emily’s latest knitwear project (the sage green t-shirt she is modelling below). I’m always admiring her knitting skills – I simply don’t have the patience! Emily creates the most gorgeous pieces, and has started documenting her craft online. If you’re interested in knitting be sure to follow her on Instagram here and YouTube here.

After departing at 11am, we decided to still make a stop off on our way home and went for a mooch and a coffee at my local Farmshop, Broomhouse Farm. A browse of the shop’s selection of fresh produce, homeware and artisan goods and quick hello to the animals before sitting down and sharing a scone, was the perfect way to conclude our short getaway.

It is always a shame when holidays and getaways are over so quickly; but then I suppose there is always next year to look forward to!

LINDISFARNE FESTIVAL

Published on September 21, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo9 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

I can’t believe that it has already been about 3 weeks since I was reunited with my best friend (who had just returned from her 5 month trip of a lifetime traveling around the world with her husband) and we set off on our annual holiday together to the Lindisfarne Festival. Because she lives in London I don’t get to see her as often as I’d like and so we decided 3 years ago, when we went to our first Lindisfarne Festival, that we would make this our annual holiday together.

We set off in the afternoon just managing to beat rush hour traffic and arrived in time to watch the sun slowly set as we set up camp. The sunsets are always beautiful there and sadly the photos just never do them justice, but they’re such a sight to behold!

As we’re old farts when it comes to festival bedtime we decided to camp in the quiet area of the campsite this year which, bar for some rude people who didn’t quite seem to understand the concept of quiet, made our stay much more enjoyable as we got a decent night’s sleep (a big thanks goes to my earplugs of course too)!!

Once our comfortable 5 man tent was set up and decked out in fairy lights we opened a jar of olives, popped open a bottle of bubbly and relaxed for a while before going to check out the festival arena.

We even surprised ourselves and ended up staying out grooving away until about 1am (I know you’ll laugh – that’s not late – but usually we’d be tucked up in our sleeping bags by that time haha).

Friday morning was lovely and sunny and we started our day with a yummy healthy breakfast of fruit & musli and a cuppa tea. Note: we both had our pretty reusable bamboo cutlery with us and eco mugs!! Although I managed quite well on some eco friendly accounts, there was sadly still plenty that I didn’t manage to do quite as eco friendly as I might have, so I will endeavour to do a better job next year!!!

After breakfast we got ready for the day, donned on our festival outfits & makeup and headed for the arena. I wore this really cute floaty skirt from Next that my mum had bought me as a treat and paired it with a crop top from New Look and these bright earrings from Accessorize.

After we’d listened to some spoken word, comedy and various musicians we headed back to our tent for lunch, a game of Yazi and some more drinks. I’d found these Pimm’s imitations in Lidl along with some G&T’s and they were perfect for the festival. The past few years we’d brought beer and wine, but Emily and I can only drink one or two cans of beer before we’re beered out haha, so these were a very welcome tasty change!

Being next to the sea, it is always so much windier and in the evenings it really cools down quite quickly, so before we went out again in the evening we got changed into something slightly warmer. We hadn’t really heard of anyone that was playing at this years Festival, but it was kind of nice just stumbling upon new people and groups, from jazzy solo vocals and rock bands to reggae, there was a great mix!

On Saturday morning we took our (now also usual) trip onto Holy Island for a little walk and break from the festival site and of course so I could say hi to my old stomping ground – Pilgrims Coffee House – and enjoy a top notch cuppa home roasted coffee!

By the time we’d returned and had lunch we had sadly ended up missing acro/partner yoga as well as laughter yoga which we’d planned on doing. I’d also really wanted a massage, but all the booking slots were full by the time we returned. However we hadn’t wanted to tie ourselves down either by booking things and so we joined in with the hoola hoop workshop instead which was a great laugh but really hard work actually! I sucked at hoola hooping around my stomach, Emily faired way better than me, but I did succeeded in hoola hooping with my hands and even switching hands mid movement!

As you can see, the struggle is real – my face says it all – haha!

After a good hoola hoop workout we watched some fire performers and warmed up by the fire pit before the smoke blowing into our eyes moved us along. We ambled around until the Showhawk Duo were on (2 acoustic guitars covering dance tracks and the like). They were absolutely phenomenal and really had the crowd going!!!! Definitely one of the best acts we saw!

And well that was sadly already the last evening. The festival was well organised, there were lots of various acts, stalls and food vendors and the toilets were cleaned every day so they were never in too bad a condition.

My only wish for the future is that there are more Vegan food options available, that there is an official rule about no more noise after 12 in the quite camping, that more bins are provided and that people would actually tidy away their rubbish. The rubbish difference between the Vegan Camp Out and this was huge!

But we had an absolute blast of a time and can’t wait for next year already! It feels so nice to have an intimate local festival to return to every year!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got up to and I’m really sorry I haven’t posted much recently! I will endeavour to work on this!!!

VEGAN CAMP OUT 2018

Published on August 26, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo9 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

Last weekend I went on my first proper solo trip! I went camping, to a festival all by myself and I’m glad I did! I get huge travel anxiety so this was a big deal for me, but I coped! Woohoo! I didn’t have a panic attack and best of all I had great time and met some lovely people! The festival I was attending was the Vegan Camp Out Festival at Newark Showground. With this being a very new festival (only it’s 3rd year running) I’d say it’s still a learning curve for the organisers too, but considering the number of attendees more than doubled from last year, it went down super well, there were no major hiccups and everyone had a blast.

I departed lunchtime on Friday with far too much stuff (but hey I was only used to going camping with the car where you can chuck as much as you like on the back seat aha, so considering this I think I managed to reduce my camping kit considerably!). Jessica kindly helped me carry all my things to the train station and from there on I just about coped; luckily I had a direct train and once I arrived in Newark it was a just a taxi ride from the station to the showground and a little walk to the campsite.

It was soo windy when I arrived that being by myself and with a brand new tent (which I hadn’t practised putting up beforehand) I really struggled to set up camp. Luckily some kind stranger next to me asked if I needed any help and together with the tips of two passing guys who had a similar tent we eventually, after what felt like hours, managed to erect it although I was a bit dubious as to whether it would stay up with the way the wind was knocking it around. Once I had my sleeping mat rolled out and the fairy lights put up though I was very happy with my spacious but cosy home for the next 2 nights (I had a 4 person tent all to myself which was rather lovely I’m not going to lie).

Before going to the Vegan Camp Out I’d joined a Facebook group created for all the lone travellers, so that we could interact and arrange somewhere to all camp together. However I also knew that my experience would be ruined if I were to be kept awake all night by loud neighbours haha so I decided to camp in the designated Quiet area. I had been nervous about plonking my tent amidst strangers but before going I by chance ended up making friends with a lovely girl named Molly via Instagram. She was coming to the festival with her boyfriend and they decided to camp with me for which I was very grateful. About three hours after I got there Molly and her boyfriend Will finally arrived and set up camp next to me.

After settling in, we decided to check out some of the talks and went to listen to guitarist Jona Weinhofen’s personal vegan story, before ALF (Animal Liberation Front) founder Ronnie Lee took to stage and gave a very motivating speech about why we should not just be passive vegans but take to the streets and become activists. Having spent a good 9 year in prison himself for being an animal rights activist this guy’s passion for animals and their welfare is seriously inspiring!

Later in the evening I met up with Sam (a guy who’d messaged me from the Facebook lonelies group a day or two before the festival). We went to listen to the reggae legend that is Macka B and then sat down to chat the night away. Okay, okay you got me, we didn’t actually chat the night away. I mean I would have loved to, it was so lovely just chilling and chatting and Sam was super nice but I was literally yawing like every 2 mins come 12pm haha, so we called it a night.

The next day Molly, Will & I went to some more talks and workshops, including one by founder of the Carnisim Debunked website, which were all very informative and thought provoking. One of the talks held by Earthling Ed had such a huge crowd I only just managed to squeeze in at the back, but I’m glad I did – it was amazing hearing him talk in person, what a guy!!!

We treated ourselves for lunch and had some vegan pie & mash (I went for the mushroom one) which was so yummy and went off to listen to more talks such as by Peter Hammarstedt a Sea Shepherd Captain.

In the afternoon we decided we wanted to go to the screening of Dominion. Watching Dominion was so difficult, not everyone made it through the whole film. It was very harrowing to watch – it’s a stark & emotional reminder of why we as vegans do not eat animal produce! Hearing the cries of anguish from mothers and calves being separated, bearing witness to the thousands of animals repeatedly abused, watching as foxes are skinned alive for their fur, seeing baby chicks get conveyorbelted into a shredder just because they are male, having hidden cameras reveal the disgusting dirty & cramped conditions farmed animals live in….. the list of unnecessary, inhumane cruelty we inflict is truly endless, terrible and heart-breaking!

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PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE, START DOING SOME RESEARCH TO INFORM YOURSELVES MORE ON THE IMPACT ANIMAL AGRICULTURE HAS ON ANIMAL WELFARE, OUR EVNIRONMENT & OUR HEALTH! IT’S SUCH AND IMPORTANT TOPIC!

Here’s some sites to get you started:

Carnism Debunked – Plant Proof – Must Watch Informative Vegan Documentaries

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Well after a difficult afternoon, we went back to our tents to rest a little more before having dinner. I’d brought most of my food for the weekend with me (far too much in the end aha) and so I made an avocado salad sandwich but joined Molly and Will by the food stalls to treat myself to some vegan Churros for dessert. Annoyingly they ran out of chocolate sauce, 2 people in front of me?! Say what?! But they were just as tasty with just sugary cinnamon!

In the evening we went to see the last bit of Simon Amstell’s show on the main stage and have a good laugh. Molly and Will went back to their tent after this and I headed off to find Sam and hang out with him and some other lonelies grooving away to JME! After JME it was time for the afterparty, but I was pretty tired by then and knew I had an early enough start the next morning so I made my way back to my tent. Sam came back with me to my tent (I was forcing my leftover booze on him as I did so not want to have to carry it all the way home again aha) but instead of going back to the party straight away he stayed a while and we talked a bit more which was really nice as I felt like we’d just clicked really well. Eventually I did go to bed though and Sam went off to continue the party, well into the early hours of the morning apparently (I’m so glad I’d listened to myself and did not sleep in the lonelies area of the camp as this had apparently been the afterparty of the afterparty area where I would have got 0 sleep).

Anyway I woke the next day to a grey sky and chilli morning which made getting out of my toasty sleeping bag rather difficult. I had hoped both mornings to be up and awake to join in on the morning yoga sessions, but totally failed both mornings, preferring my cosy lie ins aha! But this morning I couldn’t lie in too long as our taxi was booked back to the station for 11.30am (following the horrendous queues for taxis to the festival we made sure to book on Saturday for Sunday, and I’m glad we did otherwise who knows how long we’d have had to wait!). I’d packed my things together quite quickly and was having my breakfast by the time Molly & Will woke up and in the end our tents were all dissembled quicker than I thought, which was good though because it meant we could still go to one of the morning talks before leaving. I was also a good call getting up earlier as it started to rain and so we just about had everything packed away before it got too wet!

Once we made it to the train station the last leg of my trip began as I had almost 4 hours to wait for my train home. It wasn’t too bad though, I read my book (The Handmaid’s Tale), drank coffee and before I knew it 4 hours had flown by and I was on my way home.

I apologise for this essay of a blog post, but I guess I’m not good at being short and precise aha, so you get the long winded ramblings of my weekend adventure! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about what I got up to and might even be inspired to check out some of the links 🙂

MINI GETAWAY – DESTINATION EDINBURGH

Published on December 8, 2017September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo8 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I have been savouring my last two days off relaxing in gorgeous Edinburgh with my sister. For once I was lucky enough to find a really cheap first class ticket from Durham to Edinburgh and I enjoyed the finer things. Well, I tried to; I kinda messed up the first class thing never having been before and missed out on half of the breakfast I could have had. Oh well, I’ll know for next time. I still enjoyed my croissant and chamomile tea whilst gazing out at the ever-changing scenery and listening to the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

It was a peaceful journey up, and I arrived with plenty of time to have another cuppa in a cute cafe near Haymarket before going to find the German consulate to get myself a German passport. Once that was all sorted I got on the bus google maps told me would take me to my sisters, however here was me failing at my finest because I didn’t think to check in which direction I would have to get the bus and so of course I soon realised I was half way out of town going in the wrong direction. The bus driver made my day though when I told him what I’d done and he gave me a free day ticket before letting me off to catch a new bus in.the correct direction. So a good hour later I finally found my sister.

We spent the whole afternoon relaxing at hers, but it felt nice to just chill drink tea, eat good food and really catch up. We don’t get many chances to spend quality one on one time together so it’s always nice when we do.

Today after athe relaxed start to the day we wandered around Edinburgh almost freezing ourselves to death it was so icy. But it was lovely all the same as the sun was out. Once we got to the Christmas market we treated ourselves to some delicious mulled wine to warm us up. It was yummy, and I decided to keep the cute mugs too. I love walking through the Christmas markets, they always make you feel so festive. It’s good I didn’t have much cash on me either because there were so many cute stalls with beautiful goods, I’m always especially attracted to the handmade wooden things, from tree ornaments to bowls.

When we’d seen most of the market and with still over an hour to spare till my train home, we popped into costa so I could finish this blog post. I bought a large Americano and was thoroughly disappointed, it came in what looked like a soup bowl with two handles and did not taste grear either. I swear I am spoilt with coffee now aha, since getting used to good coffee, its difficult to not compare coffee to my dads nowadays. Anyway after a short but sweet stay, I am now on my way back to Durham, but sadly not in first class.

Here are just some photos from my brief time with my sister in Edinburgh, enjoy!

Hope you’ve all had a good week!

Love Carina xo

MINI GETAWAY – DESTINATION ALNMOUTH

Published on October 8, 2017September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo4 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

At the beginning of the week I was away in Alnmouth, a beautiful village on the seafront. It is my dads 50th this November and he’s celebrating early with his brothers, sister, their spouses and his mum who have all flown over from Germany so they can enjoy a weeks holiday together in Alnmouth. I could sadly only visit for three days as I had to work, but I did enjoy three days with my extended family. I took the train up on Monday and on Wednesday we all drove down back to Durham together so the family could see our hometown. Although short it was so lovely in Alnmouth; I am already missing it. Anyway the coastal scenery is just so beautiful there I just had to share some photographs with you.

On Monday we went to Bamburgh a short drive up the coast from Alnmouth, for a lovely walk at the beach, although it was so windy the sand whipped around our legs in a bit of a sandstorm.

The next morning the sun was rising over the beach and I enjoyed my breakfast with a view. The living room window had a lovely window seat looking out onto Alnmouth beach and it was the most peaceful breakfast I have had in a long time – breakfast goals on point!

After breakfast I went for a walk at the beach with my dad which was lovely as the sun continued to shine. The weather was just fab!

Later on in the day we went to the Alnwick Gardens where we had booked to eat lunch in the tree house in which is just so cute and quaint. The food was amazing and we all enjoyed ourselves. I sipped on my favourite Rose Lemonade, had a terrine for starters and pork belly with broccoli and apple mash for mains which was just scrumptious!

After our meal in the tree house I walked to Barter Books in Alnwick. It is one of the cutest bookshops I have ever been to. A large building filled with secondhand books, antiques and first editions. One can really spend half a day here browsing through all the books. If you are ever in Northumberland I totally recommend you take the time to visit this quaint bookshop. There is a little cafe for refreshments and chairs to sit and read in oh and there are some CD’s and DVD’s too, but only a small section. As far as I am aware you can also exchange books, as in if they don’t already have certain books you can trade them.

On Tuesday evening we continued family time and had a lovely night reflecting on the past by looking at old photos which was cute.

Well that sums up my mini getaway in Alnmouth; thanks for reading! Also I’d love to know if you have ever been in Bamburgh, Alnmouth or Alnwick, so please do let me know!

Love Carina xo

WEEKEND AWAY – HEN DO EDITION

Published on May 15, 2017September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hello guys!!

Let me firstly apologise for not posting in like 10 days, oops! I have just been so caught up in moving (although I’m still not in the new house yet), working, having friends visit and otherwise just being so exhausted that I’ve really not had the energy to concentrate on my blog. I still feel very drained of energy, but as it is currently quiet at work I thought I’d start this blog post and hopefully get it finished and posted for you this weekend! So onto Emily’s hen do!

What a fabulous weekend! Everyone had a brilliant time! It was packed with activities but also very relaxed and full of fun and quality time with Emily’s best Ladies!

Friday:

Emily’s mum Debbie, Kim and myself arrived earlier at the house to set up. It was such a beautiful house – very lux! Set in Coldingham just across the border into Scotland with sea views and 5 mins away from the beach!

When we got there we sorted out rooms, made some cocktails and then waited for our online shopping to arrive before tidying it all away and setting up a yummy buffet and drinks reception.

At about 8pm the rest of the hens and Emily the bride to be arrived and we toasted with prosecco and enjoyed some scrumptious fajitas! After food we played a reveal game where Emily got to find out what was happening throughout the weekend and we reminisced over some of our memories of us with Emily through a slideshow (here some of my memories)

Those of us who weren’t too tired then also made use of the hot tube for a nice soak before heading to bed.

Saturday:

Rise and shine at 8.30am for a yoga session led by me and a yummy smoothie bowl breakfast made by me!

At 10.30am we left for Potadoodledo, a pottery painting studio where Emily and I have been before, so I knew it was an activity she’d enjoy. Everyone had a great time getting their crafty fingers out!

We painted for about 2hs and then headed back for lunch before relaxing a little and painting our nails. In the afternoon we went for a short walk along the coast to St.Abbs which was nice although short as we had to hurry back to get ready to go out. When we were ready we got a taxi to Berwick where we had booked a table at a Lebanese restaurant and enjoyed some food before heading out for some drinks and a bit of a dance. I was unlucky however (probably due to a salad overdose) and was super bloated meaning I ended up having a peppermint tea whilst everyone else was sipping on cocktails haha.

Of course when we got back a couple of us made use of the hot tub again – bliss – sitting in the pitch black at 1am in warm colour changing water with a pint in one hand!

Sunday:

We had planned another yoga session but it did not occur as some were hiding in bed aha and some of us tried to make breakfast (pancakes) but failed as the pans there were terrible and just stuck, so it ended up being muesli with fresh fruit!

So it was a relaxed morning and we were so happy as the sun came out, the weather couldn’t have panned out better as we had beach games planned for this morning. Our first game was to split into two teams and we had 10mins to gather things from the beach such as driftwood and shells to then create and decorate and Emily out of sand in 20 mins. I was a really funny task and everyone had such fun. Afterwards Emily had to complete some tasks to receive her award – a picnic on the beach. We had rhymed together some pirate style verse telling her what to do, it included running up a hill and declaring her Love to Andy to the sea, being buried in sand and lastly having to run fully into the sea, all of which she laughed at and did without any qualms aha, so she earned a glass of prosecco on the beach and a tasty picnic.

Although it was windy it was soo beautiful and we had a lovely time next to the sea! The next activity on the list was a spa afternoon, so we returned to the house and started off with Pimms and a dip in the hot tub! Next we put on some face masks painted more nails and then played a game, Codenames to be exact, a really fun game I’d urge you all to try! We’d made it even more special though by creating personalised cards related to Emily, although that did make the game so much more difficult!

In the evening Debbie cooked a three course vegan meal (the whole weekend was vegan) and we all got ready for our last night which was bod girl themed, so we dressed up in our fancy evening attire and had a blast. The meal was scrumptious, the cocktails tasty and and the laughter hilarious as we played more games late into the night!

Monday:

So sadly Monday meant home day! We packed up and only had a brief stop to pick up our glazed and fired pottery before driving back to Durham!

What an amazing weekend it was though!!! Wish I was still there!

Love Carina xo

MINI GETAWAY – DESTINATION – PEAK DISTRICT

Published on April 12, 2017September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hello my beautiful readers,

So first of all just a little apology, I have no days off this week and am struggling to find the time to write and take photos, so there will be no What I Eat In A Day today I am afraid but instead you’re getting this lovely post about my mini getaway to the Peak District! Enjoy!

Last week was amazing! About three weeks ago I found out one of my best friends was coming to England and had some time to see me, so I managed to get some time of work and we booked a last minute mini midweek getaway to the Peak District for some peaceful time amongst nature. Here’s what we got up to! (P.S. sorry about the photo quality I only had my phone with me)

Day One – Jane Eyre Trail and Stanage

We met at Manchester Piccadilly station, did a quick food shop at Sainsbury and then took the train to Hathersage (about 1h) where we arrived at our hostel just before 10am. We were very lucky they hadn’t locked the door yet (they are officially only open 5pm-10pm). I mean I knew check in was only at 5pm, but I didn’t expect no access at all until 5pm, usualy hostels are open and have at least a locker room for bags, but we found none of that here! The guy at least allowed us to dump our bags behind the reception after we put everything we needed for the day into my small backpack. We quickly put our food shop in the fridge, made a humous wrap to take with us for our lunch and went on our way. We didn’t really have a plan or a map aha so with the only information I had for a trail being it was called the Jane Eyre trail, we just asked about and the locals were friendly and pointed us in the right direction!

Hathersage was the inspiration behind many a scene from Charlotte Bronte’s classic Jane Eyre. On the edge of the village lies a church where Robin Hood’s friend Little John is buried and next to it is a quaint little parsonage (pictured above) in which Charlotte Bronte once stayed. During her visit she began writing her novel; her influences become clear as you wonder aound the area. In the graveyard one can find gravestones engraved with the names of Eyre and Elliot for example. Furthermore, North Less Hall (pictured below) is said to be the inspiration behind Thornfield, and local ledgened has it that a mistress of the Hall was kept imprissoned as a mad woman and later died in a fire which destroyed part of the building and had to be rebuilt. It’s a pretty building but not quite as majestic as I had in mind from the BBC series aha.

The first good view of Stanage. The natural rock cliffs of Stanage and surrounding moorlands influenced Charlotte Bronte too, it is visible in the part of Jane Eyre where she wonders the moors lost before her cousin finds her. The scenery from here was stunning, although sadly it was a bit of a murky day to begin with.

Although murky to begin with, once we finished this roughly 3 and 1/2 hour trail we went and sat in a cafe when the sun came out and stayed all afternoon. We moved outside and soaked up some rays whilst enjoying our books.

Day Two – Win Hill and Lady Bower Reservoir onto Derwent Damns Viewing Point

Day two took us on an unplanned detour up Win Hill on our way to Lady Bower Resevoir, but it was well worth the extra 2 hours hike. Pictured below is our first view from the resevoir at the beginning of our climb up Win Hill.

Eventually after a hard climb for me and my unfitness aha, we made it to the top and the views were phenomonal! Absolutely stunning! Sadly it was just far too windy and cold to linger for long though.

What I loved most about this hike was the diverse landscape around us, we walked through fields, heather moor land, pine forrests and next to the resevoirs… The ever changing nature made the hike even more interesting to the eye!

In the evening I had the luck of being able to briefly meet up with a friend I’d made whilst volunteering in Corrymeela over last year, as she only lived a 15 minute drive away! This was super lovely as I hadn’t seen her since November.

Day Three – Hike To Castleton

Day three was probably my least favourite walk, although parts like the beginning where we walked along the river for a good 1-2 hours was really beautiful. However I am not used to walking for so long, so I was feeling not just physically but also mentally drained aha. (Garden envy shown below – I mean how idyllic!)

What made it worse was that I google mapped how long it would take to walk from Hathersage to Castleton failing to realise that the time given was obviously for the route following the main road and not the public footpaths. Annoyingly the public footpaths aren’t always sign posted very well at all either, so of course we also ended up taking a couple of wrong turns leaving us having to climb over barbed wire fencing aha and adding even more time onto our walk. So what I thought was going to be a 2-3 hour walk ended up being a 5 hour hike aha! But there was loads of cute lambs around, so that made it better aha.

Eventually we arrived in Castleton, I was rather tired so, so we didn’t stay long and got the first bus back to Hathersage. It was a long walk but not as inclined as the day before and not as varied scenery, but there was still some stunning views!

Day Four – Hathersage

On our last day we just chilled. We had to check out of the hostel by 10am and then we just browsed the shops in Hathersage and I did a little shopping. There was a little arty shop where we picked up some new reads, I bought Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee and Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking (the story behind the movie A Theory of Everything) which I am excited to read! There was also a little cute interior shop with some jewellery and I treated myself to some new little black stud earrings from Pilgrim. After some shopping we walked back to the Church, searched for the Eyre grave stones and then went for a short 30min walk. The sun slowly started to show it’s face as we returned to town and after grabbing some lunch at a little deli cafe we then basked in the sun outside the cafe for the rest of the afternoon reading our new books. It was a glorious end to a perfect mini getaway!

Love Carina xo