Monday loomed cooler, overcast and the areas around Newcastle were very quiet.  It’s school holidays and everyone seems to have left town.  It drizzled on and off all day so the final steps were without any firework celebrations.  I returned to the bridges in Newcastle central and walked 9 km to Wallsend where I met Debbie for lunch.  145 km (or 90 miles) walking Hadrian’s Wall Path completed.  After lunch I walked another 9 km to the coast (mouth of the Tyne River) to complete my crossing of England (155 km).  Finally, I walked to the Tynemouth Metro station and met up with Debbie again before taking the train to where we left the car.  With these addons (to and from pick up points) I clocked well over 160 km of total walking over 11 days (7 walking and 4 “rest” days).

Most of the walking along the river into and out of Newcastle was on old Waggonways (now bike paths).  Lots of greenery and not so much time on urban streets which was good.  The disappointing aspect is how every inch of greenery at the sides of the bike paths is littered with human refuse: plastic bottles and cans, plastic bags, vaping leftovers etc etc.  It seems no one ever cleans this stuff up and these hidden areas are also used by youths to set fires and generally cause trouble.  You would see the same in Melbourne I guess so it’s a symptom of large cities and people who don’t care.  Fortunately, in the rural areas it was much cleaner (except alongside the roadways), particularly in a few “tidy town” winners that I passed through.

The exercise program (and my painful knee) will now take a break until the orienteering starts in earnest in Belgium.