A coffee, a cruise and the coast

For our last full day of Holz, we decided to ride to a hamlet in the middle of nowhere, a tearoom hidden high in the hills between Derwent Water and Thirlmere, a place so secret that only we and about two hundred other people seemed to know about it.  On @flumgummery's recommendation this was a visit to Watendlath, and at the end of a long, very narrow and steeply winding road, that I managed nerve-janglingly well on Fidra with BikerBabe as pillion, is a farm steading and a National Trust owned wee cafe.  We enjoyed our coffee and cake in warm, dappled sunshine for an hour or so, with a little company from a friendly dog, followed by a wander to the nearby lake for obligatory photos!

Riding back down the hill we paused at the aptly named Surprise View, which has a simply amazing view down Derwent Water.

After a bit of traffic jamming, for Keswick was still incredibly busy, its mainest main road pretty narrow and sharply cornered, and safely on the sweeping A66, the Starship Fidra engaged warp 5 and we sped northwest for Cockermouth.  I had expected a dull, post-industrial town of old mills with spalling brickwork, but actually the town was really rather pleasant and historic.  The plan was to go for a swim, but when we finally arrived having quite gone round the houses getting there, and carefully locked away all our gear in my luggage boxes, swimming wasn't for another three hours nearly.  We figured we'd go another time.

It was pretty much teatime anyway, and the coast only a few more miles away, so we tried to leave town but my satnav couldn't cope with the task of myriad little streets that ought to be one-way but weren't. It even recalculated a route that brought us back to where we started.  BB and I both use the same satnav app and have come to call these strange foibles "Magic Earth diversions"!  So I brute forced our way out of Cockermouth and found the road to Maryport.  The latter town is a little more like how I thought Cockermouth would be, but in a seasidey sort of way; everyone was friendly though.  Parking up near the harbour we went for dinner at the nearby pub that was doing a roaring trade with the locals, one of whom was a little too friendly for my scaredy cat disposition, though he was alright really.  And yes, my good sir, I am that tall, and of course I needed reminding because I had completely forgotten.  BB and I both had fish and chips: huge platefuls, and it was possibly the best battered cod I've ever had.

With our tummies full we wandered down to the harbour and sat by the little beach watching the waves and the sun reflecting off the water, with the hills of Dumfriesshire in the far distance. Closer to home, we laughed in amazement at the fearless local boys who were taking turns to throw themselves off the harbour bridge and divebomb into the water far below!

From Maryport we retraced our steps along the fast and flowing A roads and the narrow B roads, back to Shunpiker Central. With Fidra and Biscuit parked for the night, we had a late evening pot of tea and some well deserved chocolate.

But the day wasn't even over yet!  The skies outside Keswick are dark and the clouds were few and far between, and I had brought my big camera for this express purpose.  I showed BB Cassiopeia and Andromeda, and how to locate the great Andromeda Galaxy, using various pointer stars.  And there it was, a faint fuzzy patch perhaps a quarter of the size of the moon.  I took many photographs, doing my best to deal with our heavily wooded environs, but it showed in my photos clear and bright.

And then it really was time to call it a day!