20: Egton Bridge to Robin Hoods Bay

Our last day of walking - everyone up early for breakfast - Phoebe said she didn't sleep a wink last night she is so excited about this being nearly over - yes you may assume she has not enjoyed this experience quite as much as some of the rest of us!

Injury count:
Narelle - nothing to declare
Mandy:  2 blisters on day one, all good after that
Peter:  Quad tear - now hobbling down hills
Joe:  Nothing to declare - pre-existing injuries holding up well
Jenni:  5 black toe nails (not all on the same foot), Right 'Noble Toe' not happy
Phoebe:  both knees causing issues (esp downhill), early loss of morale never to be re-gained during walk!

So off we set on our last day of walking, through the rather elegant Manor House - Joe tried to get us an invite for breakfast when he was chatting to the Laird at the pub last night, but he didn't quite grasp Joe's aussie humour...  so we walk on by till we get to Grossmont - not quite as scenic as Egton Bridge, but possibly more well known as tourists and rail enthusiastics flock here to catch the North York Moors Railway - more commonly known these days as the Hogwarts Express!  Luckily we were just in time to see it arrive and depart!  I think it may be run by a bunch of old chaps who just love steam engines - they were all done up in their old time uniforms and looked like they were having a ball.

The guide book warned us not to be fooled into thinking that this last stage of the walk was a 'mere formality' and we now found out why - the hill out of Grossmont was particularly nasty - 30% grade that seemed to go on an on...  Pheebs enjoyed some help from Joe who pushed her up most of the way.  

Today's walk seemed to be a summary of everything that we've had before to just re-acqaint us before the finish - nasty hills, hard on the feet roads, forests, cute towns, moors, heather and of course a walk across England wouldn't be the same without a bit of bog to squelch through! 

We had a nice stretch of forest to wander through - Little Beck Wood - and we happened to find a new little tea house had opened since the guide book was written so stopped for a cuppa, biscuits and cheese, and maybe a slice of ginger cake (or two).  Suitably refreshed - well until Joe told us we had another 16km to walk to Robin Hoods Bay - we headed off again and finally caught sight of the sea.  But of course, as we've found on nearly every other day, it can take forever to actually reach the town, and today was no different - we seemed to circumnavigate RH Bay for hours!  Serious loss of morale was exprienced by most. 

Phoebe's loss of morale being revived by a giant choc chip biscuit

But we made it!  Just as it was starting to rain - we had thought today was going to be rain free,  but no, had to don the raincoat for the last few hundred metres.  Dropped our gear at the The Villa Bed and Breakfast and headed down to the dock to meet up with Gary and Scott (QLD Boys), Mike and Sue (English couple living on the NSW South Coast) and one of the guys from the WA 4.  A few congratulatory bevvies may have been enjoyed by all; Joe had the biggest chicken dinner that could be imagined, then we all trudged up the very steep hill to bed - very happy that we do not need to walk very far tomorrow!

We will dip our toes into the North Sea and throw the pebbles that we've carried with us tomorrow!