Our real driving adventure finally started as we headed out from Newcastle towards the Housesteads which was a recommendation by our hotel receptionist for the best vantage point of Hadrian’s Wall.  Getting out was easy, a simple one way stretch onto the motorway.

We weren’t sure what the speed limit was on the motorway so I went at around 60 mph thinking that was similar to our 100 km/h zones.  I was quickly overtaken by lorries, elderly, and two door hatches.  It turns out that the speed limit was 80 mph or 132 km/h.  Even at 80 mph, we were frequently overtaken.  This limit may have just recently been increased from 70 mph this year.

We first went onto Vindolanda which was a Roman fort off the wall.  The site had continued excavations occurring.  There was a nice museum at the bottom but it wasn’t Hadrian’s Wall so we continued onto The Housesteads.  The Housesteads housed about 800 soldiers and at its height and still has a good amount of the Wall left – enough to walk on.  If you have a dog, it would be a great track to walk them.

The dialects were amazing at Newcastle, as in bordering incomprehensible when spoken quickly.  As much as we liked it there, we were happy to come across people that we could understand a little better.