To be honest the road to Gretna was pretty dull, the landscape fairly mundane compared with what we have seen before. But it did start to look more like northern England, and less like the borders and certainly different from the highlands before.
Outside Gretna we could see the outline of Cumbria, the Solway Firth and in the far distance the Lake District looming up.
There wasn't much to do at Gretna. We had lunch at a pub, where ironically there was a wedding so the kitchen was too busy for food. They let us eat our sandwiches in beer garden.
We stopped on the border to pose for photos to say goodbye to Scotland.
As the we headed south the weather improved greatly, and by the time we were skirting round Carlisle it was lovely and hot.
By going north to south you have to suffer a prevailing south westerly wind. But this is very tolerable, even pleasant in the hot sun. We climbed up into the Lake District, skirting round the side of the park at first, then heading into Ullswater. It was slow and steady going, but the views were breathtaking. We climbed to 300 meters on the last hill, and then it was downhill all the way to Ullswater, a thrillingly fast descent watching the Lake appear from amidst the trees.
Our campsite at Glenridding wasn't far away, surrounded by peaks on all sides - we tired joglers retired to the local tavern to chew the fat and listen to some live music.
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