Today, I bought a North East Explorer and had an adventure with Adrian. The plan was to get photographs of the ''East Durham'' branded Mini Pointer Darts, then in Sunderland, photos of the shuttles being operated by Go North East and Stagecoach, for the Sunderland International Airshow. Read on for more;

#21 – Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station – (08:55 --- 09:14) – Go North East 6064 – Volvo B5HL/Wright Gemini 2
As I got ready, citaro5284 messaged me saying that the bus we planned to catch, the 08:48 21 from Chester-le-Street to Durham, was being operated by 6064 and running six minutes late. I walked into Chester-le-Street, where I met Adrian, and we sat down to talk for a while, until the bus was due. When it did arrive, we boarded and sat near the back upstairs. We discussed the preservation movement for just about the entirety of the journey. Like any other ''Angel'', I've travelled on 6064 many times before, and now don't pay much attention to the journey. Around five other passengers were sat upstairs, with a similar number downstairs I would imagine. I have to say, even though the 21 is a demanding route, and the Volvo B5s have been allocated to the route for coming up to three years now, they're still in pretty good condition. It handled the A167 between the top of Chester-le-Street and Pity Me without any problems. When we arrived in Durham, we noticed it was mayhem at the entrance to the bus station. Several other Go North East buses were queueing to get in, but the line slowly moved on. We walked back up to the North Road roundabout, and we were astonished to see the E400MMC demonstrator on the X21 was still doing it's rounds, we were led to believe that yesterday was it's final day in service. We took a few photos of various buses on the North Road roundabout, before moving on to our next journey.

#265 – Durham Bus Station to Low Pittington Village Centre – (09:41 --- 09:56) – Go North East 564 – Transbus MPD/Transbus Mini Pointer
I'd never used any of the ''East Durham'' routes prior to today; we were originally going to get the 204 to Low Pittington, then wait for it to loop back around and return to Durham, before making our way across to the coast. However, there were two yellow MPDs in the layover, and the first to pull into the stand was 564. We decided to board this rather than stick around. Leaving Durham Bus Station with quite a healthy load, this little minibus only had a few seats spare after we'd passed through Belmont. Before long, our stop, Low Pittington, was around the corner, so Adrian pressed the bell to alight. I thought this bus was alright, I don't usually ride MPDs, so this was a nice change from the norm. My only problem with them is their lack of legroom; had the back seats been available, we would have sat there, however we ended up just sitting beyond the step up towards the rear. After watching 564 depart for Seaham, I walked to the other bus stops in the village to photograph the timetables and send them to Adrian via Facebook Messenger (). During this time, I had my camera in my bag. The moment I got back to Adrian, I saw the 204 coming... Due to being unprepared, I totally missed my shot of it. With the 208 to Durham due soon, I was determined to not let it get past me. When I saw it coming, I got my camera ready and stood on the other side of a junction; everything was focusing, the bus was clear and all in-shot; the moment I hit the trigger, a lorry crosses the junction... That shot was completely ruined as well. Then the 204 coming back to Durham was going extremely fast and came out blurred. As I looked back to where we'd came from, I saw a red MPD coming...

#208 – Low Pittington Village Centre to Peterlee Bus Station – (10:24 --- 11:10) – Go North East 562 – Transbus MPD/Transbus Mini Pointer
Our next ride was red MPD 562, on the 208 to Peterlee. A few elderly men were sat at the front, so we made our way towards the back seats. The legroom was great, and I can't help but give credit to how comfortable the seats were. This, along with 564, was clearly refurbished not long ago. While the journey went by, Adrian and I commented on some of the places the 208 served. I have to say, some parts of East Durham really are disgusting... Horden, for example; a couple of chavs came out of the newsagents and just randomly started giving us hand gestures. The only other pedestrians I saw in that area were young couples with pushchairs... I'm saying nothing. While it is nice to see different areas every now and then, there are some things that you do once and never do again, such as the 208. When we finally got to Peterlee, I noticed what a dreadful place it was. The bus station was littered with rough people. Adrian had told me before how he wasn't keen on taking photos in Peterlee, as the people there always made him feel slightly intimidated. I could see what he meant. When we exited; there was a bike tied up to a fence. It had had it's rear wheel and seat nicked. Adrian slyly took some photos, I got a shot of an ''East Durham'' MPD in the layover bays, and we awaited the next bus to Sunderland. We had seen two X7 services leaving; one to Sunderland and one to Middlesbrough, both were packed and had several standees.

#22 – Peterlee Bus Station to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange – (11:26 --- 12:05) – Arriva North East 1518 – VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar 2
I sat on the side of the doors, at the very back, for this ride. Adrian sat in front of me, just about every seat was taken when we left Peterlee. The power in this VDL beast was very sufficient; it had no problems with the route that I could see. As the bus was so packed, we decided to listen to music through our earphones, rather than converse with others clearly listening. About five passengers alighted at Dalton Park, while some others boarded in Ryhope, either way, we still reached Sunderland with a full load. Must say, I do enjoy a ride on an Arriva Pulsar. I found the seating on these was much nicer than what I would find on the ''Coast & Country'' Streetlites found on my local route. Although I generally prefer fabric seating as it is, some of the ''Sapphire'' and ''MAX'' seats are extremely comfortable. But I find it hard to compare anything to the seats in the Enviro40MMC demonstrator used on the X21. Once we were finally in Sunderland, we took photos of the shuttles before moving on to Fawcett Street to see what Stagecoach had to offer. Adrian was pleased to see one of the recently acquired E400s was out on it's shuttle duties, then even more so when Alexander-bodied Volvo Olympian 16839 appeared. We then decided to catch a Gas Bus to the Wheatsheaf depot for some photographs there.

#16 – Sunderland, Fawcett Street to Wheatsheaf, Stagecoach Bus Depot – (13:26 --- 13:32) – Stagecoach North East 28012 – Scania K270UB/Alexander Dennis Enviro300NG
I confess to never riding one of the distinctive ''Gas Buses'' that roam the streets of Sunderland, until today. After much contemplation as to which of the services went to the Wheatsheaf, I asked the driver of 28012, on the 16 service, if he went there. He nodded and I showed him my Explorer, before I walked to the back. As we departed, we saw Dave the Rave. I noticed how clean the interior of the bus was, and the blue and orange colours really stood out as smart. The seating was exceptionally comfortable, I would take this over an e-leather seat without question. I have to say, I have always found the seating on a Stagecoach bus to be extremely comfortable. When I was at the Built in Workington event on Sunday, I sat down on the Enviro300 that Stagecoach sent to the event, and it was very comfortable. My only nag was while we sat at the back, we couldn't actually see clearly what was coming next; due to the seats being higher up. One other thing to note, was how spacious the gangway was. After getting off at the Wheatsheaf, we photographed 16833, and a line-up of various single deckers, before I walked down to the bottom of the depot to see if anything good was there. Unfortunately, all I found was 20551; the B10M driver training vehicle. With our quick session at Wheatsheaf done, we walked back to the Sunderland-bound bus stop.  

#4 – Wheatsheaf, Stagecoach Bus Depot to Sunderland, Vine Place – (14:10 --- 14:16) – Stagecoach North East 36089 – Dennis Dart SLF 4/Alexander Enviro200
While we sat in the bus stop, taking photographs of whatever went past, a woman asked us about the 20/20A. After helping her out and sending her on her way, we decided to catch one of the next Stagecoach buses back to Sunderland. This turned out to be the 4, which was not a Gas Bus. Instead, we had a standard Enviro. I've always liked how smart the Enviro200s and Enviro300s look in the Stagecoach livery, and the interior goes very well too. Like our trip on 28012, it was very spacious inside and the seating was extremely comfortable. I wish Go North East could have opted for something similar, rather than that disgraceful e-leather... Rather than alight on John Street, we stayed on until Vine Place, before walking back up to Park Lane Interchange. I can't decide which Stagecoach rides I enjoyed the most, but they were both very good. I might start riding Stagecoach buses a bit more...

#78 – Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to Chester-le-Street Durham County Cricket Ground – (14:32 --- 15:14) – Go North East 5408 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
I'm worried that this ''Coast & Country'' is stalking me... I had it on Wednesday when I made a trip to Sunderland in the morning, on the journey back. I also had it at a couple of weeks ago as well. 6059 also seems to be a regular ''Angel'' that I am landed with. This particular service arrived in Park Lane very early, so we sat waiting for a while before our departure time of 14:37. I sat on the offside, the row just before the back seats. I was listening to my music when I felt somebody tap my shoulder; a man asked me if I could let him know when the Royal Hospital came up. I happily obliged, however I couldn't help but think ''what do you think the Next Stop Announcements are for?''. Several people alighted throughout, with some boarding in Bournmoor and Great Lumley. When my stop finally came, I jumped off and walked home. 

It was a really great outing; granted, I didn't really milk the Explorer, however I did visit a few places I've never been to before, and rode a few vehicles I'd never experienced prior to today. My photographs from today will be uploaded to my Flickr later tonight; thanks Adrian, for the company today. Thanks for reading.

Marcus