(13 Jun 2015, 9:10 pm)Adam wrote As everyone's posting reviews, and as I've got nothing better to do with my Saturday night, I thought I may as well jump on the bandwagon.

04:15 N21 Newcastle Pilgrim Street – Angel of the North (6060)

My day began in Newcastle (standard Friday night/Saturday morning really) as it was a couple of my uni friends’ last night in Newcastle before they went home today to South Wales and Northern Ireland respectively, so I was ordered out by them. After finishing our drinking session, the six of us headed back to the flat at Glenamara House, where one of my friends had to finish packing before her taxi came at 4:30 to take her to the airport (don’t worry, she hadn’t had much to drink so was still capable of flying). I said my goodbyes and left the flat at bang on 4am, headed down to Pilgrim Street and arrived there at 4:10. 6060 was my ride and I was greeted by one of the drivers who I regularly have on the N21. I bought my £3 single to the Angel and sat at the very front of the top deck, watching the world go by. One other person boarded at Pilgrim Street, and to my surprise, nobody else got on at the other stops in Newcastle or Gateshead! I alighted at the Angel where the driver said goodbye to me, with me thanking him and wishing him goodnight (or should it have been good morning as it was very light?) I took my usual Snapchat selfie with the statue itself. My friends are incredibly disappointed if I don’t take one after getting off the N21, before making my way up the dreaded Longbank, where a Loop branded Wright Solar passed me (see the GNE Allocation Thread). I eventually got home at more or less bang on 5am.

13:16 X25 Eighton Banks – Chester-le-Street (4934)

Much like Malarkey, I originally had my alarm on for 8:30, but after only 3 and a half hours sleep, it’s virtually impossible to get up. I dozed back off and the next thing I know, it’s 11:30! I peeled myself from my bed and got myself showered and ready, before seeing my family and feeding/watering myself. As I had nothing planned, I decided the head out on a random, spontaneous adventure, taking with me my earphones, my USB cable, and of course my magical Get Around Annual bus pass that comes in the London Underground map travel card holder (according to my fancy spreadsheet, I’m currently £180 in profit with it). I headed down the hill to Rockliffe Way for the X25, and 4934 rounded the slight bend. The bus was around half full, with most rows being taken. I took my seat about half way up the bus, but the legroom was dreadful, so I had to position my long legs sideways. Quite rattley and clearly past its best, the Solar still performed well. Prior to leaving my house, I had read that 4843 was doing the rounds on the X25 so was hoping that would appear, but it didn’t.

13:55 78 Chester-le-Street – Stanley (5407)

After alighting at CLS, I headed straight to Costa for the usual, a small mocha to take away. I still believe CLS’ Costa serves the best mocha out of the various outlets I’ve visited around the country, so is always a treat to get one. I took it down to the bus stop, and waited for the 78, where I’d missed the previous 8. 5407 approached the stop and a driver changeover occurred. He did seem rather frustrated with the adjustments of the dashboard and seat, quietly murmuring “for goodness sakes” on one occasion. The bus left CLS about ¾ full. I didn’t particularly enjoy this journey. The bus was very warm even with all three windows open. I feel that there should be more. I plugged in my USB cable hoping to charge my phone on the bus. Free electricity, who can say no to that?! Unfortunately though, the plug socket didn’t work, but the WiFi worked fantastically! The scenic route to Stanley followed, and the driver kept to timetable, which was excellent.

14:30 44A Stanley – Durham (5337)

I had also read on the forum that the 04-reg OmniDekka was on the 11:15 X31 from Eldon Square, and thanks to maths, worked out that it would have been on the 14:27 X30 to Lanchester, which I hoped to have caught. As my Coast & Country Streetlite entered the bus station, I saw that OmniDekka on the stand, but as I got off, it started reversing. Oh dear. At the same time, 5337 was parking in the stand on a 44A to Durham, so decided to board that instead. Quite busy, around two-thirds full, I sat in the backwards facing seats towards the rear, where again, the legroom was terrible. The main seats though are very comfortable, much better than the newer Citaros in my view as they were more ergonomically designed. The route to Durham was very scenic, and although the bus is now 9 years old, it still managed to handle the hills very well. I’d worked out that the bus would pull into Durham at around 3pm, the same time when the 15 would leave for Consett. Unfortunately though, they leave from the same stand, so the driver of the 44A decided to wait in the middle of the road until the 15, operated by 6010, a bus I’ve yet to travel on, departed, meaning I missed that as well. Not my day so far then… It was quite possibly the journey that South Tyne Lad has described in his review of the day. A wander round the city to find a Greggs followed as hunger set in, so after eventually finding one, I bought a ham and egg sandwich and took it back to the bus station to eat.

15:20 44A Durham – Stanley (5292)

Just as I was finishing my sandwich, 5292 arrived off a 43 and changed to the 44A. It turns out that 5292 was one of the two remaining Diamond branded Citaros that I hadn’t travelled on, and was on my “hit-list”, so to tick that one off, I travelled on it, returning to Stanley. The bus left Durham about three-quarters full, with me taking my seat in the “quadrant” as I like to call it. This bus too managed to handle the hilly nature of the route incredibly well, the noisy, powerful Mercedes roar being louder than the music being blasted into my ears. A Snapchat selfie birthday wish to a friend was attempted to be done, but that turned to an awkward moment when I was caught by a couple of lasses sat behind me on the very back row on the opposite side. I attempted to cover it up by faffing with my hair, as us lads don’t particularly carry mirrors with us, so a phone will do. Arriving into Stanley bang on time, I hoped to see another OmniDekka, and sure enough, 6127 was arriving at the same time on an X31 to Newcastle. Thank goodness!

15:57 X31 Stanley – Gateshead (6127)

Finally, an OmniDekka. A large smile was brought to my face as I made my way down the bus station to the stand, where a driver changeover was occurring. Yet again, this was the same journey South Tyne Lad was on, even though I was completely unaware of it. I promise I wasn’t intending to stalk you. I did notice a few passengers on the bottom deck when I boarded, but didn’t pay much attention. Indeed, he too notes that there were two spotters at the bus station. I posted about that earlier in the day in the "Stalking and Such" thread. I headed straight upstairs and sat in the row behind the stairs, where a vast amount of luxurious legroom awaited, compensation I suppose for the non-existent legroom on 4934 and 5337. I finally managed to take that Snapchat happy birthday selfie as I was the only one on the top deck at the time. I have to say I do like these buses a lot. It’s a shame some aren’t coming to Chester-le-Street for my X25 just yet! It was different, and a good different. I will look forward to travelling on more of these in the future. It coped very well with the scenic hills and built up a lot of speed when going past the Tanfield Railway, a pleasure to see. When we arrived into Gateshead, I forgot about the low door frame, and stotted my head slightly as I alighted. Ow!

16:32 56 Gateshead – Wrekenton (6093)

I’d just missed a President on the X1, so wandered over and stood between Stands H, J and K where all the Wrekenton buses depart from. After a couple of minutes wait, 6093 entered the bus station, one of my least travelled 56’s, so decided to board it. Relatively busy, I took my seat upstairs. I’ve always been a fan of the Gemini 2s, and this one was no different. I again tried to charge my phone, but again, it didn’t work. The WiFi worked a treat though! About three-quarters full after leaving Gateshead, I was genuinely surprised to see the 56 so busy. The deckers have definitely helped to increase passenger numbers in my view.

There were two letdowns of the journey. Firstly, is how slow the 56 is in comparison to the X1 and X25, both of which overtook me whilst climbing up the hill. I much prefer the X’s. It’s a running joke amongst my friends and I that the 56 needs weed added to the various flowers already on the branding to simply make the journey more bearable, and then it needs renumbered and rebranded to service 420 carrying the brand “Fab Four Twenty” (#blazeitup).

The other letdown was the whinging child and their parents telling them off for more or less all the journey. As Wrekenton approached, I pressed the bell and made my way downstairs whilst at the traffic lights, where Davie was apparently standing waiting for newly-painted 8334. I got to the zebra crossing where 8334 came round the Royal Oak corner, to which I saw a hand frantically waving at me. It turns out that it was one of my old school friends, so gave him a cheeky wave and a smile back. A lovely 10 minute back up the hills to Eighton Banks then followed, where I eventually got home at around 5:10ish.

If you are still reading this at this point, thank you, and you really do deserve a medal. South Tyne Lad, I'm sorry I didn't know you were on the same bus as me. And the two spotters taking photos at Stanley, I still don't know who you are?