#36 - Durham County Cricket Ground to Houghton-le-Spring Church - (10:04 --- 10:22) - GNE 5304 - Mercedes 0530N/Mercedes Citaro
Yes, I will now name my local stop. The housing estate I live in is called the Riverside, but my stop's name is actually the Durham County Cricket Ground, which is adjacent to the housing estate. Anyway, without giving away my personal details, I wasn't expecting my 36 to be at the stop at 09:50, as advertised. I waited a couple of minutes and started to get a bit peed off, and then after 10 minutes I was contemplating just waiting until 10:10 for the #78 to Sunderland. But, my luck changed at 10:04, when after 20 minutes of waiting, my bus turned up. I got on, trying to put the extensive wait behind me - and asked for my Get Around. My driver, a Polish man, immediately apologized for the delay and explained he had encountered traffic. I said it was fine and thanked him for the explanation (not something many do!) and took my seat. I had almost forgotten what a Merc felt like, having spent a fortnight without one allocated to any of the runs on the 36 I've been on! Nonetheless, the heating on 5304 was superb, and immediately what I needed on a freezing cold morning. A very nice journey, made better by heating, no rattles, being very quiet and a very good driver!
#X1 - Houghton-le-Spring Church to Washington Galleries - (10:27 --- 10:45) - GNE 6055 - Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
Now, this was the run with the young woman driving. When I say young, I really mean young. She looked younger than some of the sixth formers at my school! And she was fit. Not only this, she was an extremely careful and cautious driver. She looked a bit like Lucy from the Inbetweeners movies. Another very enjoyable journey, but towards the Galleries things started to get very crowded, considering we left Houghton with a few seats spare upstairs. When I got to the Galleries I thanked her and looked at her once more. Hard to believe she was a driver at all, with her being so young! I also managed to connect to the wifi on my iPhone 5!
After heading into the Galleries for a short bit, I went down and stood at the Heworth-bound 82 stand. It was then that I just happened to look down and spot Dan taking photos. I recognized it was him immediately, he was bouncing around like a puppy taking photos. I then posted that I could see him, and received #stalker as my response, not 'oh really, come and join me!'...anyway, I hopped on my 82 when it pulled in. It would have been awkward anyway...the one time I don't bring my camera!
#82 - Washington Galleries to Concord Bus Station - (11:08 --- 11:30) - GNE 8250 - DAF SB120/Wright Cadet
I decided to abandon Dan, and hopped on 8250. Didn't take many notes of the joruney, apart from departing the Galleries quite packed. A few people got on and off throughout the journey, and the woman driving (my second of the day!) greeted and thanked people as they got on and off. My third nice driver of the day! 8250 itself provided a very nice journey (for my tastes...) and I listened with pleasure to the engine trash.
#56 - Concord Bus Station to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange - (11:34 --- 12:12) - GNE 6087 - Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
6087 provided a very nice journey, and I did enjoy it. But the driver took a lot to be desired. To be honest, I just sat with my earphones in for the majority of the rather quiet journey to Park Lane. But I recall when I got to Park Lane, he dropped us off, then while an elderly man with a walking stick (who looked very frail to be honest) attempted to board there he told him to get off - in a very rude manner. I watched everything unfold, by the time the poor old man had made it to the next stop along, 6087 had headed back off to Newcastle. Felt sorry for him...
#8 - Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to Chester-le-Street Market Place - (12:21 --- 13:15) - GNE 4896 - Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
I was surprised to see the driver of this. I always knew he worked (and presumably owned) 'the Tuck Shop' at the bottom of Chester-le-Street. I wasn't aware he had gone out of business, now trained as a bus driver. He recognised me and asked how I was, while the instructor (not sure he was an 'instructor' but I know he's a veteran) explained to him how various tickets worked and what to advise customers on. He made good time, and I listened to them talk throughout the whole of the journey. Learnt quite a few things throughout the journey regarding the Lime routes. 4896 provided an enjoyable ride, a personal favourite of mine out of the B10BLEs at Chester-le-Street!
#21 - Chester-le-Street Market Place to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace - (13:24 --- 13:29) - GNE 3962 - Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 1
Not many comments to make, it was an alright journey. I sat at the front upstairs and connected to the wifi. It wasn't good, and it wasn't bad. I got off at my local stop (on the 21/X21/X22 section of Durham-Chester-le-Street) and walked back home.
Had a great day - I'd like to dedicate this review to citaro5284, I know how much he loves them!