Anyway ... what a day for weather? Sun all day and about 28 degrees. Ideal beach weather we thought. Which is exactly what most of the population of South West England thought too and not an insignificant proportion of them had headed for Woolacombe.
Before all that we had had a very leisurely morning. Breakfasting outside for the first time this week. Once again we didn’t get out until gone 1pm. The serious holiday makers saw the sun and were up and gone out before 10. One of the good things about this site is that they leave the shower block open until 1.30 so it gives an excuse for leisurely mornings - not that we need one!
As we were leaving our next door neighbour was returning. We did the normal exchange of pleasantries (it’s the rule - it’s in the manual!) and he said they had tried to get to Croyde beach and had to turn back - the number of cars trying to do the same had made it impossible!
So as we headed down to Woolacombe we pretty much knew what to expect! Much like a fly stuck on a web. In our case it wasn’t a spider but a bloody long traffic jam to get in the car parks - it went all the way up the hill to the edge of town. If you don’t know Woolacombe that will mean nothing to you so let’s just say, not something you want on a scorching hot day with 3 kids in the car all anxious to get on the beach.
In the end it wasn’t too bad and only took us about 45 mins to get to the car park entrance. Lucky for us all those efficient and organised folks who had been on the beach since 10 had now had enough and were leaving.
The beach, as you might expect, was crowded. We walked as far to the left (away from the town) as we could but it was still a challenge to find a socially distancing spot. As we were setting up I could literally feel the disapproval of those millions of Daily Mail readers! But, s** them, they don’t have 3 kids chomping at the bit to get in the sea!
We spent a lovely 3 hours on the beach. Body boarding with Charlie was a highlight but it was also fun just chilling with the Twinnies. I have to say I felt a little inadequate today at the beach. Now I know what your thinking but no, it was nothing about body image - how could I feel inadequate in that department??! It was that everyone seemed to have a wet suit on - young and old! Why you need one in the 28 degree heat and warm sea I have no idea - yet another fashion trend I suspect? Any way not having one made you stand out like a pork pie at a Jewish wedding!
The operation to get 3 boys (and yourself) sand free was helped by me bringing a container of water in the car - to be fair with the de-sanding thing, and as you might have guessed, Kim does most of the “heavy lifting” with the Twinnies.
Charlie was keen to revisit the restaurant right by the beach - The Red Barn - so we did. They had a good post COVID process and we had a nice table outside to eat our grub. Harry didn’t like the cheese in his cheeseburger and at one stage did a rather loud “old man burp” that turned a number of heads, but apart from that it was a nice meal / experience.
Laura was joining us today but had had a late start and a delayed journey. She arrived at the campsite at about 8.45.
We headed straight back out to Ilfracombe as she was gagging for a fish supper and some ice cream. Of course we all joined her with the ice cream. Kelly’s Cornish with clotted cream on the top is heaven in a cone (or in last nights case - a tub).
The wind has got up again and as soon as the sun went down it got blimin cold. We had our ice cream sitting by the harbour and then set off back to Brunnehilda. Kim and I are sleeping in Isabella tonight so a fair bit of “set up” was required. All 6 of us went to bed very tired!
Funniest (no most embarrassing moment) cane at the Red Barn. When you are sitting having a pleasant meal and you hear a loud “old man burp” and you look to the table where it can from you do tend to assume it came from the old man sitting at the table rather than the cute 5 year old! So after being the recipient of a number of undeserved dirty looks about 5 mins later I managed to spill my glass of cider all over the table. In this case the dirty looks were deserved! I think everybody was rather glad to see me leave!
No comments:
Post a Comment