Time Warp

What a great end to the summer! We went on a camping holiday, albeit I was very nervous about it not being very holiday-like because of the limited access to facilities, in Dorset which was packed with exploring and other activities in generally sunny weather! We spent each day in a little town along the coast and the entire six days went something like this:

Day 1 in Burton Bradstock: A sleepy little country village where we camped at a site exclusively for Caravan and Camping Club members and about a 5 minute walk to the beach. This area of the coast has small pebbles but a gorgeous sandstone cliff face. Day 1 was spent setting up camp and a spot of unsuccessful sea fishing, but many giggles as Tracy and I watched the kids try to jump across the sea eddy.

Day 2: Charmouth Beach; Fossil Hunting: Much of the Dorset coastline is a part of the Jurassic coast and at this spot they encourage you to hunt for fossils. Some were lucky and found 150 million year old fossils within minutes where it took some others, including myself, a little while to get lucky. After we got the hang of it, we realised it wasn't that lucky because the number of fossils was amazing once you knew what to look for. Most of the fossils were shells, ammonites (swirly things) and belemnites (squid bones that look like a tooth of some sort) and weren't very big at all; nonetheless, it made for an enjoyable morning.

Later that day we went to Weymouth for a spot of mackerel fishing off of the pier. Weymouth is more of a city (has a mall), but still has a colourful and preserved seaside harbour with pubs, restaurants, and small shops along the way. Fishing this time was very successful with a total of 15 mackerel and 1 Pollock caught. I didn't really bother with the fishing, but I did put my fish gutting/ filleting skills from my odour research last year to use by prepping the fish on the beach side in a race against the sun setting... the sun did win in the end and it was evident by the crassness of my fillets seen the next day.Day 3 was spent near to camp where we visited Bridport for a vintage street market (new 50's dress included), West Bay for a spot of fish and chips, and had a game of Pitch and Putt in the afternoon. Oh yeas, and I made fish cakes for the first time with our catch from the day previous (kitchen not included).

Day 4 we travelled to Wareham to see our friends Matt and Nicky at their new house! The town of Wareham (and practically in their front garden) is surrounded by an Anglo-Saxon dirt wall (essentially a hill with history). They took us to some of their favourite spots in the area: Dancing Ledge, a rocky cliff side with access to the beach and beautiful country and coastal views; and Corfe. Time-warp yourself back to a dreamy little medieval stone village with a castle on the top of the hill and you have Corfe- entirely picturesque. And what better to do in a medieval stone castle than watch a film in an open-air cinema... sitting under the stars on a perfectly clear night in the castle foreground watching Rocky Horror Picture Show. Mwah haa haa! Bet you didn't guess it was going to be that!

Day 5 was again filled with stunning country and coastal views in the areas of Lullworth and Durdle Door. We parked somewhere in between the two places, walked to Lullworth, had a look around the cove, and took the coastal path hike to Durdle Door. Blessed with great weather for the majority of the vacation, it was definitely time to go swimming in the sea.

Day 6 we packed up camp and took a drive into Lyme Regis on the way home. I must admit that for all the boasting that was done about Lyme Regis prior to my vacation, I was disappointed. I saw just as many picturesque places in the previous days and didn;t feel that it added any value (nor did it take away) to the end of my time in Dorset.

Onwards ho! Drove back home and had two days off of work basically to get myself ready of another few days of camping because it was time for the Broome Farm Cider Festival! Woooo!!! A perfect end to my summer vacation. This time it was just the girls as a total of five of us went for one of four of Faye's hen-weekends (donning neon tutus and legwarmers, as you do on a hen-weekend). We visited Broome Farm earlier this year as a part of a previous camping trip and Tracy and the gang had gone to the cider festival the year previous... so again, there was much enthusiasm building to the start of the event. From the moment we arrived, there was a buzz in the atmosphere and Tracy and Faye were recognised. Friday night there was a local Ceilidh band; this type of band plays folk-type music with traditional dances that they teach to the crowd (think Titanic). Saturday was spent recovering/sampling the local ciders from other growers/producers in the area with live music throughout the day and an extra special band (the Zang Tang) on the night. I highly, highly recommend the Zang Tang who are self described as Funk/Soul/Acid Jazz/House. Check them out! And apart from much dancing and giggling, the weekend was spent chatting amongst ourselves and with some really incredibly intriguing and genuine people. Absolutely cannot wait to go back again next year with the girls!

So with that comes the end of the summer; shorts and sandals packed up until next year, and back to the reality of mundane real-life.