1 June 2014 (hazy, watery sunshine, mild)

Great  sleep, ten  hours. Much needed after previous night’s lack of zzzzzzzzz’s.  Delicious breakfast with the food we’d bought at Tesco Extra. This was the first time we’d shopped at one of these. It was massive and you could buy just about anything.  Food is so cheap and includes so much variety. It’s really good to know that it is possible to provide the consumer not only with choice, but good quality for low prices, yet still make a profit.  Food prices are definitely cheaper when shopping at these centres.

Dools has us booked into a typical British holiday park. These consist of hundreds of permanent caravans located on a vast pastoral site in the English countryside. They are a great way for the working class families to enjoy a fair priced holiday which includes good amenities.  This site has a laundrette, shop and an adjoining site offers a pool, games room, café and restaurant and bar.

Pete props Dools up after our wander down the beach.
 Come on Dools, it was only a 25% gradient

Took a wander down to the beach. The day was warm and hazy and as we strolled along approaching the sand, you could well have been at any Mediterranean resort with the sun blazing down, except for the pale beer-gutted bodies, socks and sandals and knotted hankies.  No, to be fair, we never saw any knotted hankies.  It is however, very noticeable that body shapes have changed considerably over the years and whether on the beach or around the pool, most people were overweight or obese. Very sad!  Even the youngsters, but this is probably largely due to the appendages they have hanging from their hands – phones and cans of beer.  Cigarettes are still very popular over here too.

Did some long overdue laundry and hung it out in the breeze which had developed before settling down to a nice lunch and a cuppa,with a bit of the French Open on telly.

After lunch we took a drive down to Sandford Pier which is a real relic from the past.  The whole town is really neglected and looking very dilapidated. 

The Grand looking, well.......not so grand

We bought an ice-cream and walked to the end of the pier but it was very disappointing with it all being covered in and full of gambling and amusement machines.  So we got back out into the sunshine and Ju had a walk in the water which she reckoned wasn’t too cold.  Maybe take your breath away for the first minute but then you’d get used to it.  She’s only been walking on the beach five minutes when a boogieboard washed up in front of her.  If there’d been a wave, she’d have been in I’m sure.

 Then it was back to the caravan to watch the women’s FA cup final at 4.30pm between Everton and Arsenal (Arsenal won 2-0) and then we walked to the caravan park next door to eat at their restaurant before returning to chill out some more.  A nice relaxing day with sunshine as well.