TeamChallis: Week 73 - holibobs part 2

On Monday we all went out to Lymington. Mark and Tim went for a walk along by the harbour. The girls, Deirdre, and I hit the charity shops. I was feeling a bit charity shopped out, but Bunnykins was really keen, so it was nice to do something she wanted to do.

We walked down through a quaint little set of streets to meet the chaps who had booked us a table for lunch. Thing is it was so crowded going through this section. We all ended up walking with our masks on. This photo doesn't capture it, but it felt like there were far too many people for my liking.

It's something we knew would be an issue down on the south coast this summer. The vast majority of people are staycationing, and a fair majority of them have headed south in the hope of decent weather and beaches that capture something of their lost foreign holiday.

Sadly, this year the weather hasn't been so kind. It has been warm, but I feel often that I am missing the sun.

Anyway, we got to the pub where we had a table outside, fortunately under cover as it rained while we were there.

It was an opportunity to show off our charity shop finds. Woo had found a handfull of rings that she was having a go at modelling.

Not quite sure...

Mark, and Bunnykins showing how it's done....

On Tuesday it was Woo's choice. We were up early and down to Sandbanks to go across to Studland on the ferry.

It was a beautiful day and lovely to hit this area before it got crowded up.

We were trying to get to the South Beach car park but struggled with sign-age and ended back up at Middle Beach. The aim of the day was to paddle out to Old Harry Rocks. These are the rocks that seem slightly detached from the headland behind Bunnykins here...

With the bay so calm and quiet we were happy with the idea of starting from Middle Beach. We got ourselves kitted up and down to the beach. This time we had 4 paddles, as we had ordered an extra 2 which had arrived at the weekend.

The water was so lovely and clear, it didn't take long before the girls wanted to be in for a swim.

We paired back up and set off again, straight across the bay.

Mark and Woo tried standing up to paddle. They did well, but when Bunnykins suggested we did the same I just had a little chuckle. My balance is good, but with a small swell and Bunnykins' erratic paddling style there was no way I wanted to try that!

They lasted about 2 minutes and I think it will be the first and last time they try it 😄.

We found that the best configuration was standing paddler at the back, kneeling at the front, and for the most part sticking with one side, worked pretty well.

Old Harry Rocks were getting closer.

Time for another swim stop!

Bunnykins had decided to wear her lifejacket, which I thought was very sensible of her. I thought I wished I'd taken mine as they are lovely to float around in.

I don't know how long we paddled for, it seemed pretty quick, but it probably was at least half an hour (if not more) before we got there.

We got up to the rocks and wanted to paddle through to explore the other side of the rocks. The waves were breaking towards us through the gap making it a little exciting to head towards it and get through.

It was wonderful on the other side, the cliffs were bathed in sunshine and lighting up the water. It felt like we had passed into somewhere off the Italian Coast. I have no idea what Santorini is like, but it kept coming into my mind that we were there.

There were little archways, caves and beaches to paddle through and explore.

The water was generally quite shallow near the rocks. We stopped near a tiny beach and had a swim or float. The water was so clear and bright.

Mark went off for a little explore.

The tiny beach...

We then set off to explore a little way down this side of the peninsula.

The water through the archway was deeper, with kelp forests down below. The water was so clear that paddling standing up was giving me vertigo looking down into the swaying seaweed.

Mark and Woo had found a cave.

We then paddled back to the gap through the rocks.

It was very shallow on the other side.

We hung around in the shallows a little while talking about where to have lunch. One thing I like about the paddle boards is that you can have the things that you need (like packed lunch, suncream, drinks, card to buy an ice cream with) and the four of us can just sit on there, away from the seething masses. I love body boarding, but you can't take supplies!

Anyway, up by the pass through, there were some big flat rocks. The cliff wasn't so close overhead (worrying about rock falls) at that point either, so they looked an attractive place for lunch. Only problem was that some canoeists were already there with their craft on the rocks having a lovely time swimming.

Mark went to check it out and came back to report that there was more space around the corner. Not only that but the canoeists looked like they were moving.

So we paddled up and round, and clambered out onto the rocks. Once we had one of us on there (Mark effectively pushed Woo up off the board - feet down - off you go!!) then it was fairly straightforward to pass all our stuff up onto the rocks and then pull the boards up there.

It was such an idyllic spot. The area was plenty busy with paddle boarders and canoe-ers and kayak-ers but people more naturally kept a distance on the water. The sun was shining, the water was clear. We had a lunch and drinks with us, I was in no rush to be anywhere else in the world.

The canoeists moved off and we had the prime spot by the gap to ourselves.

Bunnykins invented a game which can be summed up in two words....

Cannon - ball!

Cannon - ball!!!!

The game was enhanced by jumping in from the gap rocks.

Time for a few more cannon balls...

It was wonderful swimming and jumping in the water, but we eventually decided we should start the journey back. With an offshore breeze we knew it would be harder getting back in, but if we stuck to the cliff edge it should be more sheltered. The plan was to head towards South Beach and then we could be in the shallows back across to Middle Beach.

I didn't take many pictures on the way back, the paddling was way too intense. It was nice how shallow it was along the rocks, so we could just hop off and stand. Otherwise if we stopped I could feel the wind pushing us back out. It was quite hard going. Bunnykins is a good little paddler, but she would get tired and we would start curving out one way. I would suggest we swapped sides to paddle but then energised by the change, she would paddle really hard on that side and so we would still be curving the wrong way!!

Eventually we tethered up the two boards with Mark and Woo in front and me and Bunnykins behind. That helped keep us in line and with the four of us paddling we made good progress back to the shore.

We hopped off and walked along the coast line in the water. It was nice to be away from the crowds on the beach.

There was time for a bit of a swim and a play.

I even got towed along for a while, so I could look up at the sky while TeamChallis pulled the boards along.

It had been a great day - I loved it.

We left early enough that it wasn't too bad getting across the ferry. We all had showers and sat out in the garden enjoying the sun that has been a bit rare.

They even got the twister out again.

We had decided to go on Wednesday as I was keen to get home and do a few things around the house and garden with our days off. I also wanted a sleepover for Bunnykins and her friends. We were going to take the old tent of Tim and Deirdre's. Mark and Tim had a go at setting it up before we left.

We decided to leave after lunch, so I sat out and read for a while. I was really enjoying this latest Ursula book "The Beginning Place" though I knew it would be over all too soon.

We got home and packed away, then Mark and Bunnykins had a go at getting the tent set up.

I couldn't wait to check my greenhouse and pots

Thursday morning Woo and Mark got up super early. Woo wanted to see sunrise at Rest Bay. Bunnykins was not keen so we stayed home.

They took the paddle boards and had a great time.

I had messed up my communication over dates for the sleepover, so in the end it didn't happen, but A came over for the afternoon. They had a great time still.

My begonias had come on in the week I had been away.

On Friday morning Mark wasn't feeling great. He did a covid test of course which was negative, but still he went back to bed. I made us a smoothie: a bananas, an apple, 2 carrots, loads of kale from the garden and black currents along with orange juice - it was rather tasty if I do say so myself.

It was a bit of an odd day. Mark and the girls were in their beds most of it and I just felt a bit adrift, not able to make a plan that could stick. In the end I gave into it and sat out to read.

After lunch I walked to Downend for groceries.

Then home to unload. Then up to Staple Hill to go to the factory shop for plant food and super glue. I also popped into the bakery and flower shop.

I got home and got the tea made.

My girls....

I tried to convince them I was taking selfies....

On Saturday the girls and I got up early enough to get to the shops for opening. I wanted to get Bunnykins her school shoes. We were also looking for a school bag and flask.

There was absolutely nothing in the normal shoe shop. It turns out Bunnykins now has bigger feet than Woo. She also has a high instep that makes getting into some shoes impossible.

We went to Schue and tried some Doc Martins. She didn't go for this pair but she finally had some options. We ordered some traditional DMs in a softer leather. We also managed to find a school bag and flask that she is going to decorate with stickers.