Our Weekend by the Sea

A couple of weeks ago we went to Sutton on Sea which is a lovely little seaside resort on the East Coast of England. There is not much there but it suits us fine for a quiet get away.

We have a caravan and we have found a lovely site that is not too far from the coast. It is quiet and great for kids, they can play safely and you can keep an eye on them.

We arrived at the site Friday evening and it takes us a couple of hours to get set up. Whilst hubby was finishing off I went into Sutton to get fish and chips. They are lovely. Finished off the evening with a bottle of wine and watching a dvd. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

The next day weather didn't look too good but so what we are here and we have to make the most of it. We head off to the beach whatever.

This was our view of the beach that day very overcast but what a dramatic view. I love the sea and the beaches along this part of the coast are wonderful. They stretch for miles. This one is dog friendly so are dog can enjoy himself as well.

We headed off walking along the beach our daughter trying to dodge the sea and me shouting at her not to get her feet wet. The dog loves the sea as well and it wasn't long before he had got himself wet. He has only just had his coat cut and it was done quite short this time but it was great for this kind of day.

I love walking along looking for lovely pebbles, don't know why because I don't do anything with them. I do get excited when I find the odd piece of sea glass. I hope that one day I will have enough to make something with.

There were quite a few other dogs on the beach. Our dog, Jasper, is very wary. He has got worse as he has got older. He doesn't like it if he sees 2 dogs together coming towards us and has been known to run away from us to get away from the dogs. We know now to keep him on his lead if we see more than one dog approaching.

We walked for several miles but we started to feel a spot of rain and decided it would be better to turn around. But of course the rain came down and we got soaked. Oh well part of the fun of a day at the English seaside.

The next day, Sunday, was glorious. What a difference the weather can make to a place. We didn't rush getting up, had breakfast, and then went back to the beach.

It was glorious. The sun was shining, the sea was blue, it looked amazing. We had a lovely walk. After about an hour we headed back to the caravan to get everything packed up and ready for our drive home.

We had had a lovely time, I love my weekends away. They are so much more relaxing than spending them at home.

Australia

I can't believe it is almost a year since we went to Australia. I have family over there and last year, about March, we decided we would go visit. Unfortunately not long after we had made this decision my dear dad was diagnosed with a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos (it has got a long name that I can't spell). Anyway after much soul searching we decided to go ahead and book our tickets for November.

My dad's health deteriorated and about July 2006 I asked him to come and live with us. I did not want him to go into a home. He was only with us a few weeks when he suddenly took a turn for the worse and had to go into hospital. From here he was transferred to a hospice where less than a week later he passed away. We were with him when he went - I miss my dad so much.

We carried on with our plans to visit Australia as I felt I now needed to see my aunty (my late mum's sister) more than ever.

When the our travel date finally arrived I could not believe that I was going to one of my dream destinations. I was actually going to see Sydney I was so excited. I spoke to my aunty that morning and it felt so unreal saying to her 'I will see you in a couple of days' oh my god pinch me. The taxi arrived and we were on our way to Manchester airport.

Our first flight was to Dubai - somewhere I had heard of but never imagined I would go. We were not having a stopover just spending a couple of hours in the airport, but what an experience. So many people of all nationalities, the clothes, the sounds it was amazing. All to soon our next flight was being called and we were on the second leg of our journey to Sydney.

I will not kid you and say I enjoyed this it was almost unbearable to be on a plane for so long but I kept telling myself 'just remember where you are going'. I think it was the longest night of my life. I am not sure how many hours it took but I think it was 15. But finally we were there, we were landing.

We got through immigration, another tedious queue, but finally we were there, got our suitcases, turned a corner and there was my uncle with a toy emu holding it out for our daughter. It felt like coming home.

The trouble is it was a holiday and now I am back in the UK and once again my thoughts have turned back to Australia and I want to go back. I hope I do - soon.