18th birthday tour, day 2, part 2

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So, with our inner cravings satisfied, albeit temporarily, we continued our journey to Boscombe. This took us through some pretty countryside until we reached the urban sprawl of Bournemouth. Serena the SatNav deftly directed us down numerous identical looking roads and round a myriad of roundabouts, until we reached the genteel leafy green of College Road, where lay our destination and home for the next three nights.

This was the first time we had seen John and Jane's pad which they bought when they retired and moved down from Surrey. And very impressive it was too. Allocated our bedrooms we dumped our stuff and with John as guide, set off for the beach, which is first seen from the clifftop as a breathtaking sweep of golden sand and invitingly blue sea, stretching for approximately 7 miles, with The Needles on the Isle of Wight clearly visible in the distance. Once down at sea level a short debate took place as to how far to walk along the prom. Turning right meant a 1km walk (and 1km back!), turning left meant a shorter walk and the chance to view (but not ride) the cliff lift back to the top. This option won and with Anna and Catherine following us along the beach, having done a little paddling, we strolled and chatted.

After our return, the next item on the agenda was an evening meal, and being at the seaside meant that it had to be fish and chips, which John volunteered to get for us. Delicious it was too. During the meal, eaten in the dining room with the patio doors wide open to the garden, we learned how some time previously some Hobnob biscuits had been thrown onto the lawn and that those indoors had watched incredulously as seagulls swallowed them whole! We tried to imagine the cartoon like image of a seagull's neck assuming the shape of the biscuit as it slipped down. We wondered how they would react to slices of lemon that came with the fish and chips, so out the scraps went and we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. We had been assured that the flying garbage disposal operatives would appear within seconds, but the sky remained empty of them and although one eventually came and sat on a nearby roof and eyed us balefully, it seemed that they weren't interested. Finally one landed and within seconds there was a feeding frenzy. The veggie burger was first to go, followed by batter and chips, but they clearly had taken a vow to eschew healthy fruit and the lemon remained untouched until John eventually cleared it away.

After several closely contested games of Scrabble and Mastermind, we all succumbed and took to our beds.

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