It’s 4.20am on the 22nd June. I can’t sleep have been lying awake for ages listening to the birds and watching it get light. I thought it must be about 7, so boiled the jug and opened a couple of blinds. I looked at the clock in the truck (which is still on French time), when it said 5.20 I thought maybe I was crazy and I have to add an hour, not take one off. I checked Di’s watch (on local time), it said 4.20, I still wasn’t convinced, so now I’ve checked the computer (on NZ time) and it says 3.29pm so yes, I now believe that it is perfectly light here in Scarborough on a cloudy day at 4.30 am.
I have no idea about sunrise time yesterday as it was well and truly risen when we all woke at about 8.45 yesterday, not that it was high in the sky (or it may have been, just hidden beneath or actually above a layer of cloud. Light showers had been forecast, and they did occur, along with quite heavy ones at times and at other times very pleasant sunshine. Though we are still troubled by inclement weather here in Yorkshire the temperatures at least are much improved. It is warm enough to wear tee-shirts sometimes with a layer of non-fleece over the top, sometimes it is a waterproof layer that is necessary, but not a layer and a waterproof (and merino and woollen scarves and gloves and beanies as in Scotland).
Anyway yesterday after a leisurely start to the day we headed down to Scarborough proper. It’s about 3 kms to the centre of town. We stopped at a Sainsbury’s to top up our groceries, went in for milk, butter (yes we eat real butter and it’s yummy), yoghurt, fruit, vegetables and crackers…. Came out £57 lighter off with all sorts of other “must haves”. Prices here are quite different from home. I’ll give you some, strawberries are £2 everywhere for a reasonable sized punnet. Tomatoes £2/kg. Milk is £1.39 for 2 litres ( well just over actually it comes as 4 pints) often you can get 2 for £2 so that is cheap compared to home. Meat is dear in comparison, good quality beef mince is about £10 a kilo, fresh fish varies of course depending on species but haddock or cod is about £15 I think, we buy really nice frozen fillets though which are about £4 for enough for 2 (at least) meals. So many things cost twice that in NZ i.e same number in pounds as we pay in dollars, but then some things like milk and soft cheeses are a lot cheaper. You can get a decent sized wedge of brie or camembert for about a pound, butter (plain pack) is £1.10 for 250 gms. You can get 2 litres of water for 25p, not that we tend to buy that in NZ (apart from the poor residents of ChCh) but it costs significantly more than that I’m sure, biscuits vary hugely in price but you can get a nice plain pack digestive for about 30p and chocolate coated for less than 50p. Diesel here is more expensive than petrol, it ranges from about £1.34 to 1.49/litre so I’m not sure how that compares to NZ currently, I think unleaded 91 is about 5 pence a litre cheaper than that (the truck uses diesel so I don’t notice petrol prices so much).
Anyway I digress.
After the supermarket we went down to North Esplanade and walked along the promenade and on the golden sand. It was spitting very occasionally, but humid. There were lots of kids there on school trips, digging in the sand, and lots of people just mooching. Of course there were your gorgeous English people sitting inside or just outside their brightly coloured “beach chalets” in deck-chairs,
and Hilary had a ride on a donkey on the beach. She is still just young enough to admit that it was “cool” though she tried not to let on too much.
Hilary and Diana had a tub of ice-cream each before we headed back to get the sand toys from the van.
I made coffee and looked at some brochures before joining the others on the beach for sandcastle constructing. Hilary spent an hour and a half in bliss, directing her labourers (and labouring herself) to follow the plan she had in her head, and partially outlined in the sand. She loves the beach, and water, I think it is her Zen time, where she can truly relax and let her mind settle, a bit like gardening for me. I think though she is enjoying this time (exploration) with us, and learning heaps, and enjoying having lots of time with us, on one level she is quite stressed by it. I don’t think I realised how important routine and patterns are to her, and this not knowing what is happening, and constant change is for her very stressful. We always thought there was a touch of Asperger’s in her with her need for numbers and patterns, but this time with her, in close proximity 24 hours a day, and the stress for her is really showing some definite signs. I won’t go into details, she is entitled to some privacy, but we are talking openly with her about some of her slightly odder behaviours that may cause her a bit of teasing if she isn’t aware of them and can’t moderate them, later.
After our sandcastle building we sat in the van by the sea side drinking tea, while the heaven’s opened, perfect timing just by chance, Hilary was barely back in the van having put the finishing touches (well I’m not sure she was finished actually) to her castle. Once the rain stopped we drove around the point to the South beach where all the action was. Here are the gaudy “amusement arcades” with the 2p gambling houses (not like our casinos, though there were a few slot machines/one armed bandits. These you drop a 2p coin in a slot, it rolls down onto the upper level and may or may not dislodge another 2p coin (or more) which drops down a level and where may be (but not likely) it dislodges some 2p coins or a soft toy or some other useful prize, to fall out the front of the machine for you to have. We blew 76p, and unfortunately introduced a very taken Hilary, to gambling. We wandered amongst the glitz (but no glamour) looking at shops selling fudge, nougat and Scarborough rock (you know, the candy canes with “Scarborough” written in the middle, all the length of it), past dozens of “world famous” fish and chip shops, and many more penny arcades.
It was now getting on towards 6 o’clock so we went back to the van, which was now bathed in bright sun-light, with the intention of heading back to the campsite. Hilary piped up, “we could have dinner here” looking longingly at the golden sand and sparkling sea. So she played while I made dinner in the back of the van, and then we all sat eating in the sunshine (in the truck) watching the sea race up the beach (boy the tides come in fast here, you could easily get caught out) before heading back to our campsite.
Diana is teaching Hilary how to play “500” at cards. She loves it (of course, numbers and gambling, patterns, rules……) and so she and Diana played that into the evening, while eating fresh strawberries, raspberries, meringues and double cream, after she had first done her recorder practise.
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