Swanage Holiday

We are just back on Saturday from a wonderful week on holiday in Swanage, Dorset.  We stayed in a holiday house, walking distance to the beach, with grandma, grandpa and Auntie Jane.

I think we picked the best week of the year to go as the sun shone and we made the most of it!

When we arrived the kids immediately insisted on a walk to the beach with grandma and grandpa. Steve and I caught up a few minutes later to find the most British of scenes - kids stripped down to undies, paddling in the sea. Unfortunately grandpa didn't finish the look with a knotted hanky- always next time!


We spent A LOT of time on the beach - Beth is definitely a Californian girl, happily trying out bodyboarding. Toby enjoyed the beach but as with most things wanted to move on once he'd been a couple of times - never still, always looking for something new! 

We did try a different beach, Kimmeridge, one morning. Toby was in his element as it was a stoney beach and he could lob rocks into the sea with no one telling him to stop. Nearer the end of the week he did venture into the sea with help from his newly purchased 'jet ski'. Despite it tipping him upside-down he still enjoyed sitting on it; probably more keen on dry land though!




Even with daily visits to the beach we did manage a few trips out. A lovely walk along the coastal path one morning took us to Durlston Castle. The scenery was beautiful and the kids were intrigued by the massive stone globe in the grounds. It took us a while to realise why they were so tired that afternoon - the walk was nearly five miles round trip!



Steve and I were lucky enough to get quite a few hours by ourselves thanks to g, g and Auntie J. Wednesday morning they took Beth and Toby on a steam train from Swanage station to Corfe Castle, a National Trust property about 20 minutes away. 



From the stories and photos, it sounded as if they'd had a fantastic time. I think that when we get into more of the Enid Blyton books we'll have to go back - she spent a lot of time in the area and based many of her books around features. All of them arrived back melting as it was probably the hottest day of the week - a few hours in the paddling pool solved that!

I'm sure I've missed something out and will have to add it later, but as far as holidays go, it was a pretty perfect week. :)