Northumberland - Saturday 12th July - Day 2

We were up bright and early as the sun was streaming through the crack in our shutters. It was a lovely morning, with the bright dawn light reflecting off the sea. We had been hoping it might be warm and sunny today and it was a good start to the day.

First order of business was food as we hadn't brought much with us and we'd been a little late to do any shopping on the way up to the cottage. So we headed off to Sainsbury's at Alnwick which was a good sized supermarket to stock up on the essentials. It's not far in the car - maybe 15 minutes or so. Once unpacked, a walk up to Dunstanburgh Castle seemed like a good idea. We thought we might head on over the headland to Embleton beach too. So we packed some gear and were about to set off when we noticed it had got a bit misty. A sea mist had rolled in and blocked out the view - we couldn't even sea the end of the row of houses opposite - let alone the castle ruins! We decided to trek over anyway as we thought it might clear, but as we walked it seemed to be getting worse. We decided to change plan and go rock pooling for a bit. Master B scrambled over the rocks looking for fish and other creatures, before the inevitable jump across a large pool that he didn't quite make! Squelchy socks and trainers! Nice!

We figured we'd better head back at this point and re-think what to do with the day. The sea mist was thinning and thickening at seemingly random intervals, but it certainly looked like it might be here to stay for a bit.

A spot of lunch was in order, so we dug through the shopping and rustled up something. The kitchen in the property is functional. It's a galley kitchen, so can be a little tight at times when there is more than one of you, but there's everything you might need to make and present a good meal if you don't want to keep spending on eating out.

The mist seemed to thin in the afternoon, so we decided to head out once more with the beach stuff. This time we took the car and drove up north a little way to Low Newton. We parked up and headed down to the lovely golden sands. It was quite windy, but we sheltered behind a boat and we were fine. Master B and I made a huge sandcastle citadel just on the high tide line. The tide was coming in rapidly, so we did our best to defend the citadel from the oncoming sea, but it was too late and we lost it! It was all good fun, though. After a bit of paddling, we found we had been here nearly two hours! Time flies when you are having fun!

We took the gear back to the car and headed back - quite tired after our long journey from yesterday. Another brief visit to the pub next door for a drink and some TV in the evening and we were done! The evening was pleasant to we watched the sun go down from our balcony. The view over the harbour is amazing and something we love to keep looking at!