Travelling back in time
Last weekend was our first ‘winter’ camp, although it was hardly cold! Plenty of heavy rain but in between beautiful blue skies and sunshine! We traveled to Charmouth for a weekend of fossil hunting on the Jurassic Coast of beautiful Dorset.
We left after work on Friday, with iPads loaded with rubbish tv in case we needed to hide from the weather, and we got to our campsite just before 8pm. We had a beautiful, slow-cooked bolognese for dinner, and settled in with some hot drinks and a catch up of ‘The Apprentice’ and an early night. We were so snug, it was one of the best nights’ sleep I’ve had in the van so far.
The next morning we were up early to go to the beach, as it was beautiful weather and we wanted to make the most of the sunshine. Hubster had put together ‘fossil hunter starter packs’ with hammers, goggles and gloves, and we soon set off looking for T-Rex (him) and a Diplodocus (me). Unfortunately, we didn’t actually have a clue what we were doing or what we were actually looking for, so we soon went back to the heritage centre for some guidance and advice.
Following that, we set off again, and this time we were more successful. We found lots of belemnites, and even more ammonites in Fool’s gold. We had a great time, and Luna did too, running around the beach, ‘helping’ us, and barking at everyone (and drinking too much seawater… oh dear). But all morning, the clouds had been gathering around the point at Lyme Regis, and soon we could feel the first of the rain. So we decided it was time to head back, picking up a delicious Fish and chip lunch on the way.
After a few hours in the van, listening to the rain batter down on us, we saw a brief opportunity to make it to the George Inn pub where we’d sniffed out (litterally) a nice fire place earlier that day. Luna wasn’t too keen on walking anymore, but as soon as she was in front of that fire, she started to perk up after all that swimming, running and seawater…
We got very comfortable, and decided to have some food in the pub before heading back for a film in bed and another early night, slightly disrupted by the rain.
What a lovely day we had! Hubster had the idea after a fairly random conversation about fossil hunting a few weeks ago, but it turned out to be a lovely thing to do, and we’re already planning to go again, when my parents come to visit.
