Portland

Seaton had proved to be a good move, and the night passed without any problems. This morning the seafront slowly came alive. In the sea a group of early morning swimmers barely broke the smooth glassy sea water. On the nearby headlands vegetation lit by the morning sun clung above the rocky outcrop below. As we breakfasted in Marge the esplanade came alive quietly and sedately. Everyone was friendly. Our faith in humans had been restored, thank goodness.

The grotto mirror safely tucked up in our bed, we fired up Marge and began the short drive to Lyme Regis where it turned out there was no room for Marge. The car park was full and chaotic, so we promptly left and moved on to Charmouth busy and chaotic as well. Fortunately an overflow car park on a grassed area was relatively quiet and empty so we settled Marge there.

Next to us a couple produced a cold box and served themselves up plates of cold cuts, cheese, cheese biscuits and lemon mouse. Then tea with marvel. We didn't even know you could still buy marvel. After that the straps were dropped on the ladies top ready for an afternoon sunbathe by the car. Did this sum up retirement? We hoped not.

Charmouth beach was busy. In the last few days, we've seen an increase in holiday makers and wondered just how many of them would normally be abroad. We walked to the far end of the beach averting our eyes from bodies squeezed in to too small bikinis on people who thought they were on a beach in Spain. We were tempted to say, this is the costa del Dorset love, we don't let it all hang out here. Charmouth is renowned for cliff falls, and we climbed (never learn do we) over some fallen scree and rocks looking for fossils, but to no avail. The area seemed to have been picked clean.

Car parking time up we strolled back to Marge the straps were still down but the lady now had a blanket over her legs. there's nowt so strange as, well you know. She reminded Angela of one of those ladies you see on a humorous seaside postcard. After hearing the lady's opinion on covid, immunisation, insurance claims, holidays etc we prised ourselves away. The weather was beautiful and we'd enjoyed our time at Charmouth and the stunning views along the coast back to Lyme Regis and Weymouth.

We were going to head back to Poole, but the weather was so lovely we diverted to Portland stopping in a large car park by the causeway behind Chesil Beach. But after a while it became obvious it might not be a good idea to stay as the other vans began to leave, so a quick look on the internet found the Pulpit Inn over near the lighthouse.

£10 a night on the grass area beside the pub with views towards the lighthouse and out to sea. We had a drink sat outside the pub and talked to a lady with a micro camper the same size as our Citroen Berlingo car. We've been thinking of making a unit that converts our car in to a micro camper for some time just for the fun of it. Love Marge as we do, sometimes her size can make places we'd like to visit inaccessible, this way we'd have the best of both worlds.

Rib eye steaks cooked on our outdoor grill whilst enjoying a beautiful view in a safe area, our faith in van life has been restored.