I love the sound of rain on canvas, there is something comforting about your little dwelling in the outdoors sheltering you from the elements.
We knew when we booked our trip away that the remnants of hurricane Bertha would be blowing in, not ideal camping conditions but life’s too short right?
Taking the tent down in the wind and rain wasn’t an entirely pleasant experience but thankfully the new tent comes down even quicker than it goes up. With the car full of wet gear and us feeling a little soggy the sensible thing to do would be to go home and shelter from the storms, so that’s exactly what we didn’t do!

Another love of mine is being on the beach in wild weather, being at the mercy of the elements, dramatic views and seeing nature at its strongest…where else would we head?!

A trip along the coast to Wells next the sea didn’t disappoint, dramatic skies, and driving wind and rain were stark contrast to the picturesque beach huts. The tide was out and the beach was beautiful and deserted.
The children seem to think we are nuts when we take them out in such weather but were well togged up and soon enjoying the freedom of the empty beach. We dodged showers by dipping in and out of Wells Dell, a stunning woodland right on the edge of the beach. Another fantastic new location found thanks to searching for geocaches in the area. We searched for caches under the shelter of the trees, discovered rope swings (woo hoo!), climbed trees and even spotted a hippo wallowing in the mud…can you see it? You may need to close one eye, squint a bit and apply a healthy dollop of imagination!

With the worst of the showers over we headed back to the beach, we walked the long walk to the shore and by pure chance I happened to look down and noticed a sorry looking bee clinging to a pebble. The poor thing looked moments from death and a pale grey in colour. I’m not a fan of bugs on the whole, I love them as long as they aren’t near me! I plucked up the courage to pick up the pebble, figuring the poor fella was in such bad shape I wasn’t likely to get too much interaction. As we headed back up the beach my crazy yet kind husband took his jacket off and made a shelter as the wind was giving it’s all, before our very eyes colour started running to the dear little chap and we believed we might be able to save him. As we got closer to the dell buzzy bee was starting to make odd movements, we found shelter under a beach hut right next to the woodland and decided to let nature take over. After a few minutes we were delighted to see the bee emerge, flew past the trees a few times back and forth (we assume to get his bearings – clever bee dude!) before flying into the dell.

I felt warm and fuzzy (despite the weather) for the rest of the day. Ok so it was just one teeny tiny little bee, but these guys are precious.
Don’t believe me? Look here

With the day getting on, again rather than heading home we drove in the other direction further round the coast to West Runton for a quick explore of the rock pools, such being the nature of tides though what went out must come in, and was doing so with a vengeance …sadly we could put it off no longer, time to head home….