2 June 2009

We woke at the civilised hour of 7am to another fabulous day.

Eventually we all gathered ourselves together and drove in several cars over to Staithes. The village is so inaccessible that all visitors have to park on the clifftop and walk ten minutes down a 1 in 4 hill to the harbourside.

It was a fantastic spot for a family day out, and improved further by a very decent cafe with great coffee and good food. There is a small sandy beach with almost becalmed water, backed by picturesque houses (including one of Captain Cook's first dwellings). We all had a great couple of hours playing on the sand before it was time to head for home. I was sorry we hadn't made it down there years ago as it seemed so idyllic.

Nick was determined to take Emily in for another dip, but as before she yelled when the cold water surprised her. She did calm down quickly afterwards though, and was soon sat on an upturned boat gnawing a stone.

After hanging out at the farm a while we took a stroll down to Falling Foss. The children had a wonderful time sploshing in the shallow stream

before we moved on into the garden of Midge Hall for tea and cake. Emily was very lively, really liking the tyre swing.

I saw a robin and some wagtails, and I realised that I mustn't take them for granted as there don't seem to be any in Japan.

In the evening we finally put the games room to some use and had a brief snooker tournament. There was still some light in the sky as we retired at eleven. In Japan it doesn't stay light much beyond 8pm, as it is further south and they don't have daylight saving.