Not Putting Up Shelves: Holidaying in Dorset, 19th

Thanks to the wonderful ebay me and Tim managed to secure a lovely, recently refurbished little self catering cottage in Dorset for £205 for the week. Not bad you might say. Cheaper than going through the usual internet searches of B&B's and hotels, trying to get a last minute deal, where they think £650 is reasonable just because it's peak season.

The cottage was on the Isle of Portland, famous for it's lighthouse, Portland Bill. We stayed in Fortuneswell, bit of a run down area really, but the locals were nice enough when we visited the pub across the road for one, and left many, many pints later.

And Fortuneswell did have the best takeaway curries at Cafe India. I think bar maybe a couple of nights we had curry from here. All of it excellent.

We managed to do a fair bit of sight-seeing. To get to Portland you have to travel through Weymouth, or at least try to go around it. Weymouth is exactly what you would expect from a traditional seaside town. Tacky shops selling inflatable alligators and sticks of rock, Fish and Chips on sale at every corner, and lots of families taking advantage of the hotels on the esplanade.

Lyme Regis

We sat on the docks, with some chips, and watching the boats coming in, and going out again.

Coming in, and going out again...

If you're staying in Portland then you've got to go to Portland Bill obviously.

I managed to get quite a few good pictures of the Lighthouse and the surrounding Coast

A little further round the coast we found a tiny little secret pebble beach, complete with beach huts, down a very windy steep path.

Random doesn't quite cover it. From Marie Stopes cottage full of stuff taken from shipwrecks, to scary looking stuffed owls to skeletons of dead cats. Next to the road leading to Church Ope Cove, we found the Portland Museum, and paid the small entrance fee to look round the bizarrest collection of old stuff.

Back around the otherside of Portland, nearer where we were staying, is Chiswell Beach, and the road leading from the Mainland to Portland.

A very picturesque 23 mile stretch of quite pebble beach, (18 miles if you read some websites and booklets.) Good for mackerel fishing we were told.

Imagine this was me...

I know, weird isn't it.

But honestly...

Yes, I donned a wetsuit and buoyancy aid and went kayaking over the ocean. Twice.

I may even be persuaded to go on it again.

And now the only reason for going to Dorset...

Monkey World Dorset!

One of our favourites Terri, here eating carrot, then spitting it out.
Colourful Crocheted Blankets are the thing to have in your monkey cage...

The sweetest baby gorilla... and her mum.

This one wasn't to impressed with my camera.