Forcing the fun in 2021

You know that feeling you get when someone asks if you wanna go somewhere but all you want to do is sit and watch repeats of a show you once loved and doze off? Well I felt this so strongly on Sunday that I was very tempted not to go to the beach. I’d been out for a run that morning and was waiting around for hours at home before a possible walk that was a forty minute drive away. I’m a morning person and crash most days around 2 o’clock. I hate waiting. I don’t like being in cars. I felt knackered. I discovered The O.C was on 4od which I hadn’t seen since I was a teenager. A dilemma.

But the sun was shining, the forecast for the week ahead was cold and wet, I knew the cliffs and fierce sea air would wake me up, and that in the end I’d be glad I went. It still took me half the car journey to accept my decision, but eventually made some effort to perk up for the sake of my brother.

It turned out to be one of my favourite routes since moving to Cardiff. The beach was expansive, the rock formations looked other worldly, the bluebells were out in force in the woodland above, a sea of the brightest yellow rapeseed flowers on the cliffs smelt so strongly of coconut I assumed we’d just walked past someone wearing a whole bottle of Malibu sunscreen, yummy. A good way along the beach there’s a ladder bolted onto the cliff face which would probably be quite easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. Southerndown Beach aka Dunraven Bay, can only be accessed at low tide so the ladder was put in to help the poor souls who did not know this fact and were horribly surprised to find the incoming tide was not stopping. Those who do know, still get caught out and have to decide very quickly which direction to run; back to the ladder? Or keep going to reach the path further along the beach? Not the kind of race I wish to enter.

Climbing the steep rusty ladder that seemed to lead to somewhere in the sky, was surely going to end with an epiphany. Alas, stepping tentatively onto the ledge only ended with me standing like Wonder Woman, or a horse having a wee, trying not to get blown straight off said ledge. Despite all the action films I’ve watched, if it came to it I doubt very much I’d be able to whip out my rope whilst grabbing onto the crumbling cliff edge with one hand and swing myself to safety.

The walk back towards the walled garden of Dunraven Castle through the bluebell woods and up the large stone steps made me feel like I was abroad, perhaps in Greece. I’m not sure why as I’ve only ever seen photos of Greece and these stone steps weren’t exactly white washed, but the warm evening sun, the flowers, the smells, the freshness in the air, the birds singing and the tranquil waters made me feel I was returning to a rented coastal house after a whole day on the beach, a deliciously crisp salad and chilled white wine awaiting me. Perhaps the story of My Family and Other Animals and their Grecian adventure was in the back of my mind.

Anyway, my point is, just say yes. Say yes to the walks, you just might get that holiday feeling. The O.C can wait.

Sarah x

I read that book (by Gerald Durrell) when I was living off grid and working on a farm in Portugal and would highly recommend it for both children and adults. I was quickly taken by it and completely transported into his tropical, nature abundant world.