Thursday 11 February 2016

Madhouse diaries : A race against the weather


We're on holiday this week and next but we've been stuck indoors because of the abysmal weather. We did attempt a trip to the park on Tuesday but it was closed due to the high winds, so as the rain had finally stopped and the wind had dropped today, I decided we needed to get out in the fresh air. Sophie was lured away by the call of the high street but Pierre and Juliette were up for a big long walk to the beach and a geocaching adventure.


 We called into a park on the way for a quick play.


And I noticed that the sky was greying over. Hmm not a good sign !


We carried on our way towards the beach and, walking through the port area, we noticed that one of the derelict boats was being propped up by big inflatable buoys. Maybe it was getting a bit precarious after storm Imogen ?


We looked out to the lighthouse and saw the skies darkening before our eyes !


We carried on nevertheless and walked through the Garden of Sculptures.


 The Madhouse kids always love clambering over the rocks here.


We spotted a beautifully coloured duck - it looked black but changed to green as the light reflected off it. It's basically the colour of a mallard's head but all over.


Coming out of the park, we headed for the Passerelle, Dunkirk's newest bridge, linking the modern art museum to the promenade.


As we admired the architecture, Mother Nature wanted to show that she can do better. It was only faint but a rainbow appeared in the sky behind the bridge. You can just see it if you look carefully.


It fits in quite well with the surroundings, especially when the white bridge stands out against a grey sky, like today.


We went looking for a geocache and Pierre was very proud to be the one to find it.


Oops, look at the colour of the sky !


It looks like the end of the world is nigh !


It was still not enough to dampen our spirits though and Pierre had fun pretending to be a koala ! 


I must admit, I was keeping a wary eye on the sky though !


Juliette decided to have a go too.


But she's grown a bit since the last time she tried ! Well, she will be the ripe old age of 11 in three days !


We could see that it was raining out at sea and it wasn't long before big fat drops started spattering around us.


I asked the kids if they wanted to go and shelter but they said no, we've got hoods, let's carry on. I've trained them well !


They even wanted to peel off their socks and shoes to run across the sand.


I warned them it would be freezing cold but they had to see for themselves ... which they did after five minutes !


We followed the jetty towards the brighter weather.


 But behind us, it was closing in fast.


Run Pierre, the storm clouds are trying to catch you !



At the end of this jetty is the west jetty from which the British and allied troops made their escape during the Evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II.


A new Hollywood film about Operation Dynamo is currently being prepared and filmed in Dunkirk so it will be interesting to see that when it hits the screens.


The seagulls were out in force so I guessed a storm was really on the way.


We picked up our final geocache then headed for home.


It was only half past four but the light was fading fast.


Luckily the kids still had big smiles on their faces, especially as we popped into a shoe shop just next to the bus stop and grabbed some new boots for Juliette. They had a promotion where you could get a second pair for free so Pierre got some new trainers too - bonus ! When we got home, I checked the Fitbug and was slightly shocked to see that we'd walked 13.3km (8 and a quarter miles).

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Happily linking up with Showcase Sunday!

Life Unexpected

17 comments:

  1. god grief that was an excellent walk, I have trouble trying to get Bob and Fifi to walk a mile, their mother owns a car and never walks anywhere.
    Glad you did not all end up too wet.
    Nice to see there are still some caches you have not got, we found a random local one yesterday.
    Lol at Juliette trying to copy Pierre, it is usually the other way round with us.
    Have you been watching any of the filming?

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    1. I don't drive it so we've always done it, right from when they were in pushchairs. As long as I have a stash of snacks and drinks and there are plenty of parks, playgrounds and interesting things on the way, they don't mind. I didn't know the filming had started - Sophie said they'd done some night tests but it's in the early stages. Should be exciting though :)

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  2. looks fun, my kids are off next week, its going to be freeeeezing!

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    1. wrap up warm and have hot chocolate and a warm bath when you get back - that's what we do ! ;)

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  3. Oh the look of those clouds! What a great walk you had, its surprising how much you end up walking!

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    1. I didn't realise quite how far we'd walked, I must admit !

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  4. 13.3 km? That's fantastic! Best part all done while having fun! Looks like you all had a wonderful time! #ShowcaseSunday

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    1. That was the best part - none of us realised how far we'd gone ! :)

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  5. Those storm clouds were definitely closing in fast, I'm impressed the kids were so keen to enjoy their walk. Pierre and Juliette look like they're enjoying the freedom and fresh air of the great outdoors, it was obviously needed after being cooped up for a couple of days. It's always surprising how far you can walk without noticing on days like this. Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.

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    1. It was just what we needed, after a few days stuck inside ! :)

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  6. Looked like a really wonderful family walk, and awesome that your kids weren't bothered by the rain! And what a really interesting place to walk around, I especially like the look of the Garden of Sculptures! #whatevertheweather

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    1. If we stayed in every time it rained, we'd never get any fresh air at all ! lol :)

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  7. It's so good you persisted and went to get your geocache still. We love watching the rain coming in from across the bay and trying to time it so we can run away from the showers. We love being out in the rain too though. It makes puddle jumping even more fun. Thank you for sharing with #whatevertheweather xx

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    1. We have no qualms about being in the rain but the kids freak out a bit when there are storms so I was a bit dubious this time, I must admit !

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  8. That's a great length of walk and fab that your kids are so happy to continue going in the rain, I hope my kids stay like that too! You must have found all the geocaches in your area by now, I'm amazed everytime you post about finding new ones! Do you ever set your own caches out, a Madhouse series? Love all the storm cloud photos, you can really see it chasing you along the beach! Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather :) x

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    1. I haven't created any caches yet but I have an idea of where to put one, I just have to find a suitable container ! :)

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