Our first proper holiday, ever...

Dave and I are back in Coventry, after a week on holiday with Richard in the North Yorkshire Moors. We had rented a little cottage in a pretty and isolated location and were looking forward to a restful week. In my case, this was my first proper holiday since I was seventeen, so my expectation levels were high!

The weather wasn't great, with only one really nice day and I was ill for some of the week, but otherwise it was a nice break and we did our best to take in the sights.

On our one sunny day, we visited Robin Hood's Bay, taking in a walk to Boggle Hole where Dave indulged in some fossil hunting. He persuaded Richard to help him, but the latter backed off when part of the cliff face came crashing down... Dave of course, rushed over for a closer look.





It was very pretty, with clear views out over the bay and lots of dogs and people playing in the water. Very hot too and after lunch we climbed slowly back up through the village, looking in the little shops.



Eden Camp was well worth a visit and definitely worth the £5 entrance fee. There was so much to see, we didn't get time to do the whole museum and the nature of the place meant that even when the heavens opened (and boy did they open) there were lots of huts to shelter in.

Whitby is another town built on a hill, with a serious trend towards New Age or Goth type shops. Dave tells me this is because of Dracula's connections with the town, but I just marvelled at the number of shops selling spell lists!

We walked the 199 steps, Richard said there was one missing as he counted 198, which seems to tally with the debate on Whitby's website. At the top of the steps, is St Mary's Church, which looks like a mish-mash of at least three churches stuck together.



Very odd looking building, which looked much prettier from a distance than close up.



There were also some very weird corrosive effects going on with some of the gravestones.



Despite searching the town as thoroughly as I could, alas I did not find a yarn shop in Whitby, despite the tour guide saying there was one.

We also visited the Danby Moors Centre, which was very interesting and had a tea shop I'd definitely recommend, if anyone is in the area. No photo's I'm afraid, but while out on the moors we did see plenty of wild life. There were rabbits and lots and lots of sheep, of so many different kinds that I lost track. Richard bought a book - Know Your Sheep - but I still couldn't identify the many breeds we saw ambling along the side of the road, or munching away on grass verges.

I did manage to get this picture of a moorland bird and chicks of some sort. I'm afraid I don't know what she was, but we'd pulled over to let another car pass and I noticed some bits of fluff moving in the verge. It took me a few seconds to realise I was looking at a hen and chicks, which she quickly rounded up and hurried away from the car as Dave tried to find the camera. I took this picture at maximum zoom, seconds before the whole brood disappeared into the grass.