Our first real holiday (Pt 2 The first day)

By the time we’d sorted everything out, it was coming up to midday. We drove into the town and found a snug little café where we had lunch. We walked around for half an hour as neither of us had seen much of it before, apart from a brief visit when we had been here earlier just for a couple of days.
Coming back to the caravan, we changed into beach wear and went down to the sea. It was only a very short distance to the beach down the cliff path from the site. The beach at Berwick is mostly shingle but we found a comfortable spot to sit. It was a very hot day and even the sea felt warm when we went for a dip. We came out of the water and lay on a couple of towels we had brought. Iris looked absolutely stunning in her bikini. It had taken me a hell of a lot of persuading for her to wear it but the weather was ideal for lazing about in the sun. She had said that she felt that everybody was looking at her as we walked down from the cliff-top; in actual fact she was right! I was aware of the envious glances she was receiving from even teenage lads. Iris was 34 but looked much younger, I was so very proud of being with her that day.
The sun was blazing down and I was liberally applying sun-tan lotion on my shoulders and Iris was rubbing some on my back. I told Iris to put some on but she said she didn’t fancy being covered in greasy oil. I said she should get some protection as it really was a very hot day but no, she said she was fine. A little later, we had both dozed off; it had been a very early start that morning. Getting up at 4.30 was indeed a novel experience. 4.30am in my book is strictly reserved for stray cats and burglars! I came to when Iris was nudging me; she was asking for the sun-tan lotion. She said she felt a little warm on her shoulders. I looked and she was like a bloody lobster! I doused her in oil and suggested she covered her arms and shoulders for a bit. Later, we went back to the caravan for dinner and to change ready for going out that evening. I had suggested that we ate out but she insisted on preparing a meal for us. She said that she wanted to feel like a real housewife. I saw that it meant such a lot to her and I couldn’t possibly argue with that! Later, she confessed that she thought living in a caravan was a bit like playing ‘House’ as a child, only a more grown-up version. Nevertheless, she was loving every minute of it. I, too, was looking forward to the prospect of a fortnight with just the two of us, away from everyone and everything. We were in a world of our very own.

Historian’s note… Berwick has changed hands between England and Scotland over 16 times since 1147. Even now, Berwick Rangers, an English soccer team, play in the Scottish FA!