Last year, we decided to come to the coast for the New Year and really enjoyed it. This year, we decided to do the same again and booked a lovely traditional apartment in Esplanade Gardens, but all kitted out in a very modern way.
We drove up on Saturday 28th, stopping off in Pocklington for a couple of hours to see my brother Martin and his partner Annabel. So by the time we arrived at the apartment, it was dark, not late, but dark for obvious reasons.
As we hadn't eaten lunch, and didn't really want to start cooking, we booked a table at the Cowshed, a lovely burger joint in the town that we had discovered last New Year. And in my opinion, you would struggle to find burgers to beat them. After my triple mac'n'cheese burger and pizza fries, I was fit to burst!
So to Sunday morning. We headed down onto the Spa and then around the south bay to have a sit down on the benches at the end of the pier, always a favourite spot of ours. But to be honest, we just downed our hot drinks as it was very windy. There was no beach walking this morning, intentionally, so we didn't need to wear our dirtier older boots which are more at home on the sand.
Often we do the long walk to Scalby Mills and back, but, although I sound like a stuck record, my knee reminded me that I can't walk as far these days so we made do with about 3 miles. It was still an enjoyable few hours.
After arriving back at the apartment we cooked the dinner that Donna had prepared before we set off for the coast, and then Donna made an apple crumble which was as always, delicious.
We hadn't planned to go out again until the evening, however, I couldn't resist the colour in the sky at sunset, so I went down to the Spa for about 45 minutes to take some photos, before cheating a little and spending £1.30 to get the cliff lift back up to the Esplanade.
Then, as nightfall fell, we togged up and walked down to the harbour for an evening walk. We were out for around an hour and a half, just enjoying the lights and sounds of a typical English seaside resort. We were quite lucky as it started to rain a little, but it was towards the end of our walk so we were saved a little. By a little before 7pm we were back in the apartment and settled down for the next Worlds Strongest Man qualifying event.
Monday would be a quiet one for me as I was working. Have laptop will travel and all that. However, for Donna, she would be able to enjoy a walk without me slowing her down. She was out for around 3 hours, enjoying a speedy walk to the North Bay and back. Around 12:30pm I fancied some fresh air, so I took the 5-minute walk to the top of the cliff lift and just took in the views out across the South Bay and out to sea. And around 20 minutes later, Donna appeared, having come up on the cliff lift. Now time for lunch.
That night, we popped out for an hour for a short walk on the North Bay, and although it was nearly 2hrs after high tide, the waves were still crashing against the sea wall which added to the atmosphere.
I was working again on Tuesday, so any outing during the day was limited. We did however manage lunch at Lookout on the Pier, and as always I had their gorgeous Chowder. Donna had a BLT, which is normally her choice of meal when we go there. And before we headed back to the apartment, we just had time to make a visit to the Harbour Bar for a Knickerbocker Glory.
And on to New Year's Eve night, and the fireworks. I had tried to get a few hours of sleep to set me up for the evening, but that didn't work, so I just had to 'man up' to stay awake for us to head out at 11pm. We set off down to the South Bay beach as that's where we saw the fireworks last year. Apparently, there used to be a large council display but that is no more, so a few local businesses set some off at midnight.
It was a wet night, but we were well wrapped up so it didn't really bother us as we headed down the path from the clifftop, down towards the Spa, and then across to the bay. We walked out onto the sand as it was low tide, and from there you could get the fireworks' reflections and the shop fronts' bright lights. It didn't disappoint. We took the cliff lift back up, as it opened well into the early hours on New Year's Eve, and arrived back at the apartment around 12:45am.
Another reason we like to come at New Year is to see all the people in fancy dress do the run into the sea at around 12:30pm. There is always quite a crowd there, possibly around 2,000, to watch around 100 entrants take part in the run down the sand and into the cold North Sea. Some just go in and out, the brave go in for much longer. And of course, I always end up with wet boots and feet having stood at the water's edge to get some photos and then getting the wave's lap up around the bottom of my legs. Worth it though.
Donna popped out for a walk by herself in the afternoon while I tried to catch up on some sleep, unsuccessfully, and in the evening we took the car around to the North Bay so we could watch the waves crashing against the sea wall. We were there for about 30 minutes and it was definitely worth it. Just a pity that high tide was when it was dark as it would have looked great in daylight. By 6pm we were back at the apartment, preparing for the final of The World's Strongest Man.
Thursday was expected to be a colder day, the temperature was going to drop a little although there would still be the winds. Our plan was to head to Robin Hoods Bay, and we did, but the icy roads along the coast had given us an idea of what it was going to be like when we got there, and it was. We took one look at the icy paths and decided that heading down the steep hill to the beach was a little too risky. So, we just turned around and headed back.
After arriving back at the apartment, we had some toast for lunch and then set off for a walk back down onto South Bay. We were out for a couple of hours and stopped off at the Harbour Bar for an ice cream whilst down there. After popping down to the lighthouse, we headed back with some lovely orange sky over the sea. It did look like it was full of snow (as forecast), but it never came to fruition.
That night we went to The Cowshed again for one of their scrumptious burgers, then spent another half an hour just watching the waves crash over the North Bay wall.
And onto the last day, as we had decided to set off back a day early just in case the forecast snow came on Saturday, we also had a meal booked at the Hunloke Arms mid-day Saturday, so better to be safe and sorry. But before heading off we walked to the Rowntree Lodge cafe for brunch, and we were not disappointed. It had been a great week.
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