Bank Hols on Bournemouth Beach

Bank Hols on Bournemouth Beach
Originally uploaded by Di Di's Trip pics

This turned out to be a bit of a mad day because parking in and around Bournemouth and Poole is a) a nightmare and b) expensive. I parked the van for FREE in a little country park a few miles out of Poole at around 3pm and after three necessary cups of Lady Grey tea and an all-day breakast, I cycled to Poole Quay. This being on 'the list' (gosh, I'm starting to sound like Earl Hickey) I spent an hour or so in the late afternoon light capturing people eating ice cream, chomping on fish and chips, drinking beer etc. as per the request. I managed to look less like a stalker than usual by making it look like I was just taking pics of the sea gulls mid flight. This worked a treat till one lonely old soul decided this was the most interesting thing he'd seen all day and proceeded to engage me in conversation about my choice of shooting subject matter. I didn't reveal I was actually trying to capture the people and movement of the quay just as much as I was the birds. He seemed far more intent on telling me about his cruising experiences on famous yachts and cruise liners around the world. It was at this point I remembered I should try to stop being the world politest person and also I began to wonder what other sort of cruising he might be up to. I swiftly made my excuses and booked myself on the last boat of the day out to Brownsea Island.

The island is also on my list and it's a bit of a tricky one. The whole island is National Trust owned which means that we can't publish any pictures taken ON there. NT have their own picture library and expect publishers to use and pay for using these rather than take their own so RG have only requested I get shots from the water and not on NT land. This made 4.30pm the best time to get on a boat over there because the island closes at 5pm it meant I couldn't get off the boat on arrival at the quay. It also meant I got the trip for half price! Hooray. The sun was still quite high in the sky so not quite perfect but I knew there was little chance of getting any better light during the cruising time of day at this time of year.

My day was really only just beginning at this point because once I was back in Poole I then donned my rather unattractive cycle helmet and day-glow builder's-style jacket and cycled along to Branksome and then along the promenade into Bournemouth. It was a glorious ride and, once on the prom, all flat.

What I was after in Bournemouth was a pic of the pier at night. I've seen shots of it all lit up in bright colours and thought that would work well for the TNTM section options. There was only one slight snag with my plan and that is that it was only around 6.30pm when I arrived in town and, what with the days getting longer and all that, there was no chance of taking the shot till at least 9pm at a guess.

I passed at least half an hour buying a bucket and spade for the shot above and even made a sandcastle or two (felt a bit silly, mind. I was all wrapped up in several layers of mostly black clothing and didn't look the least bit like I was dressed for a day on the beach). So what to do next? I was running out of phone battery so calling a few people was out of the question. Befriend a few locals? I was so exhausted from the ride (plus can't quite say I'd had a shower in a few days...ah, the joys of life on the road!) and wasn't even sure I could string enough sentences together to sound coherent and erm, normal on account of having spoken to no one all day, so that was kinda out of the question.

I'm afraid to say, I bottled it. I got back on my bike around 9pm when the sky was STILL too light to see the colours of the pier and rode all the way (six or seven miles I reckon) back to the car park on the other side of Poole. I will just have to return to Bournemouth for that shot at a later date. November perhaps?

I arrived at the van around 10pm after wobbling all over the road towards the end of the ride and opted, despite the clear signage saying 'no overnight camping', to stay in the country park car park. As you know, I'm usually a law abiding citizen, but I didn't think driving while that exhausted was a good plan (particularly when I had nowhere specific to head to) but also, it didn't say 'STRICTLY no overnight camping' and no fine fee was mentioned. So, yes, I broke the rules...just a little bit, but maaan, I slept well.