Shark Infested Waters

Hello from Cornwall again.  Despite the very disappointing weather last week we are still here on the estate.  Good job the chateau has some lovely open fires otherwise we would have froze to death in the evenings. 

I felt so sorry for the campers who were down in the bottom field.  But we did send out some hot soup each evening.

Monday 20th August

Spencer was reading the paper this morning and read out to us an article of local interest. There has been a sighting of a Great White Shark off the coast near where we were yesterday. We won’t be going back there again in a hurry I can tell you.  Honestly, it is getting like Australia here, what with that poor man stung to death by a sting ray last year, it soon won’t be safe for us to swim in our own waters.  Decided to go to a different beach at Praa Sands today for a swim, and we all went in this time as the weather wasn’t too bad at all.  Caught the late news this evening on the TV.  That shark seems to be following us around.  It was sighted off Porthleven this afternoon.

Tuesday 21st August

Beginning to develop a healthy looking tan now that the weather is nice again.  Spent the whole day relaxing on the beach at Whitsands, just reading my gardening magazines and eating ice cream.  The children and Spencer disappeared off for a time and I must have dozed off for a bit, because when they eventually came back they were all excited because they had tried body-boarding for the first time.  I laughed and said “watch out for that Great White Shark!”

Wednesday 22nd August

Watched Breakfast News to find that the Great White has now been spotted at Whitsands.  So decided to go on a boat trip today in the opposite direction to Whitsands which took us off the North coast of Cornwall to look at dolphins. The boat was packed with people all hoping to catch a glimpse of the Great White Shark. We did manage to see some dolphins and some seals as well. Violet Elizabeth was “well pleased”, as it is her aim to become a Marine Biologist when she grows up.  I quizzed the Captain of the boat about the recent sightings of a Great White Shark, and he reassured me that it was very unlikely that there was one in Cornwall.  Not convinced, I rang up the Cornish Coastguard who told me that it was more likely to be a basking shark or a porbeagle, which apparently looks similar fin-wise, but isn’t a man eater like the Great White.  Mind you this shark mania is having a positive knock on effect on tourism.  We passed a shop selling giant pasties in the shape of a shark, and it took me all my time to stop Marcus going in to get one.

Thursday 23rd August

Spencer and the children have bitten by the surfing bug, so we went to the HQ of British surfing at Newquay today.  They have all had lessons and seem to have really enjoyed themselves.  The children are pretty good at it now, though Spencer keeps falling off his board.  We stayed on late into the evening and I sat on the beach and read the local evening paper.  Can you believe it?  The headline was “Great White spotted at Newquay”.  There is definitely something fishy going on.  We managed to catch a programme on the Discovery Channel in the evening presented by Australian Dave “Sharkman” Baxter who has been studying sharks for over 30 years.  He said “there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that it is a Great White adult probably about 12 ft long.  The dorsal fin, the dark colouration and the way the tail moves, plus its speed through the water- it all proves to me that this is not a Basking Shark”.

Friday 24th August

Last full day of our holiday before returning home to Old Basing and the Village Show.  See, I have almost managed to write a whole week’s diary without mentioning it once.  Went out for a meal, and guess what?  Spencer chose Shark steak!  Waited till the evening to start the packing and as Spencer came bustling in carrying his grey wetsuit I began to wonder.  Surely not?  I know he is getting a bit portly but I like to think of him as being rather tall, and well in proportion.  We will have to see whether the shark sightings stop when we return home.

25th August

Today we have to return home.  It is Marcus’s birthday.  He looks somewhat bemused at the Delia Smith book of cakes that I gave him, but I soon explained that there were some good cake recipes in it that might do for next year’s show.  (As regular readers will know, he has already made his Dundee cake for this year). 

Home again to Old Basing.  Not an entirely wasted holiday, as I have managed to get quite a few things finished.  I wonder what the garden will look like?  I wonder whether everything has grown?  I hope everything hasn’t grown too much.  I wonder whether a Great White has arrived in British waters, but I suspect not.   Maybe we shouldn’t go away for 2 weeks in August next year, and especially not to Cornwall??