Cliff Top Climber

Mum and Dad went for their last holiday as a couple (i.e. before I arrive and change their lives forever) to Weymouth for a long weekend. 

This seaside town has nice walking paths around it; many of which are along chalky cliffs much like Dover. 

Now mum (as usual) wanted to walk along these as the views are fabulous (and she doesn't want to miss anything).  Dad was a bit apprehensive so they started on the gentle paths which had pretty scenery.  However, dad had been told of a nice cliff top walk called Lulworth Cove which featured the "Durdle Door" by one of his colleagues.

Mum being mum insisted that they 'try' and if she felt she couldn't make it she promised to stop.  Dad, knowing when not to argue with mum, consoled himself with the thought that she'd give up after 5 minutes. 

He was wrong.

Mum, determined, did make it up the climb by going up one step (they were very long steps) and then stopping for 3 ish minutes before starting again. 

Now many people overtook mum and were horrified once they realised she was heavy with child.  They did give dad a few looks much to his horror.

Satisfied she'd made it, mum rejoiced when she reached with a 'I told you I could do it' statement to dad.  Obviously dad was not impressed and was happy to see the rest of the walk was extremely flat (or so he thought).

After another 20 mins of walking they found the Durdle Door which is actually a rock archway. 

Mum decided she wanted to go down to the beach (to see if it was rock or sand) because everyone else did.  So obviously they did and it was a rock beach.

Now, after relaxing a bit they began the journey back.  Firstly she needed to get back up to the cliff top then the flat walk and finally back down the long steps. 

At 1/4 the way down the long steps mum began to have a fit of giggles; to the point where she had to stop. 

Dad initially thought mum was in trouble but soon realised this was not the case.  He asked what was so funny.

Apparently, people were huffing and puffing up the long steps and were eyeing up the top when they spotted mum and dad coming down.

When they're eyes flicked from dad then to mum and then down to me (aka mum's extremely large stomach) they're facial expressions would turn from 'Oh my goodness, I've not reached the top yet' to 'How the hell did she make it?' and 'This is soooo embarrassing'. 

They would also right themselves as if to say 'If she could do it so can I' i.e. I'm not a pathetic wimp, etc.

This was particularly true of the men who refused to be outdone by a heavily pregnant woman (they were true men even if they looked like waddling couch potatoes on their only outing in 15 years).

As you can guess this tickled mum's funny bone.  She'd tried not to laugh at these people but failed miserably.

Once this was pointed out to dad, he saw exactly what she was giggling at.  It was extremely predicable (and in many ways pathetically funny).  She giggled the rest of the way.

So I've now experienced my first cliff top walk.

On a side note, on dad's return to work his colleague mentioned the fact that it was a pity that we'd not gone to see the Durdle Door as it was quite famous in the area as well as being considered a challenging yet rewarding walk. 



This guy was mortified when dad stated matter of factorialy that they had seen it and described the archway as proof.