crabbing

One of the highlights of the holiday for the kids was going crabbing off the pier with some of the other kids. We went crabbing twice in the end, once with a big group of kids, about a dozen of them and once a couple of days later with just our kids and one of the other children there, a young girl who the young lady had take quite a shine too.

Crabbing for those that may not know, which until last years holiday would have included me, is basically fishing for crabs, using either a small net on the end of a line or a basket type thing, also on the end of a line. Now there are various types of kits out there, but there are the best kits I think.

There simple and effective, even if they do take a bit more practice to lift out of the water while keeping the crabs attached. Now there was also a lot of debate about what bait to use but on this topic there really is only one answer as far as I'm concerned and that's bacon. Doesn't matter what type of bacon, but bacon is king of the crab bait. Stick it in the pouch and lob it in the water and away you go, as long as there are crabs in the water that is!

With out bacon filled net, we managed to catch more than the others using a basket type affair, and we caught some woppers as well!

The kids really enjoyed the crabbing, although it was yours truly who actually had to deal with the crabs! No-one else would touch them, although they all had great fun watching me chasing the dam things all over the pier when they escaped! Don't worry though, we did release all the crabs back in to the wild after we were done and as close to where we caught them as possible.

If your ever get the chance to do some crabbing with the bairns, go for it, its cheap and great fun, just be careful how you grab hold of the crabs! I'd recommend keeping away from the pincers at the front!

Oh, and have you ever seen a crab drawing?

Now you have!

Millport

While we were on holiday in Millport we managed to see some of the local sights, both in and around Millport and Cumbrae in general but also across the ferry in Largs. Now, Cumbrea is also known as the Island of a Thousand bikes and its a truthful name, there are hundreds of bikes all over the place, in town, on the only road around the island, all over the bloody place! Now, I am not a fan of cyclists, if they had to pay road tax like I do to use my car on the road, I wouldn't mind, but they don't and they still act like they own the place, well, Cumbrea is a hundred times worse, as its not just cyclists but cyclists on holiday! I must have spend several hours crawling along behind cyclists meandering along the centre of the road at a snails pace, completely oblivious to the the fact that there was a car behind them. I think if I ever go to Cumbrea again, i'm taking my car, at least then they would have no excuse for not hearing me!

Anyway, rant over, the island itself was beautiful and peaceful, the local shops had everything that we needed and the kids were more than entertained. We did see some pretty special sights while we were there as well, the main one for us, being merchant navy people, was the PS Waverley, an old paddle steamer, build 1946 and was the last sea going paddle steamer build in the world. The day we saw her, she stopped at the docks right by the FSC centre to take on passengers and that meant that we got a good look up close at her. She looks in pretty good nick for a 70+ year old vessel, better that some of the newer ships we sailed on!

Quite a majestic shot of the old girl

One for scale, that's a kayaker just in front of the paddle.

We also spent some time of the beaches of Millport and if anyone has ever been to Millport, there are a couple of attractions you have to go see, the first being the monster on the beach. This is really just a painted rock, but its pretty well done and does actually look like a monster, at least when its not swarming with children anyway.

Upclose

Wider shot, showing the bay in the back ground

We also visited Largs one day, taking the ferry across the Clyde and while we didn't spend a lot of time there it seems like a nice place, a lot busier than Cumbrea, but that's to be expected. We mainly went across to go to the swimming pools and the Viking exhibition, which are both in the same place at the leisure centre, along side the theatre and pitch and put as well. A bit of an odd combination, but its a small town, so not surprising. I know what your thinking, we live in a place surrounded by Vikings, and we go to a Viking experience when on holiday! Well, the bairns enjoyed it, they also enjoyed the swimming, mostly I think because the little man got given some water pistols by another family who were heading home that evening and didn't have room in the suitcase for them! While we were in Largs we took in one of the other famous sights of the town, Nardinis Icecream. Now, i'm not sure what the real story is, but there are several Nardinis in the town, one in a big building that is also a restaurant and one that's is just an icecream parlor, but apparently, according to a friend who grew up there and also supported by what the icecream lady told us, its the one by the ferry that's the proper one, Nardinis at the Moorings, the other is just named after the building. In reality, I don't actually care, what I do know is that the icecream was very nice and the bairns loved the bright blue bubble gum icecream, which was good as I don't fancy eating it when they decided they didn't like it!

For anyone looking for a little get away from life and civilization, I can recommend Cumbrea and Millport, there isn't much there and not many people, perfect for getting away from it all.

Real Familly Holiday

This year we went down to Millport, on the island of Cumbrae, for our summer holidays and as with our holiday last year we stayed at the Field Studies Councils Centre (FSC Millport). The FSC Real Family Holidays are becoming our go to yearly family holidays and for good reason. There reasonably priced, all inclusive and there are always a number of other friendly families there to chat and play with. Of course the other big draw is all the activities that they do there for the kids, from mini-beast hunts to treasure hunts to shelter building. Each centre is different and while there were some elements at this years holiday centre that were not as good as last years, there were also somethings that were better but overall I couldn't tell you which one was better. The kids enjoyed both holidays and we're planning on going back next summer. 

Millport accommodation and centre (from FSC website) 

One of the highlights of the trip was going hunting for wildlife, as part of the mini-beast hunt. We set some traps overnight to see what we could catch and two people were lucky enough to catch something. I've only got a picture of one of the mice below as the other mouse made a (successful) break for freedom as soon at the trap was opened. The kids were super excited by the sight of the mouse bouncing this way and that as it made its way back in to the  bushes. 

The field mouse (the one that didn't escape)

There were lots of other activities from team games and orienteering to rock pooling and beach art and with there being an aquarium onsite, there was also a guided tour of that. Probably one of the other highlights for the kids was the camp fire. These seem to be a hit at each place we go, although I suspect its more to do with the food on offer that the camp fire, last year it was toasted marshmallows and cinnamon sugared apply slices (toasted to melt the sugar) and this year it was popcorn, popped on the open fire in a proper popcorn popper thing. The only downside is that they keep on insisting on stupid camp fire games, I hated these things when I was a scout and I still hate them now!

Handeling starfish on the guided tour of the aquarium

The great thing about the Real Family Holidays though, is that you don't need to take part in any of these things if you don't want to, its completely up to you. We have know people who have just used the centre as a base for their own holidays, joining us for breakfast and dinner and disappearing out during the day with their pack lunches. When you have young kids its a great way of holidaying, as you don't have to worry about getting home each night and cooking dinner or shopping for food, or worrying about where your going to eat or whether the pub you've chosen will do something the kids will eat. Plus, when you want a little quiet time, you can just send the kids off to the games room or the TV room with the other kids and have a nice relaxing cup of tea from one of the numerous tea station that are around.

If anyone is interested in the Rear Family Holidays, you can find all the information you need here;

http://www.real-family-holidays.org/

and the FSC info here

http://www.field-studies-council.org/