It was around 8:30 when i woke feeling rather refreshed. First call of the day was to go to the toilet and brush my teeth. As i headed down to the crew changing room. As i reached the door i heard the station alarm going, burglar alarm. Unbeknownst to me cleaners had been in that morning to clean the shop but no one had let them know i had stayed the night so when they'd left they'd set the alarm. Immediately i called someone fromthe crew to try to get the code so i could reset the alarm myself. Unfortunately there was no answer.
With very little else i could do i decided to continue to the changing rooms, empty my bladder and have a wash. I then returned to the main door to await the arrival of the police. Literally as i opened the door i was greeted by kyle, one of the crew, who was able to cancel the alarm. A few minutes later a police car followed by a police van, blue lights flashing, arrived on scene. How was i to explain what had happened. I just had to come out with it and admit to the officers I'd accidentally tripped the alarm when I'd gone for a wee. It wasn't long before 4 more crew arrived, they'd either been contacted by the police or had been passing by and had seen the commotion outside the station. It was quite an event.
With the Police satisfied kyle and i headed back into the station so i could pack up ready for the days hike. While i crammed my kit away kyle went off to get us breakfast, egg mc muffin with bacon from Mcdonalds.
The morning had started bright and clear but as i left Blackpool boathouse a mist enveloped the town. I set off following the promenade passing the pepsi max big one, a huge roller coaster I've wanted to ride for many years now. Today was not going to be the day i would scratch that off my bucket list. I had milage to clock up and wasn't able to justify a brief stop to indulge.
Further along the promenade i came across the worlds largest glitter ball. During the planning of the trek I'd spotted the unusual feature and had strangely been looking forward to seeing it. Its this type of unusual tourist attraction that enjoy hunting out such as the big pineapple, banana and prawn in Australia. I must admit it was pretty enormous although smaller than i had imagined. The heavy mist was blocking out the sun so the ball wasn't exactly glittering either.
Carrying on i headed to the end of the pier and down to the beach were i passed a small group of africans chanting on the shore in their traditional native dress. It was really quite unexpected. Again random sights feed my desire for discovery. Stopping only briefly to watch the spectacle i headed off into thr mist which appeared to be getting thicker. Keeping the sand dunes in sight as my point of reference, unable to see the sea or anything ahead of me.
Chris jefferies had been following my progress online since I'd passed through kent. We'd been planning to meet up at some point as i passed through and were hoping I'd be able to meet with his explorer scout group at the same time. Unfortunately the timing was quite frankly rubbish and meeting the explorers was simply not going to happen. You could compare it to trying to thread a needle with your eyes closed wearing a pair of mittens. Chris was able to meet me though and appeared from the mist looking like somebody who'd lost something. He was in fact searching for me.
Its not often i have anyone actually joining me for a hike and the company was welcome. What was even more welcome was the king size carvery i was later to be treated to and before we parted company chris handed me a scout neckerchief and unofficially made me an honoury explorer scout.
From the carvery i headed off along the sea front towards the aerodrome and a section of the river ribble where i had planned to make a crossing in hoolley. The river douglas joined the ribble at this point and seemed ideal as the crossing wasn't far and the marshes quite narrow on both sides. As i scouted the area i decided to postpone the crossing till the following day as the tide was out when I'd arrived and the muddy banks looked treacherous and potentially too soft to walk on.
That evening i Recieved a text from tony at the Southport independent lifeboat station advising not to cross as he considered it too dangerous. I ignored the advice because i was on location and could see the potential hazards where as he was merely guessing at my location and choice of crossing.
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