9^th May 2014

The kindness of some of those I meet along the way is actually quite outstanding. Tracy Spearing stumbled on me when I first entered Lincolnshire, she helped me then and was about to give me a huge surprise. I was walking away from Skegness town along the beach when I received a message. Tracy with the help of a friend, peaches, had arranged a chalet at butlins holiday resort. Now butlins was the brain child of billy butlin back in the 50s. His dream was to give a vacation experience for everyone at a reasonable price. Some of Britain's greatest entertainers begin their careers as red coats at the resorts and they're still going strong today. Skegness butlins was the very first resort to be opened and has cemented its place in British history, but I had never been to one.

After my encounter with john the paramedic I decided that maybe a completely relaxing day was required, it would also allow me to repair some of not all of my broken kit including my split trousers, which to be honest were getting a bit embarrassing.

Butlins was just ahead of me, a mere half mile, so it seemed fate had given me this opportunity. I walked along the beach promenade until I came to the back gate. I stopped and asked the attendant if there was a welcome pack waiting for me, sure enough on the front gate they were expecting me so he directed me through the resort to collect the keys to the apartment. It was amazing, a double bed in one room, two singles in another and a shower in the bathroom. I immediately made myself a cuppa. Within moments I had recieved another message from butlins themselves, they had arranged a free leg massage as well as assistance from their hire shop to help repair my air mattress and a photo op with the resorts mascot, billy the bear 

I gathered my swimming shorts and headed for the spa to meet billy and to see if they could help with my knee. On the way I bumped into the resort photographer who was tasked with taking the promo photo who showed me to the hire shop where I left my sleeping mat in hope of a resolution and ultimately a good nights sleep. Billy of course was amazingly friendly and we hit it off immediately. Gina was my masseuse and did a great job of easing the tension on my muscles and neil, the team manager, ensured I was comfortable and showed me the hot tub and relaxation area. It was simply lovely relaxing in the tub and to be honest I didn't want to get out but I had too as I still needed to make the repairs. I went to collect my mat on the way back but due to the type of material used the puncture repair kit didn't stick, never mind they had managed to find the holes and marked them for me, I would be able to use duct tape and see if that solved the problem.

I went back to the apartment and emptied out my bag completely, the first time since leaving Southampton back in march, and began to stary making repairs.

As tea time approached I headed for the butlins staff canteen where I was told I would be looked after. Sure enough once I had explained about the trek and who I was, I was treated to an enormous dinner with desert and coffee. Butlins was outstanding and everyone so helpful.

I then headed back to complete repairs and wash Hoolley down in the shower. She hadn't been cleaned since the start of the trek and deserved a little tlc. I then proceeded to get my needle and thread out and repaired my backpack, trousers and tent. All of which needed a tender touch as well. Unfortunately I eventually ran out of thread so wasn't able to repair all the rips and tears but got the important ones done. I then put my swimming shorts back on and washed my clothes which to be honest really needed it as most of them hadn't been cleaned since naze point.

While my clothes were drying I put up the tent on the small lawn in front of the apartment ready to give the matress a field test. Well I'm happy to say the duct tape fix appears to have worked as the matress was still mostly inflated when I woke this morning  its a tad windy and a bit cloudy but I feel reasonably relaxed and happy to continue my journey towards Cleethorpes, my next major destination.