How many people can you fit on to a tidal rock for a family holiday? In our case it appeared that the invitations were unlimited. Here were gathered: my parents; my sister J; my niece A; an aunt; two cousins (one force feeding the other); P and S; L, T, T and K; half the people I had last seen at a school reunion in November 2011; and a Cuban impostor (or so my father claimed).

When it was finally time to leave my sister J and I wandered off together to observe the basking sharks just beneath the cliffs. By this time we both agreed that none of the people listed above would ever want to repeat this joint holiday experience.