For our Saturday activity it was a choice between a day trip to York or Scarborough. Mark fancied having a nosey at Robin Hood's Bay which is only a few miles from Whitby on the way to Scarborough, so Scarborough it was.

When we got to Robin Hood's Bay at about 10.30am we discovered that it was impossible to park because the car park was already full. To be honest, apart from a very pretty view of the bay, there really didn't seem to be anything worth hanging around to see. Since we'd already been looking at the very pretty view of Whitby Bay for the past two days we continued straight on to Scarborough.

On the northern outskirts of Scarborough is the Sea Life Centre. Although we'd already visited the Seaquarium in Rhyl earlier in the week we decided to go - perhaps this and all the fish we'd eaten in Whitby had whetted our appetites for all things aquatic. £10.50 per adult seemed a bit steep, especially since the Seaquarium was only about half this price, but we paid anyway, wondering if we were getting ripped off.

It turns out we'd arrived just at the right time - the first feeding time/talk was at 11am at the otter enclosure. How cute were they? Extremely cute and immensely vocal. They keep Asian short-clawed otters because they are much more sociable and vocal than our native, painfully shy, Eurasian otter species. As soon as the guide appeared with the bucket the two otters started yowling at the tops of their voices begging for food. This consisted of day old chickens, peanuts and bits of fish. Like other members of the weasel/ferret family otters need bones and skin etc to keep them healthy. Apparently the peanuts help keep their teeth clean.

Next it was time to feed the seals. They are a designated seal sanctuary where sick or injured seals or pups that have been separated from their parents can be brought. Pups are taught to fend for themselves and released back into the wild at an RAF beech further down the coast. Here there is known to be a ready supply of fish and a safe beech were they are protected from humans until they choose to move on. Apparently the RAF men like to go and check on the colony and make sure they are all doing well. Most of the seals are Grey seals, but they also have a couple of resident Harbour seals which will never be released back into the wild. One arrived at the Centre as a pup but could not be released at the proper time because of a viral epidemic in the seal population which would have almost certainly killed him. By the time the epidemic was over he was far too tame to release. The other was rescued from another Aquarium which was closing. If they hadn't given him a home he would have had to have been put down. The two Harbour seals perform an important duty - teaching the young pups to fight for their food at feeding time and making them more competitive in the wild.

Next up were the penguins. The Centre has a colony of Humbolt penguins and is part of a captive breeding program. Humbolt penguins have been struggling in the wild largely due to a combination of El Nino and humans trampling their nests while collecting their guano for fertilizer. Strangely these penguins were not up for food and turned their beaks up at the sprats they were offered. Maybe the sprats were past their best or perhaps they had all set their hearts on sardines for lunch instead. Apparently penguins have black backs so they are difficult for predators to see from above (mirroring the depths of the ocean), and white underneath so that predators cannot see them from below (bright like the sky).

Shortly after the penguins it was time to see the turtles. They have a couple of disabled Loggerhead turtles rescued from the seas around Zakynthos Island in Turkey. These turtles live in a giant tank along with some small sharks and lots of beautiful reef fish. Loggerhead turtles are at particular risk in the Mediterranean sea because of tourism. When they are not getting caught in fishing gear, they are getting injured by propellers, or their eggs are being accidentally crushed by tourists, or the baby turtles are being attracted inland by the bright lights of hotels rather than heading out to sea. One of their turtles is missing a front and a back flipper. The other looks OK, but is brain damaged so can't tell the difference between food and anything else. If it will fit in her mouth she will eat it. Both of these turtles will have to remain in captivity for the rest of their lives. Hundreds of others each year are not so lucky, and either drown in fishing nets or are injured by boats and then taken by predators. Worse still, every other species of sea turtle in the world is also endangered. If you visit Scarborough Sea Life Centre or one of the other Sea Life Centres across Europe don't forget to sign their petition calling for marine reserves and for a ban on turtle hunting. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the turtles.

There were lots of other exhibits at the Sea Life Centre as well, which we kind of fit in around the four talks. They have a large pool of rays which are very relaxing to watch. I think these are Mark's favourite as he kept going back to watch them a bit longer. They have the obligatory range of colourful fish and weird creatures like the Axolotl. There is also a section on jellyfish which are also really relaxing to watch as well as seahorses and a touch pool where children can fondle the beasties. They are just in the process of creating a new exhibit on the Great Barrier Reef which looks like it will be pretty spectacular when it's finished.

I have to confess I really enjoyed our visit and am a little disappointed that it's so far away - I'd really like to be able to visit a couple or three times a year to see the seal pups when they arrive, see the baby penguins when they hatch and visit the finished Reef exhibit.

After visiting the Sea Life Centre we decided to experience the joy of Scarborough. Hmm. Well, it doesn't have the charm of Whitby that's for certain. It's much bigger and was certainly busy, but it's really very chavvy. It's quite run down and while you can see where they are making an effort to spruce the place up it still needs a hell of a lot of money spending on it. That said, it has good points. The two big beaches are lovely and sandy - excellent for sand castlesand there are donkey rides available for the kids even in February. There's a castle on the cliff topthat you can climb up to and visit. There is an old tram that can take you up to the top of the town for 50p. There's a massive adventure playground called Kinderland which I remember really enjoying as a kid (I don't know what it's like now, but 20 years ago it was great!). There are plenty of shops and cafes. But, somehow the amusement arcades seem more cut-throat than at Whitby, Rhyl or Llandudno, and the shop assistants are definitely grumpier. It's OK for a few hours, but I'm glad we stayed in Whitby rather than Scarborough. It's well worth visiting the Sea Life Centre though especially if you can get there for 11am when the talks start.

Once we'd had a nosey around Scarborough and Mark had looked in every electrical shop to see if they had any Wiis in stock (which they hadn't) we decided to come straight back to Manchester. We were both pretty exhausted after all the running about we'd been doing. On the M62 between Leeds and Manchester we were treated to a spectacular sunset which lasted for miles. I had a bit of an experiment taking photos while doing 70mph. See what you think.