… nocturnal ramble, that was.

I had a bad attack of cramp and had to stand up – and then I had to go for a meander down the corridor too. And each time, I returned to bed and restarted where I had left off.

And do you know what? Once I awoke, I couldn’t remember a thing about it at all. No idea where I went to.

So I spent an hour or two doing some paper work on the laptop, and then stopped for breakfast. I was feeling hungry as well so I followed it all with a bagel. Luckily I had bought some yesterday at the Food Lion.

I’d also bought some new razors and some smelly stuff, so I could have a good shave and shower too. That made me feel better.

There was a lot of noise outside while I was working and so I went to see what was going on.

It seems that there’s some building work going on at the part of the hotel at the back nearest the sea.

They had this huge crane down there lifting things about onto that roof. My block by the way is the one where the two palm trees are.

Seeing as it was so nice – and so hot – I decided to go for a walk this morning, especially as I was out of the building already.

It’s a good mile or two’s walk down into town and the route takes me past the fairground that we first saw when we were here in 2005.

Out of season, it’s only open at weekends though, and I’ll be long-gone by then, I reckon.

It’s hard for me to recognise anything here because the place has changed so much since those days.

I certainly don’t remember Ripley’s exhibition here, and I’m sure that there were buildings right by where I’m standing.

Mind you, there have been several hurricanes that have passed this way since 2005, and probably taken a lot of stuff with them.

I remember that place over there, and I remember saying at the time that I would be badgered if I’m going in there – or something similar anyway.

But I’m sure that it was on the other side of the road back then.

But never mind the changes – when I was here in 2005 they had loads of tee-shirts with all kinds of different phrases such as “when God made me he was showing off” – which I thought was appropriate for Zero.

And they were still on sale – the same ones too probably judging by the dust.

By now, the heat was intense and the sunshine was overwhelming.

And so having armed myself with a new hat (my old one is stuck on a boat somewhere up in North West River, Labrador) and sunglasses, I went off to find the pier.

That’s still here – the passing hurricanes seem to have managed to leave that well alone, which is just as well.

Here’s the view looking south from the pier. Not actually from down at the end, because it costs $1:00 to go down to the end and I’m a cheapskate.

It seems to be a fact that the further south you go from the centre of Myrtle Beach, the cheaper the accommodation becomes.

I’m a good mile or two down there somewhere, way beyond the other pier that you can see in the distance.

On the other hand, the further north you go, the more exclusive the place becomes and the more expensive it costs to stay there.

Right down at the end on the horizon several miles away is North Myrtle Beach, and that’s just unbelievably expensive.

At the far end of the road down there is a golf and country club, and prices there are just absurd.

This is the “Bible Belt” of the USA where they constantly deny the phenomenon of things like Global Warming.

And despite their official denials, you can see evidence everywhere that they really DO believe in global warming.

This explanatory panel about the presence of glacial ice sheets to the north and icebergs off the coast of Myrtle Beach will tell you that.

And yet Global Warming isn’t really happening, is it?

In the intense heat, I’ve bought myself one of these drinks of iced slush stuff and I sit in the shade of an overhanging tree to admire the view.

And listen to one holidaymaker wailing that he has confused the times of his bus back home and it’s left without him, so he needs to make other arrangements.

But I only have half an ear open to listen to him. I’m more intent on enjoying the sunshine and looking at the scenery.

That’s the southern pier, and no photographs from thereupon, because here you have to pay to set foot on the pier – never mind going down to the end.

And on this part of the beach we aren’t allowed to walk on the sand dunes. They have been reseeded with wild oats, the roots of which spread in an immense network that stabilises the dunes.

So you’ll have to make do with a photo from here.

By now the heat is overwhelming and I go wander slowly back to my room. And despite it being only 2 storeys up, I’m obliged to take the lift. The heat is debilitating.

I keep thinking to myself that I ought to make my butties for a late lunch – but it’s too hot and I’m too tired to go outside again for the moment.

Consequently I close my eyes for five minutes – to find that it’s 18:00 and I’ve been out for four hours.

It was probably the wrong thing to do, to go for a walk this morning, because although I’m awake, I can’t even find the energy to go and make tea – and it’s not as if it would take too much either seeing that all it needs is a warm-up.

But then, this is the kind of thing that happens every now and again.