661.5 miles walked in total (average 11.81)
Katie and I arrived at the Golden Galleon at ten thirty this morning, to find banners up announcing a beer festival all day - hurrah! We dashed into the pub and asked whether, if we promised to come back for a beer after our walking today, we could borrow their loos? Suitably relieved, in more ways than one, we started to walk at twelve minutes to eleven!
This was Katie's first walking day ever apparently! We're going to Portugal in three weeks' time on a rambling holiday so it was good to get a bit of practice in before we go. All we need to sort out is the shopping bit now - rucksack, waterproofs, etc - it's a good job I've got two of everything!
The view from Cuckmere Haven back to the Seven Sisters was very misty - as we'd known it would be as we'd heard the foghorns from Newhaven as soon as we arrived at the country park. However, as we walked over the next hill and down to Hope Gap, it began to clear a bit - the sun was very warm and soon burned the mist off. We had a couple of stops up the next hill and removed various layers of clothing as we began to overheat. The walking was great - very springy turf which really helps to lessen the blows on the knees.
We had to walk through Seaford golf course, which was very well populated. We assumed there was a tournament because of the number of people there - in fact, they were having to queue up to play the holes. As we descended the hill down into Seaford, we were outraged by the number of people just sitting in their cars reading the papers, when they could have been sitting on any one of a hundred benches along the prom.
We took up our places on a bench to have our lunch and watched the world go by. It was great to see so many people about. After lunch, we were back on a track along the back of the beach - the Vanguard Way - which took us to the harbour entrance at Newhaven, over the railway bridge, through the industrial bits and past the station to the pedestrian/ car bridge into Newhaven itself. Katie could barely contain her excitement, as a Southern Water engineer, about the water treatment works and I swear I caught a glint in her eye when she noticed the bridge was a swingbridge and would be opening later - sadly, an event which we missed!
From the bridge, we walked through the marina, watching all the fishermen in their boats. Past the lifeboat station (which was actually a portacabin!), we stopped at Coral's Cabin Café for a cup of tea, when we heard an explosion, but just passed it off as background noise. After a short break, we continued along the road down to the fort and the harbour entrance, but were caught up in a marine disaster, which explained the explosion we'd heard. A gas canister had exploded on one of the smaller boats, which necessitated two fire engines, two police cars and a paramedic's arrival on the scene. Katie and I pondered for a minute or two whether to ignore it and carry on to the fort or to go and satisfy our morbid curiosity - it was obvious what was going to win! So we went into the marina to watch - it was the Marina Open Day anyway, so we could have passed off as visitors rather than weirdos! Eventually the paramedics led a very badly shaken man along the jetty to the ambulance - the poor guy was wearing a teacloth on his head as his hair had been very badly singed and the skin was hanging off his hands. I thought about recording the incident on film for the walk diary, but decided that even I'm not that sick.
Further round the bend towards the harbour entrance, we took a look at all the boats up for sale and in general winter storage. One boat seemed to have been wrapped in clingfilm/ shrink wrap! I suppose it keeps it protected from the elements. We saw the Mayor too - what an exciting day!
From the fort, we walked back up through the marina and back to the bus stop for the bus back to Cuckmere Haven. Once there, we popped into the Golden Galleon for a couple of ciders to celebrate the day - there were lots of people there, including some walkers who hadn't quite finished for the day, but who were having a pint anyway. They're obviously more dedicated than I am - I think that, had I been having a pint in a pretty little pub garden with fantastic views over the Seven Sisters, I probably would have given up walking for the day.
The wildlife was fantastic - we saw horses, cows, sheep, a heron in flight, some swans, robins and goldfinches - all from the pub bench! Excellent work! And Katie's well and truly got her boots worn in - she spilled her cider over them!
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