11 miles walked today
824 miles walked in total (10.84 average)
I left the flat at 7.30 am to pick Sam up from Epsom before driving down to Bournemouth where we had arranged to meet Katie near the pier. Katie rang to direct us to the car park and had even negotiated a space next to her car by standing in it! After a spot of first aid and donning of the boots and fleeces, we set off at ten past ten - but only as far as the facilities on the pier. The loos were all done out in bright pink, which caused much speculation as to whether the gents were decorated in blue.
The first stretch was on prom along to Poole and the ferry over Poole Harbour. It was very cloudy and windy, although dry.
We had a bit of excitement as we took the chainlink ferry from Sandbanks to Shell Bay. This is the start of the 630 mile South West Coast Path to Minehead and is a major milestone for me. We started off along the beach, stopping every now and then to look at the shells and pink seaweed. As we turned the corner at Shell Bay, we had superb views to Old Harry Rocks, so decided to stop for lunch as it was quite sheltered.
After a while, we set off again around Studland Bay, but it was very grey, cold and windy which hampered progress slightly. We had been warned by our guide book that we may encounter nudists as Studland Beach is a naturist reserve. We thought that it was too cold today for them surely? However, we spotted two and a half naturists (all male) - the first we spotted was wearing only a jumper, but no bottom half of any description! The other two were spending their time jogging up and down the beach, presumably to try and keep warm. One of them even asked Katie for the time and I must say that Sam and I were very impressed at how she kept her composure!
We had a break at the National Trust Cafe at Studland for hot drinks, at which point Katie declared that she was feeling "weary". I wondered then whether we were going to make it to Swanage, but Katie said she was quite happy to keep going.
Past the cafe, we headed up the slope to the road through Studland village and out to the path to Old Harry Rocks. It warmed up considerably here so we all shed a layer of clothing as we strode up the hill. Once we had climbed up to the top of the hill, the path levelled out and we were on the flat, but still very warm. We feasted our eyes on the view of Swanage Bay and could see the path meandering down the hill so got ready for our descent. The smell of gorse surrounding us was wonderful and we kept stopping for a sniff on the way down! A few people passed us as they were climbing up the hill and one elderly couple passed us, the woman mouthing "we can't talk!" and the old boy requesting "my kingdom for a horse"!
We bounded down the hill and ended up in a really pretty housing estate which took us on roads into Swanage and down to the beach. We found a great cafe on the front for a cream tea to celebrate our walk before heading to the bus stop. The bus journey itself was very exciting as we sat on the top deck and were thrown about haphazardly as we sped down all the country lanes back to the Sandbanks ferry and into Bournemouth.
Katie was driving back to Southampton and we were all sorry she wasn't spending the evening with us. However, I've made Sam and Katie both promise to walk into Minehead with me at the end of the South West Coast Path, although, hopefully, they'll both come walking with me before then too.
Sam and I then spent a fraught half an hour trying to find our B&B (which was very nice) as our landlady had already warned us she was going out at eight o'clock and we wouldn't be able to get in after that. Tea was taken at the Sweet Hope Inn before lights out back at base.
A very good day indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment