Yesterday's arrival at Gatwick went so smoothly, I was able to collect my luggage, breeze through officialdom and catch a bus to a small town by the name of Ringwood where my friend C collected me. Right from Gatwick the scenery was pastoral starting with a field of lovely horses, continuing on to flocks of sheep with their wee lambs, yellow fields of canola, charming villages, lovely Arundel Castle (where in the 40s Mom stayed with relatives in the dowager house) and forests. Of course everything looks better on a sunny day and it was certainly that .... perfect. We passed through Chichester (Sheila! I thought of you and your sister), Portsmouth ( I did not realize that Charles Dickens was born there) and Southampton (Mom, I believe you sailed into and out of Southampton on your journeys to and from Britain?) The bus journey was 3 hours long though and having been without sleep for about 30 hours, I was quickly fading by the end. Soon enough my destination was reached, a warm greeting from my friend C and off to her comfy home and charming garden. We immediately went for a walk, mostly to keep me awake. One thing about England, I am never short of a dog fix, the English love their pooches. We are in The New Forest where horses and cattle roam free. We saw many horses on our short walk. The terrain was mostly heath land with lots of heather and low growing plants. I was done by the time we had dinner but hey I managed to stay awake until 9pm.
My hostess with the mostess. We met 5 years ago while hiking Offa's Dyke. I love the blue hair!
Day 2 We set off early headed towards Corfe Castle on the Purbecks. To get there we took a small "chain" ferry on a short 5 minute crossing. The roads here are very narrow, so glad I am not driving, thankfully C is a very excellent and confident driver.
The 12 km hike was up and along a ridge along the Purbeck way. Beautiful but misty views with many horses, cattle and lambs along the way as well as a few other hikers, most of them with their friendly and very happy dogs.
I am so chuffed (I have not yet heard anyone here actually use this word but it is such a great English word) to be hiking in England again. The system of walker's right-aways through private property is amazing. There are walking paths everywhere with lots of folks using and respecting them. I noticed no garbage and all gates were securely closed to prevent the farm creatures from wandering.
The weather was cloudy and cool to start but by noon it was tshirt weather. At the end we walked a bit on the "up and down" coastal trail, stopping to eat our lunch on the sandy beach. Every few minutes another dog would arrive, that was our luncheon entertainment, watching the dogs happily plunging into the sea to retrieve their balls. Once we tired of that we made our way into the small touristy town of Swanage. We strolled through the town to the train station where several steam engines and other not quite so old trains were running. We caught one of the 1920s versions which got us back to our starting point, the almost 1000 year old Corfe Castle, situated high on the hill. So our hiking was not quite finished as we climbed up to check it out. The castle was wonderful with exactly the right amount of crumbliness.
Omg I love the bangs. These 2 were hanging out at a gate insisting on some attention before we were allowed through.
Looking down on the charming town of Corfe
As we drove home we listened to BBC radio, as 1 would imagine all about Teresa May and the Brexit situation ... But then ... It was all about Justin Trudeau and Jody Wilson Raybould and the just released taped phone conversation. I guess the Brits take some comfort in other troubled governments.
Whew, this blogging takes more time than I thought. I may not be posting every day!
Deb, I have now caught up on this blog. Good for you, embarking on this monumental walk and telling us about it too! Great to see the photos also. You're already having a wonderful trip, and I wish you well on the rest of it. I'll watch for your updates. You're an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteHa, Laura you are my inspiration!!!
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