1-10 Stayed at a lovely small campsite in South Mundham. Far from the madding crowd, but the time of year meant that the harvest of the surrounding fields of sweetcorn was in full swing and the little lane near the site was busier than we expected. We had two lovely cycle rides around the lanes visiting the Crab & Lobster pub and other villages nearby. Invitations for meals out from various friends and family were gladly accepted after the very busy days getting the house packed up and stored. The weather was glorious.
Now on to Dorset for a few days before the next dentist appointment.
11 and 12 September. East Creech near Corfe Castle. Lovely walk up to the ridge with views of Poole harbour, the Isle of Wight, and to the other side Portland and Weymouth. Picked blackberries on the way down and were given some apples by a local man to go with them. People are so kind! Very noisy parked up near Lulworth Range in the evening, we are hoping it's not going to last too long into the night. Very loud bangs, feels like it's just in the next field...bomb sounds and automatic gun shots.... thank goodness it all stopped at 11pm and we could get some rest. Next morning and we felt it was all worth it for the beautiful view.
Next day, a good walk to Corfe Castle, 5 miles in total through woodlands and fields. A cider at the pub and later on a cream tea with views of the Castle added to the pleasure of the day.
Where can we walk next? .....Les has designs on Old Harry Rocks from Ulwell so I will have to rest my legs. Let's hope the weather holds and the views will be spectacular.
13 September. Checked in at Ulwell campsite and as good weather forcast we packed a picnic and made for the Purbeck Way towards Studland bay. At the top there were magnificent views of Swanage to one side and Poole harbour to the other. Once we were in sight of Old Harry rocks we sat and ate lunch gazing out to sea. A short libation taken at Banks Arms pub revived us for the shorter walk back over the top to Ulwell where luckily there was a swimming pool awaiting us to sooth those tired muscles.
14 -16 September. More walking on Wareham Heath followed by a very interesting visit to T E Lawrence's house near Bovington camp and Thomas Hardy's cottage near Dorchester. What a life Lawrence had.....much more to it than I had previously thought and with nothing much on TV that night we sat in watching Lawrence of Arabia (part one) with added interest.
17 - 18 September. An historial walk around Dorchester and a visit toTolpuddle ...... what a lot of interesting things to do and learn about in this small area! and I have a feeling we will be back some day too.
19 September. A big thank you to our friends Chris and Tony who welcomed us for lunch and time to catch up on all your news, your new home is absolutely fantastic. We wish you many happy days there.
20 - 25 September. We are back in South Mundham for our final days in the UK saying farewell to family and friends and at last, with the dental work done, we can look forward to making our way to Tunbridge Wells for our last night with Paul before heading off to the tunnel on the 26th.
26th September. What terrible weather for our trip to the tunnel - torrential rain.
However the crossing was good and sunny in France where we stopped for lunch with views of the White Cliffs of Dover! Short journey then to a private Aire on a farm where we can buy local cheese and beer. Enough of this diary, we are off to do some sampling.
27th September. After a very wet night we set off to sort Internet Data connection as our Vodafone dongle is very expensive at £8 per 100MB. Visited Auchan supermarket and came out with various brochures all in French and none of which suited us. Best we think to go to Wifi spots around - best of which so far is Flunch! where lunch for £5.50 including wine is a bargain!! Then on to our Aire at Long beside the Somme river, a beautiful spot for fishing etc. The town made it's wealth in the 1850's from the sale of peat from the river which is now rich with wildlife.
28th September. The sun is out and we are travelling nearer to Rouen where we will spend the day tomorrow. Les, however, is in mourning today as we managed to leave his 'Crocs' behind. Crocs at breakfast ....gone by lunchtime. Aire at Clères is very nice with free water and electricity....at least that's how it seems so far....and Les has found an unlocked wifi connection hence this update!
29th September. A visit to Rouen today. We parked over the river so had quite a trek to the old centre of town but were rewarded with surprisingly interesting medieval buildings and small shops where individuals are producing leatherwork, making instruments of all kinds, and silversmiths. What a wonderful place, especially the shop called The Bizarrerie, which really was bizarre! you could buy all manor of things you didn't know you wanted there. After mooching around Rouen for a few hours we returned to the van and set off for Broglie a small town beside the river Seine next to a former railway station and now a cycle path. Looks very nice.
30th September. Our luck is in....there is a Fete a la Vois Vert, cycleway today so lots of people either cycling or roller-blading between Broglie and Bernay a distance of 13 kms. We decided to join in .... at each village there we things to see and do and I was co-erced into paper flower making. Turned out a bit wonky but all good fun, must have been the Franglais! With some local cidre purchased and the sun out, we lazed the afternoon away.....we had earned it.
Don't moarn your crocs Les, celebrate and buy proper shoes!
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