We drive this morning to park up at the Bay, where the ranges finish and as such didn't get going until about 10am, knowing we had a long walk ahead of us. We could hear the guns firing and the noise was the backdrop for our day for miles.
We walked up past the Clavell tower, which appeared to be inhabited , amazingly, and this was confirmed when we saw a light on in the window when we returned later.
The way was across undulating hills, not too bad until Houns-tout Cliff, but made a lot harder by the slippery mud! Some places were a struggle to pass without getting a bootfull and it was very energy sapping. However it was beautiful and the mist started to clear giving us some great views.
We had to make a detour inland which ended up being to a very pretty village and back out to St. aldhelms head, where the dry stone walls had been rebuilt with some big slabs with nice inscriptions on them. A steep lot of steps had to be climbed before we reached the top.
Here we stopped for our sandwichs, and while we were sat on the bench Mum spotted a pod of dolphins in the sea below! It was amazing, as I had pretty much given up hope of seeing any with only 2 days to go. We saw them a couple more times along the path as well.
After this point the path was much easier, not as muddy and much flatter.
The scenery was really lovely, very moorlike with big boulders, some with fossils in them. We passed a quarry with cool looking caves in them.
It was pretty good going on the way to Durlston Head , apart from a slow bit at Dancing Ledge where it got very muddy again. Eventually we reached Anvil Point and walked around to Durlston Head, from which is it was into the outskirts of Swanage. We had to wander around the final headland of Peveril Point and into Swanage itself.
Here we waited for my cousin Lydia to come and meet us, and when she turned up my sister Melzie was with her which was a surprise!!! So we have a little party to walk with on the final day which will be great.
We've just had a great meal in the pub and a mini-celebration in the room in preparation for tomorrow, which is the last and shortest day!
Vx
Sent from my Windows Phone
We walked up past the Clavell tower, which appeared to be inhabited , amazingly, and this was confirmed when we saw a light on in the window when we returned later.
The way was across undulating hills, not too bad until Houns-tout Cliff, but made a lot harder by the slippery mud! Some places were a struggle to pass without getting a bootfull and it was very energy sapping. However it was beautiful and the mist started to clear giving us some great views.
We had to make a detour inland which ended up being to a very pretty village and back out to St. aldhelms head, where the dry stone walls had been rebuilt with some big slabs with nice inscriptions on them. A steep lot of steps had to be climbed before we reached the top.
Here we stopped for our sandwichs, and while we were sat on the bench Mum spotted a pod of dolphins in the sea below! It was amazing, as I had pretty much given up hope of seeing any with only 2 days to go. We saw them a couple more times along the path as well.
After this point the path was much easier, not as muddy and much flatter.
The scenery was really lovely, very moorlike with big boulders, some with fossils in them. We passed a quarry with cool looking caves in them.
It was pretty good going on the way to Durlston Head , apart from a slow bit at Dancing Ledge where it got very muddy again. Eventually we reached Anvil Point and walked around to Durlston Head, from which is it was into the outskirts of Swanage. We had to wander around the final headland of Peveril Point and into Swanage itself.
Here we waited for my cousin Lydia to come and meet us, and when she turned up my sister Melzie was with her which was a surprise!!! So we have a little party to walk with on the final day which will be great.
We've just had a great meal in the pub and a mini-celebration in the room in preparation for tomorrow, which is the last and shortest day!
Vx
Sent from my Windows Phone
Hi Verity! Good to see you're still smiling with only a few strides to go. Well done for such an amazing achievement - you should feel very proud of yourself :) I know where to go for some advice when I eventually embark on the Camino de Santiago!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes and enjoy the rest,
Karen X