Along the Coast to Sandbanks - 9th May ‘21

They promised us a warmer and sunnier (albeit windier) day. They lied! The sun came out for a few minutes and it was a little warmer but the steady rain from late afternoon was an unpleasant surprise.

The wind during the night had ripped off the sun (!!!!!) canopy. We were woken at 2am with the canvas flapping in the wind and banging on the side of the van. Thank goodness no one was around to see the comical site of me in my underpants wrestling with said accessory. To be fair it wasn’t that windy so not sure if at least part of the problem wasn’t  user error?

The typical Brunnehilda morning of tea in bed and a very substantial omelette was the usual smashing start to the day. Edengate has a small and secluded dog run field which the dogs now seem to find their way to without too much guidance from me.

We were washed and ready to go soon after midday. The plans was to go to nearby Milford on Sea for a beach walk. The tide was right in and the little bit of shingle beach had disappeared altogether. There was plenty of walk along the front - but not with our dogs! We aborted and moved along to Milford’s neighbour - Barton on Sea.

It wasn’t much better. The topography had now changed and there was more of a cliff between the promenade and the sea. Again there wasn’t much of a beach even if you could make it down the cliff. So ...

We decided to go somewhere we knew - Sandbanks. To get there it necessitated a drive across a fairly busy Christchurch and Bournemouth. The 18 miles took us nearly an hour but it was a pleasant enough drive.

We parked in the normal car park and had a smashing couple of hours. The west end of the beach, going up towards the Ferry, is an all year round dog beach so there was lots of room for Tilly and Ben to enjoy chasing the waves and seagulls. There was lots of dogs everywhere but ours behaved very well.

We had our packed lunch on the rocks watching the world go by and drooling at some of the magnificent properties backing onto the beach. Time for a coffee (with, in my case a vast amount of maltesers!) and then back to the car with 2 smelly, sandy and satisfied dogs!

The rain started on the way home. We were going to go back to Milford and get another walk - assuming it would be less busy and the tide would be further out. Both were correct but the torrential rain trumped them both. 

We rang the local Thai restaurant (as recommended by Laura and George) as soon as they were open and picked it up on our way back to Brunnehilda.

The Thai from the Britannia Thai restaurant in Milford was exceptionally good. As were the 2 episodes of The Waltons and even better, me slaughtering Kim at backgammon.

An early night again but I don’t think we were both particularly tired (too much on our minds probably!), so we ended up watching quite a bit of Netflix in bed!

We leave tomorrow and make the short (in miles anyway!) journey up to Shaftesbury.

Edengate CL Caravan Site, Lymington:

Pros:

1) Quiet and secluded

2) Close enough to drive to lots of places

3) Perfect pitch by the water tap

4) Nice convenient dog field

5) Big pitches so lots of room

Cons:

1) Facilities shut (COVID related)

2) On a busy road so no where to walk to

3) No particular views

I think with the facilities opened this would be a great site to revisit for a couple of days. 

New Forest Weekend - 8th May ‘21

Travelled down the 2 1/2 hours to Lymington - without Brunnehilda on the back - arriving at about 1.30 to meet Bobby and Holly for lunch at the Ship Inn on Lymington Quay.

Bobby and Holly had been using Brunnehilda for 4 nights, Laura and George the previous 2. We had come down a week ago to set her up and now we’re back for a couple of nights before taking her back to Shaftesbury for a service and a couple of jobs.

The current partial lockdown meant we could eat out but only outside! Luckily the Ship Inn had a large terrace overlooking the Quay. It was definitely top coat weather but at least it had stopped raining. It was still unseasonably chilly for the second week in May but you gotta take what you’re given eh?

 

We had a very acceptably meal and then a coffee watching the world go by. There a lot of boats and a lot of dogs in Lymington. Made us feel a little sad that our 2 badly behaved muts had to be locked up in the car rather than enjoying the fresh sea air!

Holly and Bobby hit the road at about 4 and we headed to the nearest accessible bit of the Forest. The dogs enjoyed a quick walk around Shirley Holms near Sway. Although they were a little bit bemused by all the horses wondering around as if they owned the place!

Back home to Brunnehilda via a Tesco’s to stock up. The wind over the last few days had pulled down the sun canopy - we really need to rename that particular accessory, she’s been out with us on several occasions but not seen any sun yet! It only took about 20 mins to get her back up again. Stronger winds forecast for tomorrow so not sure how long she’ll stay up for?

3 episodes of The Waltons and Kim beating me at backgammon made us feel right at home. A roll for supper and off for an early night.

Brunnehilda feels a little cramped with 2 collies jockeying for floor space as we get ready for bed but we all soon get into synch with each other and moved around like a Strictly set piece dance.