Dorset Holiday

We had an absolutely fabulous week away in Dorset, just me Maurice and the dog! It's the first time we've been away for any length of time without the kids, and it was GREAT!! Bit of a second honeymoon! (Actually we didn't have a going away honeymoon, so it's only 30 years too late!) Here's Maurice on top of Lulworth Cove. One evening we climbed up and over the cove and back along the beach. It was incredibly steep, as you can see in this photo!

Here's maurice throwing a stone into Lulworth cove. What is it about men and beaches and stones? I never get the urge to throw a stone in! The water looks incredibly blue and clear.

How about this for a view? we walked from Durdle Door nearly all the way to ringstead bay and then took a slightly more flat inland route back. The cliffs rise and fall quite dramatically and I still can't believe I actually managed to walk it! Worth it for this fantastic view though! It's Durdle Door in the foreground and lulworth Cove beyond.

This is the view towards Weymouth in the far distance. It's about 7 miles away. this is Ringstead bay, and down there is a cute little village and a small caravan park.

Another view this time looking back towards Durdle Door. There is a little archway in the cliff that sticks out, called Bats Hole. Can you tell how close to the edge we were?

Each morning we made a flask of real coffee, and took some biscuits and water for Merlin in Maurice's rucksack. Here we are on the cliff edge (again!) just about to have our morning coffee! Merlin absolutely loves drinking water out of the bottle! maurice pours it out into his hand and Merlin laps it from there. He really knows when we stop for a drink!

Cows and sheep are the bain of our walking life! They are always in the way!! Most of the time we managed to avoid walking through fields with cattle in them, especially as the cows all had calves with them! We did walk across the corner of one field with sheep in, and Maurice had to keep a really tight hold of Merlin! he was very interested in the sheep, especially when they ran away from him!

This is the best pic I took of Maurice! He is sitting on the beach at Ringstead bay. Yes, we walked all the way down to the beach, and then had to walk all the way back up for our car!

Here's the cottage we stayed in! It was absolutely gorgeous! Quite spacious downstairs, but tiny upstairs! it was in a little village called Winfrith Newburgh, just north of Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Merlin took nearly all week to settle in, he was quite agitated most of the time. Unfortunately, he ate something that didn't agree with him, and so we worried about mess in the cottage, but luckily he managed to do it all outside! Apart from that he was great!

Just to prove we didn't always have the best weather! This was the day we walked from Ringstead Bay to Weymouth (well nearly all the way!) It was drizzly and grey and overcast most of the morning. When we got back to the car we drove into Weymouth and the sun came out and it was lovely!

Weymouth is a perfect seaside town imo! It has this beautiful stretch of sandy beach.

And this charming little harbour. It also has a fort, an elegant seafront and a bigger port too! And it is the gateway to Portland.

Later in the week, we decided to go the otherside of Weymouth and walk along the Fleet, the bit of water between Chesil Beach and the mainland. It was great! Such lovely colours! And we were able to let Merlin off the lead a bit more.

And here's the happy chappy! Just been watered!

On our last day we drove up to Portland for this stunning view over Chesil Beach!

And we walked around the end of Portland (Portland Bill) with this magnificent lighthouse!

On our last evening, we walked Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door in the rain! It was the last bit of the walk that stretched from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth that we completed over several days (Other people manage to do it in just 1 day - but we usually did it there and back iyswim!)

What a fab holiday! We reckoned to have walked about 40 miles in total, and in fact, couldn't wait to got out walking again today! We walked up our local steep hill, Cissbury Ring, and I really did find it easier than I usually do! So I must be fitter! But now it's back to the grindstone, back to work this week, but not tomorrow cos I have to drive Mum and dad up to London for more treatment.