Five nights at the Manor House Hotel at Studland. "A quiet sanctuary" as Alison commented on our departure. No children, great views, large garden and grounds, food wonderful, huge room with six windows one side towards the sea and four on another overlooking the gardens. Breakfast not available until 8.30, so no business people, and not a sound after 10pm. We could not have wished for more.
On the first day we took the ferry from the end of Studland Bay over to Sandbanks. A short drive took us to Poole with a handy car park for the harbour. Then a boat took us to Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust (so free to us) we enjoyed a circular walk all the way round. Came across a few tame peacocks who displayed their plumage for our photos. The boat back became a a tour of Poole Harbour which was as interesting as it was unexpected. By then the weather had turned from cloudy to sunny and sitting on the top deck was perfect. A mooch around Poole before we took the ferry back.
Tuesday was our longest drive. First to Charmouth and some fossil hunting. Nothing spectacular found but the beach was nice. Into Lyme Regis where our only shower of the day started whilst having tea and cake. The rain soon cleared and we walked over to the harbour and a precarious but spectacular amble along The Cobb. Pretty much deserted so able to take some good photos. Alison didn't have a black cloak, so emulating Meryl Streep was not on. We were very impressed with Lyme Regis, it is such a beautiful place.
The next day was my favourite. The weather was good so we walked from the hotel to Old Harry Rocks (see photo above) and then along the cliffs to Swanage. A really great walk. I had been to Swanage many years ago and thought I remembered it as a bit seedy. I was very wrong. It is quite a pleasant resort, nice beach and a picturesque setting. I had suggested before we started out that we might get the bus back, and didn't have to wait very long for our open top bus ride back to Studland.
The weather was not very promising for our last day, so we took off for Chesil Beach. It was very windy and cloudy, but stayed dry. We parked at the small visitor centre, which we found to be one of the very few ways onto the beach. Not at all flat and sandy, but like a long steep dune of pebbles. Nothing like the photographs that are taken from the air. The waves crashing in were quite deafening. A lower level of pebbles was soon under water. Their website said it could be dangerous as the pebbles are unstable. Arriving at Weymouth, we were not impressed. I thought it would be a much nicer place than it was. We didn't stay long. A coffee and a walk along the seafront and we were off to Lulworth Cove. What a difference, such a beautiful place. The weather had brightened so Alison decided we could walk over to Durdle Dor. Quite a steep climb to the top of the cliffs turned out to be over a mile of hard going. But again it was worth it. When we arrived at the rocks, I was amazed to see Portland in the distance where we had been earlier in the day. The walk back was better, mostly downhill with marvelous views of Lulworth Cove.
We were thinking about going to Bournemouth on the way home, but the weather on Friday was very wet. We were just lucky that the previous four days had been so good.
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