It's time for the first of our longer 'adventures' this year, a total of 19 nights.
We started our trip at Hurn Lane Club Campsite near Burnham-on-Sea. We visited this site in 2020 but didn't manage to do much walking as I had injured my foot.
We set off mid morning on Thursday after our class at the gym, arriving on site just after lunch. After getting pitched on site we had a walk to the beach, returning when it started to rain. We were both feeling tired so had an early night ready for a longer walk the next day.
More rain was forecast on Friday and we had a wet start to the day so we stayed on site. When it stopped raining we headed to the beach for a short walk towards Burnham, heading back to the site when it started to rain again!
We had torrential rain overnight and woke to a wet morning on Saturday so stayed on site. The rain cleared in the afternoon so we headed back to the beach and walked to Brean Cove. We had hoped to walk over Brean Down, but by the time we got to the Cove it was late afternoon so we had tea and cake at the National Trust cafe before walking back to site.
Our next site was Wells Touring Park, a private site within walking distance of Wells. We set off after breakfast on Sunday, stopping at the supermarket to top up with groceries. The Wells site is adults only and had been recommended to us - our pitch wasn't the best on the site, but neither was it the worst. After setting up we walked to Wells and had a potter to get our bearings. We sat in the sun for a while when we returned to site before having showers and something to eat.
We had torrential rain overnight and it rained on and off most of Monday (typical Bank Holiday weather) so we stayed on site all day.
On Tuesday we walked into Wells and spent the day walking around some local trails, including Vicar's Close which is said to be the oldest residential street in Europe. We also had a lovely lunch at The Crown before heading back to site when we could hear thunder in the distance, returning to site before the storm .
Wednesday was our day to drive to our next site, Salisbury Camping and Caravanning Club Site. We were given a choice of pitches and chose one on the edge of the site adjacent to Hudson's Field. After setting up we had lunch and walked into Salisbury for a coffee.
We had a dry start to Thursday so walked into Salisbury, arriving as it started to rain so we popped into a cafe for a coffee until the rain passed. We then spent the day pottering around some of the landmarks as well as popping into a few shops. We walked back to site mid afternoon and sat outside as it had turned into a hot sunny day.
Friday was forecast as a fine morning and a wet afternoon so we decided to walk to Old Sarem (the main reason we wanted to visit this site) just a short walk from the site. We walked around Old Sarem site and then took the track to Devenish Country Park. After a short walk around the woods we walked back to site mid afternoon just as it started to rain again.
On Saturday we walked to Salisbury as we wanted to visit the Community Garden and Arundel Gardens as well as walking a few of the town trails.
On Sunday we travelled to our next site, Black Knowl Club Campsite near Brockenhurst in the New Forest. We visited last year and not only enjoyed the site but felt there was such a lot more walking for us that we've returned for five nights. We found a lovely pitch in the corner of the site and after setting up we spent the as afternoon on site - the forecast was looking good for the week so we spent the afternoon planning our walks.
We woke to a lovely sunny morning on Monday and walked to Brockenhurst and started the day with a coffee at The Buttery before doing a circular walk to Roydon Woods Nature Reserve. It was a long walk, but we enjoyed it as it was an area we hadn't previously visited.
Tuesday started as another glorious sunny day, so we walked to the Tall Trees Trail. Although we had walked this trail on our last visit we found it very different to walk in the Spring rather than the Autumn. We had hoped to walk to the Arboretum, but unfortunately it was closed, so we walked a different trail back to the site.
We had another lovely sunny morning on Wednesday and walked to Lyndhurst. We walked via different paths to our last visit so we could see another part of the Forest.
We both felt tired on Thursday as we had done three long walks on the previous days, so decided to have an easier day with a short walk around Brockenhurst. We had intended sitting in the sun on our return but it clouded over in the afternoon so we tidied Zeb ready to move to our final site.
Our final site is one of our favourite sites Haycraft Club Campsite between Swanage and Corfe. After arriving on site we spent the afternoon sitting outside until the clouds started to get very grey and we heard thunder rumbling around. We retreated inside Zeb just as it started to rain.
We woke to a lovely sunny morning on Saturday and decided to walk to Swanage. We walked from the site to Langton Matravers, out to Dancing Ledge and along the coast path through Durlston Country Park and Swanage. After a walk around the town we caught the bus back to Haycraft Lane and walked back to the site.
Sunday was another lovely sunny day so we decided to walk to Swanage again. This time we walked from the site to Corfe Castle and across Ballard Down through Durlston and Ullwell to Swanage. As we were too early for the bus we went for a drink at Gee Whites then caught the bus to Haycraft Lane and walked back to the site.
Monday was our last day of this 'adventure' so we decided to have an easier day. We caught the bus to Swanage and had a potter around the town and along the seafront before having lunch at.The 1959 Pier Cafe and Bistro. Although it was a lovely sunny day, it was also very windy but we managed to get an outside table in a sheltered spot and sat out for our lunch.
Tuesday was our day to travel home and to reflect on the sites we visited. We will probably return to Hurn Lane, although it's not one of our favourite sites we've not been able to walk over Brean Down or see the wooden lighthouse. I'm not sure we'll return to Salisbury as we've done all the walking we wanted to do from the site and neither of us were keen on the town. The Wells site was lovely but we were unable to do many of the things we had planned due to the awful storm, so we'll be back in the future. Black Known and Haycraft remain two of our favourite sites in two of our favourite walking areas, so both will be visited again.
4-23 May 2023
