Not the best photo of me...but the best of a bad lot!!!
A spontaneous trip to the south east coast of England. Embarrassed to say that I've never visited this area before and having now been, I have no idea what took me so long to get there.
Started off on a whim to Winchester and what a fabulous place, steeped in history and very pretty. It reminded me of The City of Wells with its quaint narrow streets, medieval architecture, lots of interesting independent shops with an impressive cathedral and a relaxed vibe. Loads of choice of restaurants and cute little cafes to sit in and watch the world go by...a very relaxed visit.
We stayed on EHU (Electric Hook Up) at a gorgeous campsite just outside Winchester, Marwell Resort. Great site, quiet, family friendly with good facilities, The toilet block was extremely well maintained with powerful, hot showers and very clean. There is a great restaurant on site with a well designed outside bar area (reminded me of a bar on a Thai beach) and a cafe offering breakfasts and snacks.
This is a GREAT book...check out my review in next blog.
Following a very relaxed evening in Little Blue and a solid sleep, it was off to explore what the coast in the area had to offer. We chose to visit West Wittering beach and what a find. The beach stretches as far as the eye can see and the views are spectacular. It had a bit of everything, long deep stretches of sand, picturesque beach huts, sand dunes, a reasonably priced car park (£2 for the whole day...bargain!), and a grassy picnic area. If you fancy trying your hand at water sports there is a shop in the car park where you can either hire equipment or take lessons in paddle boarding or kite surfing.
I find it difficult to believe that we've never explored this amazing coastline before but now we've discovered it, we are already planning a mini road trip to explore and discover further. It really is a beautiful part of the U.K.
Checked out of the campsite and headed towards Salisbury to pay the magnificent Stonehenge a visit. We stumbled across a bridleway, an extremely bumpy ride for Blue and us, which led to the back of Stonehenge...result! Joined lots of other camper vans parked up along the way for the night...perfect. We had intended to eat out but having found this gem of a spot, we were reluctant to leave. So...with very little food on board (we had lots of beer!), we managed to fashion a makeshift supper before wandering up the footpath to view the stones in all their glory.
Stonehenge is a protected heritage site and so is fenced off with access via, only, the main entrance having paid an entrance fee of around £20 per adult. However, we had a great view from the footpath and although we were unable to actually walk among the stones and have a hands on experience, we got pretty close while still feeling the wonder of this very special, ancient monument. We woke early to take in the sunrise but unfortunately it was cloudy. Still fab though to be out so early, feeling the magic of Stonehenge and resetting the natural body clock. We plan to visit again when a clear sky and superb sunrise/sunset is guaranteed...if there is ever a weather guarantee in the U.K!
One thing I feel is worthy of a mention is how clean the bridleway was. Considering there were so many campers and people milling around, I saw absolutely NO rubbish anywhere. So don't believe everything you hear about vanlifers leaving their rubbish behind...it's simply not true, not in this case anyway. We witnessed nothing but respect for nature and the natural surroundings.
Left this ancient monument with a buzz, feeling grateful to have found the perfect camp over spot with the most amazing view. Took a small detour on the way home to take in The White Horse in Wiltshire and felt like we'd really made the most of the few short days of freedom we had to explore.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK SOMETIMES LEADS TO THE BEST FINDS!
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