Halloween In The New Forest
Monday 25th October
Day 1
We woke for an early-ish start and after last minute packing we were on the road for just after 9.00am, we had to get some diesel and Adele needed a couple of birthday cards and stamps so popped into town to Tesco's, topped up cards ready to post we were on our way.
No, there is always something, I had forgotten to pack a coat, so back home for my coat, on the way went to post the cards to find the post had already been collected, so on to the post office.
It was now almost 10.30am so not the early-ish start we wanted.
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| Keni The Crow |
Now we are ready!
But where are we going, something you would think we had already planned.
We had thought of Cornwall but the weather forecast looked dismal but the south coast looked better.
There you go plans made, we headed for the New Forest and an area around Lymington.
The drive down was uneventful but the traffic was very heavy, after squeezing down narrow lanes on our last trip I had set the Sat-Nav to >3.5 tonnes which I thought would work well which it did but sent us a slightly longer route.
We stopped for a spot of lunch on the edge of the New Forest then made a few plans, as the nights are drawing in we didn't want to leave it too late to find a site for the night so before moving off we called Harts Lodge just outside Lymington, they had space, booked.
The drive through the New Forest was lovely, we saw wild ponies and even long horn cows just wondering around even in the middle of the villages,
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| New Forest Ponies |
we arrived at the C&CC cs at about 4.00pm, a nice site with two areas for camping one for vans on electric and one, I assume for tents although it was empty when we were there, we set up the van and enjoyed the last of the evening sunshine.
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| Harts Lodge - C&CC cs |
We read and worked on the blog until the sun went down before getting tea ready we used the oven but on only 6amp electric we were anxious not to blow the trip as we would have to walk 100 yards down the drive to a shed to reset it.
Tuesday 26th October
Day 2
Woke 7.30am after a very quite night although we did get woken about 2am by torrential rain.
Time to try out the sites facilities, Adele went first, the guinea pig to see how hot the shower was, I tidied the van, half an hour later she returned, thumbs up! The sites facility block was old but well kept and spotlessly clean.
Over breakfast, our usual eggs, bacon, sausage and tomatoes we discussed todays agenda, a plan was hatched.
We left the site just before 11.00am for the short trip down to the beautiful Georgian town of Lymington, we parked down by the marina and walked along the waters edge back into town, it was very busy, a little too busy if I'm honest, there were some lovely shops along the cobbled streets and some classy restaurants, one Adele noticed, The Elderflower I think it was, had a seven course taster menu on at £70 per head plus an additional £65 per head if you wanted wine.
I would have treated Adele but, unfortunately it was closed!!!
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| Lymington Quay |
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| Quay Street, Lymington |
We moved on to visit the English Heritage site, Hurst Castle, we parked up next to Keyhaven marshes for a spot of lunch before we went to the castle.
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| Park up - Keyhaven Marshes |
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| Keyhaven Marshes |
It was 2.45 by the time we had finished lunch, took longer because we were watching a kite surfer on one of the marsh lakes, with all this wind he was doing some radical moves, taking off into the air at some speed, we were now ready for the trek to the castle, we had to walk 1.5 miles along the shingle spit which didn't sound to bad but walking on the loose shingle really play havoc with Adeles back.
On arriving at the castle we were told the the whole of the east wing was closed for major reconstruction work, only the Tudor part was open. We explored for a couple of hours it was very good apart from the hordes of screaming kids but that's what we get for having to take half term breaks.
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| Hurst Castle |
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| Hurst Castle |
The walk back to the van was even worse than the walk out although we did walk behind the spit out of the gale that was blowing onshore, back at the van it was time for a cup of tea. We have noticed that a few vans (about six) have parked up further along the road, looks like a popular over night stop, as it was getting late and not wanting the stress of finding a site we moved up and took a spot by them, looking on P4N its a good overnighter so put our feet up, literally, we were all worn out including poor Izzy.
We would have Chilli, rice and garlic bread for tea and maybe a cheeky beer.
The wind is still very strong so could be a rough night we will see.
Wednesday 27th October
Day 3
Woke 7.30 after a disturbed night, as expected the winds got worse and poor old 'Vera' was buffered about all night. We did, however, wake to much better weather, the skies were breaking with glimses of blue.
We were quickly washed and dressed, I took Izzy out for her morning walk, still a bit windy but nothing like last night when we returned Adele already had breakfast on the go, bacon, sausage, egg and tomatoes, a good start for our day.
Todays plan was to take the coast road slightly west towards Christchurch.
We left the park up just after 10.30, I had thought I would do a 3 point turn and go out a different way but as it happened we back tracked down the narrow lane we had arrived by, this time unfortunately we came up against a Mercedes driven by a 'non-reverser' she was adamant she would not edge into the passing place or reverse the 20 yards to a drive way but wanted us reverse 500 yards or more back to the sea gate, I refused and for 10 minutes we had a stand off, I eventually got out and after much discussion, by which I mean I blatantly refused to move, she did reverse, making crabbing type manoeuvres.
The route from Keyhaven to Milford On Sea, Barton On Sea to Mudeford was lovely, we found car parks all along the way suitable for MoHo's (no barriers) we eventually came to Streamer Point we followed the signs to the parking to find, well you guessed it, a barrier, bloody marvellous I thought, then a had to eat my words, there were 3 dedicated MoHo parking spaces, expecting the pay & display to be ridiculous Adele returned with the parking ticket, 70p yes 70p for All Day! well done to the local council.
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| Colourfull Beach Huts - Mudeford |
We packed a few bits for a walk towards Mudeford, there was a concrete path beach one side and colourful beach huts the other, we walked for a couple of miles past some lovely beachfront houses and very posh chalets/mobile homes until we got to Mudeford Quay, we sat in the sunshine and watched the little passenger ferry take day trippers out to Hengistbury head and Christchurch.
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| Mudeford Quay |
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| Mudeford Quay |
Time was getting on so decided to get back to the van for a late lunch, stopping on the way at a beach café for a freshly made crab sandwich, £5.95 lighter we returned to the van, we were just about to have our lunch when we were approached by another MoHo owner, a lovely guy travelling on his own, asked about park ups we had used, we mentioned last nights but said we normally use small CS sites, we chatted for 10 minutes or so then set about lunch, the crab sandwich was tasty and came with a full side salad, we finish of with cake and a cup of tea.
Now we needed to find a site for tonight, the first was closed, the second didn't answer, so after a chat we decided to go back into the New Forest and treat ourselves with a Camping In The Forest Club site, expecting a pricey night we phone the C&CC call centre, yes they had space, a good start, £18.80 for the night, so not to bad.
After having to take a detour because of road works we eventually arrived at Setthorns forest site at 4.30pm to a very warm welcome from the staff, after dealing with the chores, grey and black waste and topping up water, we found a pitch parked up and poured a gin, its starting to go dark.
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| Setthorns Camping In The Forest |
We read and posted our social media offering then made tea, tonight lamb meat balls with a Moroccan sauce and a glass or two of wine.
Thursday 28th October
Day4
We woke after a very peaceful night, I took Izzy for her morning walk, its still quiet, the site is almost full but no-one around, there appears to be lots of seasonal pitches with no-one in.
We returned to our breakfasts, Izzy soon scoffed hers and was at my feet waiting for any morsels I may have left, she was left disappointed, as with any full English, there is rarely anything left.
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| Keni saying Thank You to all at Setthorns |
Over a cup of coffee we made our daily plans, we would slop out the van and top up with water, then make the short trip into the New Forest and visit the Knightwood Oak, a 500 year old oak tree.
The trip should have only taken 20 minutes but due to a road closure it added an extra 11 miles and 30 minutes to the trip.
We eventually found the carpark and found a nice parking spot, we took the short walk through the forest to this famous tree, the circumference measures nearly 7 meters.
It was quite impressive but we both thought that the ground around it was unkept and didn't make the most of this elder of the forest.
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| 500 yrs old - Queen Of The Forest |
We returned to the van for a cup of tea and a few biscuits before moving on, another tour through this National park, lovely areas of woods and moorland.
We took a detour to visit Buckler's Hard, an 18th century village where Nelsons fleet was build, we were able to visit a shipwrights cottage set out as it would have been at the time.
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| Milford On Sea |
We sat on the seafront carpark watching the waves, then later got our fish & chips and drove a few minutes to the park up at Keyhaven Marshes. The fish and chips from Mister Pinks were lovely, we sat reading for a while and decided to have another game of scrabble which turned out to be a good game using all the pieces, we a thought we may have an early night but it was almost 10.30pm when we crashed out.
Friday 29th October
Day 5
We woke 7.30am after a very stormy night, high winds 50mph+ and heavy rain, luckily we only woke a couple of times, the rocking of the van mush have sent us off to sleep.
I took Izzy for her morning walk but the wind was still howelling, I could hardly stand up when we reached the top of the shingle spit, Izzy was not impressed at all and wanted to return to the van.
Breakfast today was bacon butties with a good cup of coffee, we decided to take a look at Christchurch and Bournemouth today, we needed to top up with diesel and a little food shop so made sense. By the time we got to Bournemouth we both came to the conclusion that it was not for us, far too many people so travelled back up into the New Forest, we found a spot to park on open common land with wild ponies grazing around us, this is more like it.
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| New Forest Ponies |
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| New Forest Ponies |
After Lunch and a snoozle in the sunshine we went for a walk over the common, there were quite a few ponies grazing or sheltering in the gorse.
Back at the van we needed to make a decision on where to stay tonight, there is plenty of choice as far as CL/CS sites are concerned but they are very pricey for us £18 - £22 pn, we even tried a CAMC site but they wanted £35.00 pn.
We decided to return the 8 miles or so back to Keyhaven marshes and park up overlooking the salt marsh, when we got there there were lots of vans already there, we parked up further up the lane, off the road with plenty of room around us, we would wait until a little later and see if we could move forward.
Its still a lot windier on the coast than inland but hopefully it will die down later.
We sat reading and writing the blog as the sun sank below the horizon, we have had another very pleasant day on our New Forest tour.
We had chicken kiev, done in the ridgey, baby potatoes and mange tout we opened a bottle of rose wine to have with it but as we were on a park up I only had the one glass. After tidying up we set up the scrabble for the last in this tours games, would Adele pinch the last game? No, 3 - 0 to Mr.P
Saturday 30th October
Day 6
We woke early to heavy rain, we lay in bed for half hour or so deciding what to do if the rain didn't stop, should we take our walk as planned, take a ride around sight seeing or just trek home early.
Whilst having breakfast the rain stopped and some blue sky appeared, our walk was back on, by the time we had tidied up it was blue skies all round and the sun was quite warm but still windy.
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| 'Wild' park up |
We took the walk in the opposite direction to Hurst Castle along the shingle spit to promenade at Milford On Sea, there are some lovely houses across here looking out to sea towards the Needles on the Isle of Wight.
We sat on a bench for a bit enjoying a 99 ice-cream in the sunshine at the end of October, how nice is that.
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| Waves breaking on the groynes at Mildford On Sea |
It was gone mid-day so made our way back to vera, we walked behind the spit out of the wind, it was like a summers day. The salt marshes flow via a channel two salt water lagoons full of wild birds, we watched for some time before reluctantly returning to the van.
We plotted a more direct route home than the Sat-Nav gave us to get here.
The drive home was steady and uneventful.
Our first ever trip to The New Forest area has been wonderful, the forest and moorland has been really relaxing and our coastal walks lovely, an area we will be back to again.
Trip Details:
Miles: 481.4
Ave MPG: 33.2mpg
Fuel Cost: £ 95.97 / £1.459 ltr
Fuel Cost: £ 95.97 / £1.459 ltr
Car Parking: £ 5.70
Nights: 5
Camp Fees: £36.80
Harts Lodge: £18.00
Setthorns (CITF) : £18.80
Wild Camps: (3) £0.00
Camp Ave per night: £ 7.36
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Halloween In The New Forest
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