Longbeech Campsite, Fritham, New Forest (Day 2)

As Angela drifted off to sleep last night she could hear animals outside the van. Unlike last weekend she didn't have a meltdown, it was just the ponies nibbling at the short dry yellowing grass.

This was more her type of wild camping. After the exertions of last weekend we took a relatively flat walk out to the Royal Oak pub at Fritham, stopped for coffee.

We then walked to Eyeworth Pond with its pretty waterlilies, followed by a stroll through the fallen trees stopping to look at a variety of fungi and the old black post box erected in 1820 by the Shultze Gunpowder Factory which was sited in the area, before a gentle amble back to Margery, stopping by the donkeys, where one young one took to John, following him across the road. Sorry only room for two in Margery.

Our time here in the forest is just what we need, a bit of a rest before our lives become manic next week when it will be full on redecorating and tidying one of our rental houses. So tomorrow we will once again 'kick back'. Angela has planned a suprise trip to somewhere nearby as part of John's birthday celebrations. He'll be seventy, Angela is sixty five, and as we both agreed this afternoon, age is no a barrier to 'going for it' in life. We think we proved that on the South West Coast Path.

A bonus was the many fungi we found growing in the woods, especially the Tiered Tooth Fungus, a very rare find.

Longbeech Campsite, Fritham, New Forest

After three days recuperating from our coast path adventure, we loaded up Margery and headed forty minutes away from home to Fritham in the stunning New Forest, where we are staying for two nights at the Adult Only Longbeech campsite. With limited facilities, which means drinking water and somewhere to dump your waste, the campsite is both tranquil and peaceful. Own toilet is obligatory.

Arriving at lunchtime Friday we were able to secure a perfect spot under the trees behind the campsite wardens.

Back at home in Poole this weekend a musical festival is taking place on the seafront a few metres from our home. To leave town for the weekend was a no brainer!

Here in the forest all is relatively quiet, the braying of the donkeys, the ripping of grass as the ponies feed and the rustle of the ferns as the cows amble through the site are all that disturbs us. We'll settle for that.

Milford on Sea

Wardour Castle is described by English Heritage as a 'romantic ruin'. It certainly looked it yesterday evening as the sun slipped west lighting the tops of the crumbling masonry. A Toyota Landcruiser from Switzerland with a roof tent joined us for the night. We were in a secluded part of Wiltshire in total silence with not even the call of a bird or the cry of a wild animal.

After some light rain first thing, the sun broke through just in time for breakfast. John wandered up to the castle which was now open, and was able to take a photograph of it minus the porta loo which obscured the view yesterday evening. A member of staff gave a potted history of the castle and the building. The rain returning, we decided to pack up and begin our onward journey, with Marge having to negotiate some very challenging narrow lanes back to the main road.

As we headed towards Salisbury, we stopped to photograph the Cap Badges carved into the chalk hills of Fovant Down. They were constructed by regiments as they passed this way en-route to the front in the first world war. Originally there were twenty, but only eight remain now. More rain as we arrived in Salisbury, but by the time we'd found a suitable parking space for Marge the weather had settled.

A walk around the town and the cathedral, a place we never tire of took up a couple of hours. At the cathedral we looked through the lens of a spotting scope at the peregrine falcon and kestrel that sat high up on the stonework. 

Our plan was to stay overnight at Old Sarum on the edge of the city, but after twenty minutes of listening to loud music from a car nearby Angela knew it was not the place for her, so we drove on for an hour to Milford on Sea, hoping to be able to park after reading thirty plus vans had stayed there last night. Result, plenty of room, around twenty vans here tonight.

Marge is parked in pole position with views across Keyhaven marshes towards Hurst Castle and beyond to the Isle of Wight. The sun is shining, but a keen wind is blowing. We are on home territory now about an hour's drive from our home in Poole where we have now been living for a year. In that time, we have spent about six months away on adventures. Live a little why don't you? We will Marge.