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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3688 |
14th July 2018 Mt. Biking: Hurst to Lymington and beyond Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Sunny and hot :) Max Speed: 14.55 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 18 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Saturday 14th July – bike ***** Hurst to Lymington and beyond – sunny and hot :) Not a bad night in our spot by the marshes near Hurst Castle apart from being disturbed at 4 in the morning by a couple of inconsiderate noisy anglers returning to their car after a 12-hour session! Relaxing start with a top view even if a little busy with cars, bikes and walkers but it is Saturday after all, not a great day to be away in the van! Had our porridge in the van while our neighbours gas BBQ was in full swing and a group of ladies were doing yoga on stand-up paddle boards which was a little odd!!! With nothing in the van to make a picnic we just took water and set off on our bikes at eleven. We were quickly up on the sea wall which is the Solent Way which runs all the way to Lymington and with the tide in it was all action on the water, loads of canoes in the creeks and then the dinghies at Keyhaven making the most of the favourable tide, in fact the water was high for most of the time we were on the bikes and didn’t seem to move! The Hurst Castle ferry was busy as was the small quay, full of families crabbing. After Keyhaven its back on the Solent Way being careful as you share the path with lots of walkers/birdwatchers but everyone seems to get on OK together. You pass Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes all part of Lymington/Keyhaven Marshes Nature reserve to the left and the Solent with great views to the Isle of Wight to the right. There are lots of marshy lakes inland and although the water levels are down there were loads of birds including bright ginger Black tailed godwits, avocets, egrets, herons, lapwings etc. There were a few families down on the beach probably having walked from a large campsite nearby. Then the best bit, we saw an angler spinning for bass and right behind him on a small beach were half a dozen wild horses just chilling:) You then cut right back on yourself and pass Eight Acre Pond mainly used to teach kids to sail and then onto Lymington with its large marina, big outdoor saltwater Lido packed with people having fun on rows of inflatables. With the tide high it was a hive of activity with people setting off on their boats and dinghies:) We then turned up the hill to the main shopping street which had a busy market in full swing. We couldn’t see a bakery but when we turned back down we found a top stall selling whole foods and bought the biggest pork pie for only £3.50 along with a large Dorset lardie cake, so that was lunch sorted, all we had to do now was find somewhere quiet to eat it. We walked down a narrow-cobbled lane which reminded us of Woodbridge or Aldeburgh with busy riverside pubs and boat trip, half a for £8 so we gave that a miss! Leaving Lymington we turned right past the ferry terminal finding a narrow lane that hopefully would lead us back to the Solent. Leaving the posh Elmers court Hotel behind there was a footpath going the right way so we followed that. We chatted to a couple also on bikes looking for the water but we left them behind as we crossed a parched field, everything is so dry and in desperate need of rain. With the marshes now close we reached a wood, lifted our bikes over a style and eventually made it to the waters edge even if it was a tight overgrown jungle! There was a barbed wire fence running along where we left our bikes, limboed under the fence and found a quiet spot all to ourselves with only geese to share it with but a huge number of racing yachts out on the Solent to entertain us! The pork pie was yummy too, it was a shame we didn’t bring our books but I did strip off and go in the water but chickened out going right under! Well rested we headed back, were held up at Lymington level crossing, stopped by the band stand to listen to ‘its along way to Tipperary’ before returning to the coast path. Then at the pond we took the inland path back to Keyhaven and our van. We have a new neighbour in a white VW too. The kettles soon on to recover from the 4 hour 45 minute ride which we covered nearly 18 miles. Then after tea in need of an ice cream we were off on the bikes again heading to Milford on Sea, Mags tire went down but the slime did its job and we were soon on our way. There is a nice cliff top path for a mile or two but no ice cream kiosks still open so we went to the Co-op in Milford then ate them on the beach. It was a lovely evening and there were still loads of people on the beach:) We added another 5 miles to our days biking total before getting an early night. Photo Gallery Here |
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