Birthday 🎉 trip to Old Harry Rocks (Part 1)

Sunday, 25th of June 2023 [75]

Looking at the date of this post I realise it’s been almost full month since we took this amazing walk for my birthday on the 27th of May 2023.

I’m not sure why, but the last few years I get a bit low around my birthdays. This year I thought I might feel better if I had something planned for that day. At first the plan was to go to the cinama to watch Avatar 2, but as we checked the cinemas closer to the time it turned out they no longer screen Avatar.

---

I checked the weather and it was meant to be really nice, so I asked Nunzia if she wanted to go to the beach instead. Of course she did!

She absolutely loves being on the beach… look at the bright smile when we got there! She also suggested a nice walk to the cliffs and sent me some google pics of them, so I was instantly sold! After all, I did want to increase my activity and general stamina, so this walk seemed perfect.

We were planning to leave around 7:30, but Nunzia of course came bearing gifts. 2 beautiful bouquets from her garden to start with 😍 So first we had to arrange them and run around the house to pack some bits and pieces that Nunzia reminded me of.

Still we left relatively early, around 8am and just before 9am we parked in Sandbanks, at the perfect spot which Nunzia was hoping for. Of course selfie was needed to mark the beginning of our journey!

Truth be told, I’m not sure if I would be so keen if I knew just how long this walk is going to be, but I’m happy that I didn’t at that point 😂

Seeing the sea so early in the morning made us feel happy that we made an effort to get up early for this trip.

While the weather was forecasted to be glorious that day, the wind by the sea made it a little chilly, so I was glad I had a jacket with me at least for the beginning of this journey.

Of course I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t capture some flowers. There is #alwaysaflower in my posts. These california poppies used to grow in my garden and seeing them here made me realise that it’s the first year they didn’t come back! The winter was harsh this year, but luckily I have plenty of seeds to replenish them next year.

And finally the beach! This shot was necesary to show you all just how far we had to walk.

Can you see those white dots on the left hand side of the horizon? Yes, that’s where we were heading. According to my fitness app, we did 38k steps that day, which my app converted into 34km! I’m not 💯sure if that’s the exact distance there and back, but looking at this picture and my swollen feet the following day, it sure felt like it was!

We took a little break on the bench by the beach to drink some nice cider and chat, but when we do this trip next time, I’ll be sure to skip that part 😂 It is much easier to walk in cooler weather, so we shall leave the drinking breaks for our journey walking back next time.

Mom nature welcomed us with some love right at the beginning of our walk. Of course I had to capture it!

Walking past beach houses really made me feel like I’m on holiday.

Even flowers growing on the wall look super exotic.

A little holiday feeling to experience less than an hour away from home 🥰

We stopped at the one and only Tesco Express //:# (!pinmapple 50.69596 lat -1.93105 long d3scr) shop to stack up on drinks and food and we were ready for the next part of the walk. To get to the other side where the cliffs are we had to take a little ferry.

A few people were already waiting for it at this little port.

We watched the ferry arriving…

And of course had to take another selfie to mark another part of this journey.

Out of all things, I loved how happy Nunzia was when the tickets for the ferry turned out to be just £1 both ways. With the prices of everything going up so drastically these days, it was great to see that the price never changed here.

We boarded the little ferry and watched the land we came from slowly disappear.

While the rocks were getting closer.

On the other side, we had some distance to walk away from the beach.

The views were amazing nonetheless.

A little bit of everything like Nunzia said. That’s why she loves this walk so much and does it again and again.

At that point the battery was getting really low on both of my phones, and I was trying to save it by putting them into flight mode. It’s crazy how fast it goes as soon as we’re away from our houses and the phone is trying to catch signal.

Of course, I wanted to take tons of pictures and I did, but the battery draining so fast made put it in my backpack and enjoy the experience more.

I also wanted to call my parents as I knew they’d be trying to call me on my bday, but the signal was so bad, I only talked to them for a few minutes.

One more capture of Sandbanks where we came from…

And we’re back on the beach. A special type of beach I must add!

Nunzia told me about this beach many times, but this was the first time I actually visited it. We stopped there for just over an hour, eating our sandwiches and looking around just a little bit 😉

The we laid down to catch some of those glorious sun rays and have a little nap.

Then we continued our long walk. Nunzia has finally taken off her jacket! That girl is always cold, even on the sunny day. A sunny day in May with some wind is not comparable to a sunny day in Italy where she comes from though.

Those Old Harry Rocks were getting closer and closer!

And we got to the point where beach walk has ended and the scenery has changed again.

I thought it was time to put on my 15 years old trainers for that. Until then, I was walking in my slippers or barefoot.

We walked past some pastures and animals.

And spotted a nice pub to sit and enjoy a drink.

We decided not to stop this time, but leave it for the journey back. It was already almost 4pm and we still had a long way to go.

Of course I had to capture more flowers, despite the battery disappearing fast. I decided I need to get myself a power bank for the next trip of this kind!

We continued our walk in scorching sun. Amonst many others who also wanted to experience being at the top of those clifs.

This part was a little up the hill.

Soon wnough we were able to see the sea line again…

And our destination much closer on the horizon…

Finally we arrived there around 4:20pm.

That’s where the brithday celebrations for two happened!

About that in the part 2 though, as this post has already grows to a huge monster!

Just one more shot to show you the magnificent view at our destination…

Until next walk 💙

Camera:	iPhone11
Photographer:	@fantagira