Sunday
We took a leisurely pace along the esplanade, admiring the view and enjoying the sun.
At Bowleaze Cove the smell of chips, salt & vinegar drifted up the hill and we stopped for a lunchtime break and treated ourselves.
Setting off on the Jurassic coast path at about 1pm the sun was at its hottest and the walking was slow! We strolled the winding track until we found an extensive area of trees and shrubs. Leaving our packs behind the crest of a small hill we scouted the area. Descending down two cliffs we found that the woodland was larger than we expected! Following a dried up river lead us to a clearing that had been coppiced by someone.
Trees that had been felled had been left to rot, and by stacking them to one side we had a large space to call home for the next four days. Evidence of a previous camp fire suggested that someone before us had drawn the same conclusion – this was a good place to sleep!
The fallen trees would provide us with an extensive fuel supply, and the pebbles of the beach were a mere 5 metres away, the sea was about 15 metres away – close enough to be handy, but not too close to be noisy or wet!
After a quick wash in the sea we spent the rest of the evening sat round the camp fire and chatting – catching up on old times. We kept the fire burning strongly to heat some pans of sea water, which we continuously topped up. A couple of hours later we had half a tin of fresh sea salt!
Monday
The morning began at a leisurely pace with porridge cooked slowly over the smoky fire. After a filling breakfast I lay in the hammock to read two more chapters of Robert Ludlum’s “The Moscow Vector”.
At around mid day we walked east for a mile or two – in search of fresh water. We collected ten litres from “The Smugglers” pub, and then bought a few “treats” (potatoes and fresh milk!) in a small camping shop. On the way back we combed the beach looking for items for our camp – to make our stay more comfortable we found a ten litre plastic box, boards, feathers, and more drift wood.
On our return to camp a cup of tea was in order, while the water boiled I filled the plastic box with water – to use to top up the pans that were still heating salt water. We made a bench using the boards we found, and I sat down under a tree to write this Blog….
At about tea time some of the large rocks that we had used to prop the fire grill on began to crack! The heat of the fire had made some of the smaller stones crack, and we had removed them – but I was surprised that even the larger ones were breaking now! Quickly and cautiously we moved them away and rebuilt the walls of the fire using nothing less than clay (from a local landslide).
Dinner consisted of fried onion with broccoli and noodles, seasoned with garlic sauce and sea water, followed by a few whiskies. I added more large logs to the fire and set the pan to boil more water to make more sea salt to take home. Then I settled by the fire in my bivvy bag (aka survival bag) to sleep under the stars. Tree roots provided a comfortable rut in the ground, and I was confident that I would be warm and comfortable by the fire.
Tuesday
I woke up at about 7AM, I had slept well during the night and the board that I had positioned to act as a wind breaker had worked well. The fire was out but I was warm and I rolled over to sleep for another couple of hours.
We made tea and coffee at around ten and shortly after it poured with rain! Taking cover in the tent I settled down to mend some stitching on my shoe.
The rain didn’t last long and when it was over I cooked a large pan of porridge for breakfast.
Later that day I built a new washing line to air out my sleeping bag and bivvy bag. Then I made a pretty impressive rope swing too!
We took a stroll to a local toilet about 2 miles away – to collect more fresh water (6 litres this time), we added water purification tablets this time, just top be on the safe side.
During the afternoon I settled on the hammock for half an hours sleep. The moved to the swing, which provided a good seat for reading, after that I found a grassy knoll to sit and write this Blog…
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