Setting off this morning to the start line for a nice ten-day adventure that will take me from Hove in Sussex to the city of Bournemouth in Dorset. Travel today entails an 8.30am bus to Dundee getting me there in plenty of time to print tickets, etc., then catch the 11.00am to London, Kings Cross. From there , its across London to Victoria to catch a train to Hove, just outside Brighton from where I will walk a couple of miles to reach Portslade. This ensures the continuity of the walk, as we finished up here last time out. I will stay the night with friends. I start the walk proper tomorrow morning with a sixteen-miler to Rustington. Overall, I expect to complete at least one hundred and fifty miles this trip, mostly on the flat. The next section when we start the South West Coast Path is when it becomes really interesting. Primarily camping this trip so carrying a heavy pack, which should make it interesting as the walk goes on. If nothing else, it's never boring being a Vagabond!
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I am off on my next adventure travelling to the start line at Hove, Sussex with the walk starting the next day. Walking for ten days, I should finish up in Bournemouth, home the next day for a wee break before travelling back to go from Bournemouth to somewhere near to Exeter.
Undertaking a venture like the coastal walk it takes a wee while to appreciate that there are no rules; there is no set route and, essentially you make it up as you go along. From what I can see no two people make the same journey. In my travels so far I have tried to stick to the notion that I am 'walking' the coast and, by and large, have avoided taking ferries to cross the various water features. The exception so far was the Bawdsey Manor / Felixstowe Ferry. This has often meant long detours walking up and down rivers which I have been quite happy to do when it appeared to be worthwhile. For example, walking up and down the various rivers and creeks going through Essex was a great experience. This next stretch, particularly from Chichester to Gosport and again just below Southhampton, challenges that practice because if I leave the coast and go inland I would principally be walking in large conurbations on major roads, never pleasant at the best of times. Yet, down on the coast there are a number of small pedestrians ferries that travel very short distances by sea but which would save me walking tens of miles on major roads. As well as the practical issue, I have also started to believe that I can finish this bugger but I do need to think about my age and the practicalities that accompany it. A kick in the backside off sixty five, at my current rate of progression I will need another three or four years to finish it off, so will probably be nearer seventy when I complete it. Whilst I am generally fit, the joints are aching and I need to manage that as best I can. For all those reasons, I have decided to us the small pedestrians ferry on this journey and to continue to keep the matter under review as I progress. To the purists throwing their hands up in horror I give the commitement that if I am fit enough when I finish the journey I will return and do the walks I have avoided by taking the ferry. All goes to show, it's never easy being a Vagabond! |
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