UK 2020 Covid Tour – day 18

It’s amazing what difference a decimal point makes!

It’s quite easy to spend money? Certainly easier than it is to make it that’s for sure. When we are planning this week, which was only a couple of weeks ago, I thought – oh let’s just stay at Chewton Glen. It’s a lovely place, very agreeable and although not Fischers or Hambleton quality cuisine, it is very good. So I puts our dates into the Relais et Châteaux website but unfortunately their decimal place got a bit confused – no way we want to pay many multiples of thousands for a five night stay.

Instead we plot a walk to the hotel safe in the knowledge we’ll be returning before the moths need emerge from our wallets! It’s not a destination since we resist the temptation to take lunch it is merely the far-end of our walk today, which takes in the eastern towns of the area.

We start, once again, by dropping down into the town centre for some breakfast and then set off along the coastline on this gloomy hazy day – at least it’s very quiet today!

P&O’s Aurora is looking very serene in the middle distance, the others are almost impossible to see.

This lift doesn’t look like it’s worked for a while!

All along the prom there are hundreds of beach huts, 99% are quite modest with just a space to store chairs adm tables and room for a few kitchen units and a camping cooker. The ones on the second tier have a bedroom above the main area.

The nature reserve of Hengistbury Head is huge, with a very diverse range of pathways across it.

Including some of the most expensive beach huts – £330k for a single room (admittedly it has a mezzanine bedroom) and no toilet – wow!

We get to the end of the nature reserve where it is a sand spit (that’s where the beach huts are built) and to carry on our journey we have to take the ferry across the 20 yards or so of the inlet to Christchurch Harbour which is also the outlets of the rivers Avon and Stour.

Mudeford Quay on the other side is also a busy fishing area as well as catering for hoards of tourists.

Walking further east along the coast we come up to the town of Highcliffe and walk through the grounds of Highclife Castle which looks like an impressive wedding venue. In a nearby churchyard we find the relatively unassuming grave of a very famous man.

On the final walk up to Chewton Glen we use another nature reserve, this one called Chewton Bunny which is a lovely green valley.

Resisting the urge to stop for lunch, we take a wander around the grounds of the hotel. It’s long and winding driveway is quite imposing but no-one challenges us.

We bought artisanal sandwiches earlier and despatched them high on a cliff but saved the buns for later – a massive sugar rush essential at this stage in the journey!