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01 May 2006

LIFE Old Harry, Geocaching and Cycling

Well what a fantastic day! Amongst other things, Natty and I have spent the May Day bank holiday cycling around the Isle of Purbeck.

We left the house at 10:30, cycled down to Sandbanks and took the ferry across to Studland beach. We cycled through Studland and then up to Old Harry (big rocks on edge of Isle of Purbeck peninsular). We found up there our first geocache (see below) and then headed down to Swanage. As you can see from the pictures, the views at the top here were absolutely breathtaking. Still can’t believe we’re living in such a beautiful environment.

The nice grasslands disappeared on the path down from the cliffs and it was so steep we had to push / carry our bikes through the gorse. Swanage is a quaint seaside town where we had a nice’ish cream tea in Swanage, followed by very good portion of chips by the sea front.

We then took the Swanage Railway steam train to Corfe. This was the first steam train I had been on since taking my Grandad on the Bluebell line about 20 years ago. The carriages were strangely reminiscent of the old SWT carriages but the sound of the tracks and whiff of the steam was very romantic.

Getting a little tired by this stage we did not wait around in Corfe and headed towards the ferry. These last 6 miles we (relying on the GPS) travelling along a lovely path through Rempstone Heath forest. We finally got home (after a quick pint at the Inn in the Park) covered in mud, tired and hungry.

For those interested - Isle of Purbeck Cycle Routes.

Geocaching

Natty spotted an article in the Telegraph weekend section about geocaching late last year and suggested I buy a GPS unit. I as ever needed little encouragement. People hide little boxes across the world and advertise their coordinates online. Using a GPS people then find these boxes, write in the log, take and replace an item from the box.

The first cache we found was hidden under a tree amongst a patch of wild garlic by Old Harry on the Isle of Purbeck. Details here. I got badly stung by stinging nettles but enjoyed finding the cache immensely. Can’t wait to go looking for some more! Thanks to Justin for the fab bike holder for the GPS unit.

posted by Matthew at 18:51

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