Since my last personal blog post, many things have happened. I was in a bad state, but now it is time for a short trip to England. When thinking about England, not the most hyped feelings are involved. England was always in my mind like “no let’s not go there, I don’t like it!”, this time a special event is coming up. The cheese run is happening, this will be explained in the next personal blog post a bit more and in a specific article about that as well.
My friend from the Couchsurfing community in Hamburg was going to be in England during the same time, to visit her family. It was the perfect timing so I decided to come earlier, to maybe change my mind about England!
The arriving
I was flying from my hometown Hamburg, where I was standing in a long line at the security check. I have never seen it this full! 45 minutes waiting, corona time is officially over! The direct flight went to London Gatwick with a bit of a delay, but quite an enjoyable flight. I was a bit nervous about traveling again, but it went better than expected, I mean it’s not a long way to go.
There were no controls and even though the UK isn’t part of the EU anymore, I still haven’t received a stamp in my passport, sad. I went with the train to another terminal, to get on my way to my final destination.
It was easy, you didn’t need a ticket to get to downtown London, just tap with your credit card at the gate and it will take the money/open the gate right away, quite simple. It was also quite cheap, less than 2 Euros.
Getting to New Milton (illegally)
The train ride was quick and decent, I had to get out 20 min after and needed to find my way to the next train, to New Milton, where my friend is living. There was no closed gate and the same type of train was waiting for me, so I assumed that my payment from earlier was fine.
I got on the train and sat down, thinking of nothing too wild, just enjoying the view of the green scenery and the beer smelling neighbor in the train. It was said that a printed out ticket was needed, or at least on the phone. I didn’t have that, so I got a bit nervous and contacted my friend. She was clearly confused and told me to get one. I tried a lot getting a ticket online, the provider just didn’t want me to purchase it.
The train ride took 1,5h’s and I was driving in it illegally, the fines would just have been double the ticket price, but still annoying. I was lucky, because nobody was checking tickets, so I was able to get less than 2 Euros to my destination. What would be a trip of mine, without doing something stupid?
New Milton
I was arriving in the little town of New Milton and was getting picked up by both of my friends. It was a weird feeling, seeing the sun in the sky, don’t forget I am visiting England! The sun was also not leaving for the first days of my stay, I was able to get some tan as well, actually quite nice, but also a bit strange.
We were going through the town, needing to get to the supermarket, where I took my chance, to check it out, not as expensive as expected. I bought some cookies, which tasted amazing!
It was nice getting to know the town, where my friend was growing up and seeing the excitement in her eyes, while showing it to us. A bit more than 25.000 people are living there, so it seems like a really peaceful place, especially with all the nature around. New Milton is located directly at the Sea and also inside the New Forest national park!
Arriving home
Basically, right after we arrived home, it was time for some British welcoming. I was eating baked beans with bread and drinking a cup of tea. Adding to this I was meeting her family and having some good talks already. Everything tasted good, except Marmite, which I needed to try. It is similar to the Australian Vegemite, some like it, but I am not a fan of it.
The family was welcoming me right away, which felt great. Also the room for sleeping was great, I got some free space removed, to sleep in the group, with a comfortable blanket.
I left all of my stuff there and then it was time to do some exploring. We went for a walk, to get into the Sea. The trip was nice, it was also interesting, with the cars driving on the other side of the road of course, but when you pay attention to your surroundings, you can do it!
The first exploring
Close to the Sea, there was an area, in which the horses were running around freely. I was going to one of the horses and the horse was not even afraid, even let me pet it. After a while, the horse even went walking with us for a while, which was actually a very good feeling.
The sun was burning a bit and we were able to see the water, we just had to go down a cliff, which was easier than it sounds like. We took off our shoes and walked on the beach with many little stones. For a few hundred meters that was fine, then it started to hurt a lot, but it was worth it, after we arrived!
The water was cold, but still enjoyable. We were swimming a bit and were even able to relax on the beach, to get dried up by the sun a little. The people surrounding us seemed to be really friendly as well.
I enjoyed the scenery a lot, with cliffs everywhere and some colorful huts along the beachside. New Milton is a place with high potential for tourism, but is not receiving international ones, more the old British people. It is sad for the place, but good when you are visiting it.
From the first moment on, I felt relaxed and good in this town, maybe because I also prefer not the busy life of cities that much.
At the end of the day, we went to have some nice prepared dinner from a Vietnamese friend. Everyone liked it. Besides me, due to the spicy level of the food, South East Asia will be rough for me soon!
Second day – day of exploring
After breakfast it was time to go with the car into the region surrounding us for some exploring. It was nice being in the car and exploring with that and not needing to hope for a ride while hitchhiking or getting a bus/train somewhere.
I love taking road trips, you are able to see so much more in a short amount of time. You are able to stop everywhere and just enjoy the trip to the fullest. Of course this way of traveling is more expensive, so there are always pros and cons for all types of traveling. At the end it’s up to everyone to decide that.
We went on a ride to the city of Poole and were getting to the Sandbank Terminal, where we were taking the ferry to the other side. On the other side we were arriving at the Studland and Godlingston Heath National Nature Reserve, in which we were going on a beach.
The way there was such a hustle, with a swampy ground and a lot of water to cross, still it was worth it when arriving at the beach. For me it is always really refreshing to get to a beach.
Two amazing things, with not such a long distance from each other (30-45 min walking). There are a lot of tourists there, but when you are there in the afternoon, it should be fine.
Swanage
It was time to visit some town, we went there to grab some breakfast, at least my friends bought them self breakfast, I was eating my beans in the can.
We were sitting at a table, with a nice view over the harbor. In the distance it was possible to see the Old Harry Rocks, which are some rocks in the water. The closest Swanage you can get there is from a pier, for which you need to pay as well, in my opinion it would not be worth it to pay for that.
We were walking up the hill next to the harbor, to have a better view over the city. We went to Peveril Point. You are not closer than from the pier, but still have a good view of the rocks, which are not amazing anyway. Also from there you are having a nice walk on the cliff, where it is possible to take some great pictures as well!
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Cofte Castle
Next up was the town of Cofte Caste; many tourists were at this place. It is a little town, with a church in the middle of it, and some houses around. It looks really traditional and on the hill, there is a destroyed caste standing. When it was intact back then, it had to be a really big castle.
For me, this place was so far on this trip my highlight, it was just great to be at. The houses were cute, the church looked amazing and the castle of course as well.
I went up in the air with my drone, to capture everything, which worked out well. I didn’t want to pay the entry fee for the castle, because for what you see there, more than 10 Euros is just too much for it! Great to walk around, from the air and from the distance, so being right next to it, isn’t a thing to do.
The local bakery there is for sure something you should check out as well, it is right on the opposite side of the road, when you are standing at the entrance of the church.
Durdle Door & Lulworth Bay
We drove there after Corfe Castle. The one is a bay, with cliffs surrounding it. It is breathtaking when you are walking there and around it, also out of the air it is amazing.
You are often able to hear gunshots, that is due to the shooting range of the British Military, which is located at the other side of the mountain, so don’t fly your drone close to it, that will not end well I assume.
After being at the bay, it was time to walk to the Durdle Door, where drones sadly are not allowed, also you should respect that. Probably you could do it, but then you are the asshole of all and people seem to care about it.
The walking way, when you are not being lazy and driving with the car up, is up the hill, which can be exhausting. When you are on top, it is time to walk over a meadow, where many cows are, if you are nice to them, you should be able to pet them as well.
When you are at the other parking spot, you can walk to the mountain again and will arrive at a beach. On the beach there is this rock foundation which is making a bow and looking quite nice. It is also possible to go swimming there, which at least in May many people were not doing, because of the refreshing temperature of the Sea.
The walk was exhausting but worth it!
Last day of the one friend
We started with a great breakfast! The whole family was eating together. She was packing her stuff and then we three went on a biking trip, deeper inside the New Forest national park. It was scary driving on the road, I don’t even know why I felt scared there. We drove for quite a while, until we were arriving at the “forest”, which was basically a huge meadow.
We were having some nice conversations, before walking over the meadow. It was just impressive. Many little flowers were located everywhere and adding to this, around 100 horses were eating and relaxing in the sun as well.
It was not allowed getting so close to them, but they were really friendly and also came closer themself. We were putting our picnic blanket out and were eating a bit in the middle of all these horses. The atmosphere, just peaceful and relaxing. It was perfect for spending some time, but we had to go back, so that she was able to get to her flight on time.
We got in the car and needed to drive over two hours to the airport. It was fun, because we were playing some cd’s with great music.
The ride back – King John’s Castle
On the ride back, we were quickly stopping on the half of the way at a little castle, called King John’s Castle. This castle was hidden inside nature, was destroyed and really small. Also had fences around, with still an entrance. We took some pictures and went back to the car, you don’t need more than five minutes there.
This stop was still good, we were able to have some nice walks in the peaceful environment, with great nature around.
Next stop was Southampton, which wasn’t far away from home. I went to Decathlon, to buy some knee protection, for the upcoming cheese run. I hope they will help.
In Southampton, the Titanic was staring back at them, a little side fact for the final of this personal blog post!
