Saturday 20 June 2026

This was just a moving day from Poole to London Heathrow. Our National Express bus didn’t leave until 12.25pm so we had a slow and easy morning. It seemed odd that we didn’t have to have our bags down at the front door by 9am for collection by the luggage transfer people. There were two other couples at breakfast who were also walkers. They had walked from Lyme Regis to Poole. We felt a bit smug saying we had walked from Minehead. They have done other walks in the UK together and also in New Zealand, including the Tongariro Crossing. Just for a change and because they were on the menu for the first time I had grilled kippers. Kippers are fat herrings that have been split through the back, gutted, opened flat, salted or brined and then cold smoked. They often come with scrambled egg or a poached egg on top. Mine came minus the egg. They were okay but too salty for my taste.

We had a small problem with Barbara’s telescopic walking poles this morning. She has used them everyday and after nine weeks in the dirt, sand, mud and rain they were stuck fast and we could not collapse them. You are not permitted to take walking poles as your “carry on” on aircraft, they have to go in your checked in luggage. The only way we can get them into her baggage is to collapse them. After a lot of struggling and cursing and twisting, with help from a wrench supplied by Steve, the landlady’s other half, we managed to get them unstuck and collapsed and into her bag.

We walked the half hour down to the bus terminal. It is adjacent to the very large Dolphin Shopping Centre which was busy on a Saturday morning. In a central part of the mall pink, yellow and black deck chairs were set out in front of a giant screen so you could relax and watch World Cup Football. I think it was a replay of USA v Australia.  They should have had the Hurricanes annihilating the Chiefs. We noticed some people walking around in pirate costumes.

The Dolphin Centre leads out into the old part of Poole and High Street which is completely pedestrianised and leads eventually down to the historic Poole Quay. This is just how the Golden Mile in Wellington should be. They even cope with the main railway line crossing the High Street. This morning a market was in full swing with dozens of stalls set up. We kept seeing more and more pirates and eventually found out today was Harry Paye Pirate Day, a swashbuckling community festival. It all kicked off at noon so we couldn’t hang around as we had a bus to catch. At noon there was to be a parade of pirates led by the mayor, best dressed junior pirates competition, singing of sea shanties, pirate games, children’s rides, treasure hunts, firing of cannons, raids by pirates from neigbouring towns and much more. I have never seen so many eye patches, ear rings and cutlasses.

The bus trip to London was uneventful, 2½ hours cruising down highways with only about 3 stops. The bus went right to the central bus station at Heathrow, between terminals 2 and 3. This is also where we caught a local red bus route 105 that goes through a long tunnel under the runways to get outside the airport precinct. Only about a 7 minute ride with a bus stop right outside the ibis Styles. We are here just for tonight, it is comfortable, has a restaurant for dinner and breakfast, and is quiet despite being a stone’s throw from the Heathrow runways. It is a mile away along the same road from the Ibis London Heathrow Airport Hotel where we stayed when we arrived in England in what seems like a lifetime ago.

We had dinner down in the restaurant. Barbara: sweet potato and spinach curry with rice and naan bread. Me: meatballs Pomodoro, pork and beef meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, with basil and olive oil served with pasta. Reasonably priced and not too large. We will have breakfast there in the morning.

This was one of those frustrating days when you are feeling a bit flat because the big walk is over but you are just filling in time before the dreaded long journey home.

I should have said in yesterday’s post that one of the factors in us completing the Coast Path and enjoying it so much is because we have been 100% healthy. No coughs, colds, flu, stomach ailments or anything of the like. For me not a single blister, for Barbara a few hot spots on her feet but she catches them early and wraps them in wool. There is a lot of wool available on the barbed wire fences. Of course we had sore feet, legs, hips etc after long days of steep up hills and downhills but we seemed to come right overnight to do it all again the next day. We definitely got fitter and stronger as the weeks went on, which surprised us. We thought we would just get more and more tired and run down so I guess it shows even old people can improve their strength with exercise.