Swanage to South Haven 12 km + 2km back tracking
Total kilometres walked 262.5, average per day 17.5
Ascension 150m  Accumulated ascension 6764m

So we have done the South West Coast Path. There is a real feeling of satisfaction in completing something we started in 2018. It is four years since our last long walk so I wasn’t sure how our bodies would stand up to the challenge this time. Doing a shorter daily average certainly helped us. The heat wave in the first week and the steep cliffs in the second made it hard work, but we survived each day, and every morning felt fresh and eager to get out on the path. When we reached the monument at the end today I wistfully thought well why not turn around and walk all the way back to Minehead. NOT! That would be a two month ordeal going against the prevailing weather and into winter.

Things didn’t start off so well today. Our guest house did not serve an English Breakfast just a sort of continental breakfast delivered to your room. A hang over from Covid we think. The breakfast was okay, packet of juice, make it yourself filter coffee, cereal, one fruit (banana) yoghurt and a bacon buttie. Then when we had checked out and were a kilometre into the day’s walk I remembered I had left my damp tramping towel and a pair of merino socks in the wardrobe to dry. So we back tracked to the guest house and of course the cleaner had found the items and left them with our bags – which fortunately had not yet been collected and moved on to Poole. So we started off again and on the way out of Swanage I took a few photos. At the top of the only climb of the day I realised I had not put the memory card back in the camera, so no pics of the first part of the day. Not an auspicious start.

Today was the easiest day of this trip. A walk out of Swanage on the promenade, one moderate climb, soft walking on grass, one of the Dorset’s natural wonders, a 3½ kilometre walk along a naturist beach, a free ferry ride and a bus ride into Poole. It was overcast all day but did not rain. The wind was very strong again, 45km/hr. Mostly behind us but also often a cross wind, thank God pushing us inland and not toward the cliff edge.

The highlight of the day would have to be the offshore stacks at Ballard Point and Old Harry Rocks. These are pretty impressive with sheer white chalk cliffs down into the sea. One of them is called Old Harry and the others are Old Harry’s Wives. Because of the strong wind we dared not go anywhere near close to the edge.

The beach at Studland Bay and then Shell Bay was empty and very peaceful with just some low waves breaking on the shore next to us. After the energetic roller coaster cliffs of the last two days this was a gentle unwind down to the end. The end of the 630 mile, 1003 kilometre South West Coast Path soon came at South Haven Point. A fairly low key blue metal monument alongside a line of cars waiting to get onto the ferry. Not nearly as impressive as the monument at the start in Minehead. In a way a bit of a let-down. We were on our own but in a few minutes an elderly couple came walking off the ferry and offered to take our photo.

The ferry is vehicle and pedestrian and is a chain ferry pulled back and forth across the 200m channel by two chains. The ferry runs every 20 minutes and each trip takes about 4 minutes. For pedestrians doing a return journey the fare is £1, for pedestrians just going one way – free. At Sandlands where we got off the ferry the Breezer 60 bus (£2) took us on a 40 minute trip to Poole Quay where our B & B is located in the old part of the town. At the B & B a minor let down to end the day. It is now just a B. The new owners no longer do breakfast. But that is okay, it will be nice to get out on the quay and find a nice little breakfast café, no need to hit the trail tomorrow.

Barbara’s thoughts.  Slow tourism has many advantages. You see different stuff but in bite size pieces. You get to talk to the locals. Walking is meditative. Being physically tired each day means you sleep very well. Walking the SWCP takes you away from the tourist hot spots, so no crowds. It is satisfying being on a journey from A to Z stopping at different places but moving in one direction. Your fellow walkers are just as knackered as you, and all support each other with kind words and helpful suggestions. There is a definite satisfaction in achieving something which at times is challenging or too hard, but you just keep going. You can eat lots of chocolate because you need the energy.

Tomorrow we have a relaxing day looking around Poole and then move on to the Isle of Wight for 3 days of R and R.