29: Going solo and taking a breather in Bournemouth

We were here for Old Harry!

 LOCATION: Bournemouth

What's happening?

Guess it had to be expected. Without @Nigel to push us along, probably no need to explain that we were taking it easy. 

Slept in because we could. 

Descended from the loft for juice  fruit and muesli breakfast provided by @Carmen and @Paul and didn't  look at our watch even once! Time was totally irrelevant.

We were super organised though because the stairs to the attic were not really our best friends. Had actually sorted through our bags and trundled all the dirty laundry with us downstairs to breakfast.

Breakfast and laundry took care of the morning schedule

Our hosts here are very accommodating and helpful. And must comment that this place is absolutely spiffy clean. Some of the old places we have stayed in have been a bit rough around the edges. Our rooms and living spaces always clean and sparkling but sometimes, the rest of the rooms in the old houses have been neglected.  Not here. Every nook amd cranny, every shelf and surface is sparkling clean and carefully decorated. 

@Paul took the time this morning to get us sorted for transport for tomorrow morning to get to the train station, led us with dining options amd directions and even treated us to some special sweets. Extremely attentive. 

Had google maps loaded as a backup to @Paul's directions and followed the path to the laundry. Introduced ourselves to the £9 per load (yep $18) machine and washed away the dirt and dust of the South West Coastal Path. @Mac found a coffee shop without @Nigel's recommendation (what a risk taker) and we settled in with the growing crowd in the laundromat. Threw it in the dryer, folded and bagged and headed for home smellng of roses!

 And that was 12.30. Half the day gone.

That was it, Bournemouth - Poole - Old Harry's Rocks - Swanage ... amd then reverse it

No worries. We only had one thing on the agenda today and that was a harbour boat trip to see Old Harry's Rocks. The last week had been spent viewing all the cliffs and beaches from the coast side, we wanted to finish it off with views from the Atlantic. 

The Adventure

Did a warm up lap up and down the stairs and headed down the cliff side walk to Bournemouth Pier and the information kiosk.

 Unfortunately,  just a little outside the summer season, there were no boat rides from here - needed to bus it to the next harbour at Poole. Just a 30 minute bus ride on the Breezer the lady in the kiosk advised us.

A little walk to the pier at Bournemouth 

Found Bus 70 on the Breezer route and asked the driver how we would recognise the pier. His response, "Keep your eyes open."

Right.

We had a bus route map. We had google maps live tracking. And we had our eyes open.

The 30 minute ride was actually a hour all stops rattle trap ride in a bus with no suspension. Some stops were less than 100 metres apart. It was one crazy ride.

Nearly needed to send Robert Baden Powell out on scouting party to find us

Somehow, the bus didn't actually go to the pier! We were over a bridge and heading away from the harbour ehen @Mac went back to the driver and asked for the pier stop. The response "You miseed it. Stay on board, I turn around in a minute."

Where is @Nigel when you need him? Or even @Paul.

Anyway, the return route actually took us by the pier - our open eyes could actually see it! One hour and twenty minutes later we were at the blue kiosk and secured our ticket on the next Jurassic Coast departure at 3:45.

Meant @Mac had time for fish and chips for lunch. Ordered the "half serve" - it was massive - and found a deck chair with harbour views.

To the winner go the spoils - not a bad batch at all!

The "Fortuna" arrived right on time - and it had plenty of waiting passengers. Felt very fortunate that we were able to secure a seat outdoors on the top deck. It was a 2 hour cruise, with witty, humorous and informative commentary. 

As always, the weather has been our friend and we soaked in  this relaxing time on the water. The white cliffs of Dover on the east coast and now a similar spectacle of the white cliffs here on the Jurassic Coast.

Mission accomplished. 

We were greeted onshore by more than 1,000 riders gathered at Poole Quay dressed in vintage or "dapper" clothing. It was The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) — a global classic‑motorcycle charity ride supporting men’s mental health and prostate cancer research. The Dorset ride is one of the strongest fundraising locations worldwide, raising over £100,000 this year. They were an interesting addition to the Pier on our return and a massive contingent of security staff to manage the ride. Certainly glad we had hit the food before this influx! Might have run out of fish and chips. 

The pier was lined with bikes on this charity ride

Didn't take much brain power to plan the return journey - there was no way that we were getting back on the  Breezer. Opted to walk the 1 km to the bus terminal and take the M2 back to Bournemouth. This was just a 30 minute ride and delivered us back to a stop just outside the laundry we had visited this morning.

Much happier on ride home!

Grabbed a couple of sandwiches and teamed it up with the goodies we had stashed in the attic and were very proud of ourselves for ticking all the goals on what we described as a layover day. We do need an alarm for tomorrow, the now clean contents of our luggage was spewed all over the floor of the attic.  

A moment 💋 for our vicarious adventurers the @Littlens

You might have taken train to Brighton .. but the boat ride was pretty cool!

Survival Barometer

Steps: 10 855 - that includes four adventures on the attic stairs

Weather: 28 and perfect conditions in the late afternoon on the water

Can you believe that?

A little background from Co-Pilot.

 Geological Oddities100-million-year-old chalk — The rocks are made of Late Cretaceous chalk formed from microscopic marine organisms. They’re essentially giant compressed plankton skyscrapers. A constantly changing shape — The stacks are mid‑collapse in geological terms. One pillar completely fell in the 1800s, and erosion continues every year. The coastline is literally different each decade. These are considered very temporary features of the coastline. 

🏞️ Strange Visual & Natural FeaturesChalk + flint stripes — The stacks contain flint nodules embedded in chalk, giving them odd dark stripes and patterns. A “living” coastline — The Jurassic Coast is so dynamic that Old Harry Rocks are considered temporary features — dramatic but fleeting. Part of the same chalk ridge as Dover — Weird but true: Old Harry Rocks and the White Cliffs of Dover were once part of the same continuous chalk formation. 

"I'd walk to the bus station to avoid the Breezer!"