Day 14 - Abbotsbury to Weymouth - 19 Apr 19

On such a good day weather wise, Linda and I headed to Abbotsbury.
We were dropped off by Luke and Sammy and said our goodbyes.

Now the study of the route listed this walk as easy, but although it was not the hilliest by far it was not easy.
We knew that we had extra to do as the original course is to Ferrybridge but we needed to get to Weymouth Train station to get home. So instead of about 11 miles as per the book, the walk was nearly 15 miles.

A pleasant start apart from an initial hill, which going by the guide was not there!

Another thing was the styles, we must have climbed over between 20 and 30 in the 1st quarter of the walk.

Unusual Style built into the wall

Strangely the start of this leg is inland and it seem to take an age to get close to the water's edge.
The sun was shining so we used a little suncream and carried on.

We see Sea, well actually Fleet Lagoon.

Being such a hot day and close to Fleet Lagoon we encountered a constant stream of Midges, it actually reminded me of a time I was in Trade Training with the RAF and we were camping in Machrihanish in Scotland and the midges were so bad we had to abandon camp in the middle of the night.
Midges were getting in my ears and up my nose, Linda didn't seem as troubled by them as I was.
The thickness of these midges were patchy, unlike the experience in Scotland.

 

A field of Yellow!

Linda kept stopping to get the perfect photo and to her credit she often did. She was strangely obsessed by the boats on the shoreline. Which I did not really get but the photos were good.

We came to Moonfleet and noticed that the Moonfleet Manor Hotel was open to non-residents so we decided to make a pitstop. It was nearly lunchtime but choose just to have a drink, I had my usual black coffee and Linda her tea.
Well although my coffee was a good tasty cup, Linda struggled with a large teapot that gave just over 3 large cups. I didn't mind too much as the settee we were sat in was really comfortable and it was actually good to get out fo the sun few a while.
We then got on our way.

Carrying on the walk we came across a view which I was not expecting.
After last year spending a week on Loch Ness expecting too see Nessie, we now know why no one sees him as he is in Fleet Lagoon. What do you think?

This part of the walk, we did not meet many people except the odd trail runner or fellow Coastal Path walkers. As we started to get closer to Weymouth this trail soon became laden with Holidaymakers out for a stroll.

Then nearing Ferrybridge we came across Chickerell Military Firing range. Again taking me back to years of attending such sites every two months. Luckily and as expected on a Bank Holiday the range was closed, so we could walk the route without taking an alternate.

After this and going up the next hill and on current form around the 10-mile mark, I began to start to struggle. Linda kept insisting that we should stop and rest, but I knew that I need to keep going, because if I stop, starting again would be harder than just to keep going.

Portland in the distance, at the foot of this, I knew was Ferrybridge.

We met plenty of wildlife on this walk, not just the midges.
Linda saw what she described as a Stoat but I missed it, we saw plenty of Butterflies, mainly common Red Admirals and Cabbage Whites but still quite a few.
We also seem to follow a Bird of Prey (guessing a Hawk) that was hunting along a hedgerow and I guess a little annoyed we disturbed his hunt.
I saw 2 Lizards but they were too quick to run for Linda to see, then Linda found one that was quite happy to pose for photos.

Now both Linda and I on these walks have suffered, (me more than her due to my lack of fitness).
But one ailment we both suffer with is swollen fingers.
I have no idea why, but it is strange. Photo below shows my hand and chubby fingers.

By now, I am not happy, my body was aching in most locations. But my feet were on fire. The day after I have discovered why, I have blisters that have formed.
I get more determined to finish but less interested in the scenery.
Luckily Linda still takes time to take some great photos.

As we approached Weymouth I was looking forward to stopping and having some refreshments.
I showed Linda the Fish & Chip Shop my Pool Team always hit when we come to Weymouth for a beer crawl and to my shock Linda wanted to stop there.
Unfortunately, it was for a  soft whip ice cream, not chips, so I just had a can of Tango.
The Weymouth Town Bridge was up so we had to wait to cross.

Weymouth Town Bridge

Eventually, after struggling to walk through the town centre, we reached the Train Station, well nearly....I knew a pub a stone's throw from the station that serves HopBack's Summer Lightning. My dad's favourite ale, when he was alive. So, we stooped there and I enjoyed the fact that I had completed the final leg and could enjoy a pint.