Like most families, Ian and Vanessa enjoy travelling together. Since retiring in 2019 we started this blog to allow people to follow our journeys. Hopefully you find the locations we visit of interest.
Awake at 0620 to check the weather and finding a disappointing cloudy sky. Rechecking the forecast it looked like this was going to last all day, so wifey gets a lie in. There was no rush to get out now, so we had a cuppa in the motorhome and later set off for RSPB Arne (as we were members now).
We spent the morning on one of the trails with little to show for our time. We settled in one of the hides, but after 30 minutes we were both freezing, so it’s off to the café for a sandwich and coffee.
Heading off in the afternoon towards Big Wood and Shipstall beach we pass miles of power cables as the whole area was being prepared for ‘Winter Watch’ which we think starts next week on the TV. Fortunately the afternoon trek was more productive.
A spoonbill – not seen one of these before.
Sika Deer wandered into view whilst photographing the Spoonbills
Finally along the beach we came across a few dozen Oyster Catchers. The tide was going out to reveal the mudflats, so obviously it was feeding time.
Tomorrow we return home; it’s been a nice little break, but not with the clear skies and sunny weather we were expecting. But we will return as it’s only 75 minutes from home. Hopefully we’ll get sunshine on the next visit.
Well the forecast was looking good with clear skies and maybe some fog in the morning, so we are taking a few days in the Motorhome back in the Purbecks. We always stay on a campsite just outside Wareham on the Bere Road as it gives us good access to RSPB Arne, Corfe Castle and the south coast coves.
On arrival we headed out past Corfe Castle to Kingston which overlooks Corfe. We only had 2 hours before sunset, so had to work fast while the weather was good. Managed to grab this shot of the castle from the hillside.
I’ve always wanted to capture this shot with the castle surrounded by fog, so maybe we’ll try again in the morning.
One of the main reasons for coming to the area at this time was to capture the moon setting to the west of the castle with the sun rising from the south east. We would view it from the hill shown in the above image to the right of the castle. I woke early to check the sky and could just see the moon through the fog, so everything looked promising. Dragging wifey out of bed for a quick cuppa, we then set off for Corfe.
Well, we changed from the planned viewpoint as we couldn’t see the castle (or the moon) at all, so we headed back up to the hillside near Kingston. After waiting for an hour we still couldn’t see the castle – in fact we could only just make out the top of the hill to the right. So we headed back into Wareham for breakfast at our favourite café, The Goat for a smooth latte and bacon butty:-
Yes, the sourdough bread was crammed with bacon.
After breakfast we returned to the hillside with virtually no change in the height of the fog. So we left the engine running to keep warm for the next 20 minutes and then decided to set up the cameras ready with the telephoto lenses. Whilst we were getting our gear out of the boot, the car cut-out and I couldn’t restart it. Vanessa set up her tripod ready for a view of the castle while I phoned Driver Guardian to get a mechanic out to the car.
We waited another 50 minutes for assistance to arrive and during that time the fog had dispersed to this level….
Well the mechanic arrived and whilst I was dealing with him the fog really started to clear. Vanessa hopefully got some really good shots, but I had to wait until he left. As I thought, it was a failing battery, so I didn’t want to leave the car ticking over again at the risk of another cut-out, so I grabbed one quick shot and packed away.
We managed to get to Halfords and had a new battery fitted. This left us enough time to head to RSPB Arne to walk the dog and hopefully bag a few more shots.
Whilst wandering back though the woods we came across this chance encounter…
Later getting a clearer image of the Sika deer.
Back at the car park we decided to join the RSPB as we visit this site every time we come to the area…. and now of course I’ve got to return to get more misty shots of Corfe and hopefully one with the moon in the right position. Maybe tomorrow will be foggy again and I can try again, but if not we’ll try a few coastal shots.
Bateson's Travel log 