Sometime back our friend Lawrence sent out an email asking if anyone's interested to visit The Jurassic Coast over a weekend in July. I have to admit that was the first time I have heard of this place. First thought I had was this was probably the place where they found some dinosaur bones. Hmm not sure if I would like it… fossils?
Separately my manager sighed and turned to me one random day saying that in one of his wildest dreams he would like to sell his house here and move to Wareham. He would go sailing everyday and then end the day at the pub with a pint. "Wareham?" I asked. Yes he said "it's near the Jurassic Coast". Hmm that got me all intrigued.
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| My travelling companions - 3 boys! |
So the trip happened last weekend and can I say that this place exceeded my expectations. Boring dino fossils? Nope. Breathtaking coastlines? YES!
Jixian was kind enough to be our dedicated driver and I do applaud him for driving more than 3 hours to Dorset, and 4h back to London the next day. My ex manager Mark lives in Dorset and I had asked him for some tips on places to visit, etc. Due to the summer season, most accommodation are fully booked and now on retrospect I can see why. Out of our preferred beachfront facing accommodation, I ended up finding a night's accommodation at this farm in Axminster. I will talk more about Spillers Farm later. Axminster is a village near the beautiful town of Lyme Regis where Mark lives with his family. There are many beautiful seaside towns along this 155km of coastline which is the first UNESCO World Heritage site here in the UK. And I can see why. Seriously why do people flock to Brighton when you have The Jurassic Coast??
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| Lulworth Cove |
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| Durdle Door |
We set off early Saturday morning at about 9am. The drive through central London was surprisingly easy. It was as if London was still asleep. We took a stop at a service station and along the way decided on our itinerary. Yes that was how prepared we were. I told them the names of the few places recommended by Mark, such as Lulworth, Durdle Door, Lyme Regis, Bridport, Wareham. We decided to drive straight to Durdle Door, and then find a place for lunch. It was also my first time travelling with 3 boys! They told me I was very honoured to have great company for the weekend and I said I felt very safe. If a bear comes towards us I know I will be fine. (Or at least that's what I think.)
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| Jixian, Lawrence and me |
When we arrived at Durdle Door, I was shocked to see that such a beautiful coastline exists in the UK.
The two toned waters? The sandy beach? Wow.
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| The beautiful clear waters |
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| Blessed with good weather so all the vibrant colours came out in our photos |
We walked down to the beach, and everyone was just in a silent mode, walking along the shoreline, taking some photos and did some people watching. This place is surprisingly beautiful. I wished we had come more prepared with a packed lunch so we could sit by the sea and have a little picnic.
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| Durdle Door |
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| Love this spot where I took so many shots |
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| And enhancing the green moss |
For lunch we stopped by this pub with an "award winning beer garden". The garden was very pretty with loads of flowers and we found a table with a shade for lunch. To be honest, being in the country, in this tiny village of Lulworth, for what we paid, I thought it was expensive. Nor was it great food. Garden was lovely but food was rather disappointing.
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| Lunch stopover at the award winning beer garden |
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| Flowers in the beer garden |
We left and drove 10min to Lulworth Cove. Another beautiful place and I especially love the nautical themed pub near the cove. We decided to sit on a mound overlooking the cove and K just fell asleep. Meanwhile I chatted with Lawrence and Jixian. They are great guys and I'm glad we got to know them better in recent months.
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| At Lulworth Cove |
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| What a sweet couple enjoying the scenery together |
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| Just chilling out. All K wanted to do was snooze! |
We had to drag K up to a small cafe where we got an ice cream each. We decided on where to go next. Probably makes sense to check in at our farm stay else when it gets dark with no lights it might be difficult to find it. JX then drove for half an hour and thankfully we found it quite easily. The friendly owners recommended some places for dinner and we went to one in Axmouth by their recommendations. For a village this size, I was surprised that the restaurant was fully booked. The food was really good and a compensation to the lousy lunch we had earlier. We stayed till we were the last guests and left feeling like a rolly polly.
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| Tea room |
See how many towns are dotted along the coastline here:
http://jurassiccoast.org/visiting-the-coast/gateway-towns
To be continued…
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