Friday was the last full day of our trip and as the bikes were already set up and ready to go, and once again the weather was great, we decided to try out the Sika Trail in Wareham Forest (part of which we'd done on the Thursday). Again, we hardly saw another soul and it actually felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We biked through to a pub on the edge of the forest for lunch before biking back to the site. Unfortunately on the way back Paddy's trailer got a puncture, in fact it got more than one. Mike was able to do a temporary fix on it but it meant cutting our days biking short and heading back to the site, where we spent the afternoon sat in the sunshine (Paddy managed to find some shade though!). We had a BBQ on site that evening before packing up the next morning and heading home.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather, considering we'd booked all the sites back in November/December 2012!!!
Let's hope we're now finally having a proper summer and that it lasts for all of us.
Our next trip is in a few weeks time when we're off to Cheddar again. We need a new electric step fitting on the motorhome so it seemed like a perfect excuse for a long weekend away!
Thursday was just as warm as all of the other days but it was still OK for biking so once again we set our bikes up and set off early morning for a ride through the forest, directly from the site, and on into Wareham, where we made our way to the Quay and sat outside the Quay Inn in the sunshine people watching! We had a lovely lunch there before buying ice creams and eating them alongside the town walls.
On the way back through Wareham Forest we headed up to Woolsbarrow Hill Fort where you could see for miles across the Dorset countryside.
We spent a very peaceful afternoon and evening on site once we got back.
We were on the move again on Wednesday morning. We didn't hurry, it was too hot again! Our next, and last, site of our trip was in Wareham Forest. We arrived on site early afternoon, pitched up, wound the awning out and sat outside, which is where we stayed for the rest of the day watching the wildlife again, including a pair of baby robins who were being fed by Mum!
Another day, another bike ride. We certainly made the most of our new electric assisted bikes during this trip and plan to do so again, should we be lucky with the weather again!!
On Tuesday morning we had breakfast and headed back out into the forest for a ride over to Burley (a visit to New Forest Cider is a must!) sticking mainly to the forest trails and very quiet roads. Again we hardly saw anyone during our 22 mile ride. However, just to make my entire holiday, we were very lucky to spot a baby deer in the forest near to the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive and I was lucky enough to photograph it. Further along the route we came across more deer munching on the lush green hedges. We were so chuffed. After a brief stop in Burley and a visit to the cider shop we headed back to the campsite via the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive where we stopped to enjoy a well earned New Forest ice cream.
We ate on site that evening and spent most of it sat outside as it was still far too hot inside for us and Paddy. Sadly that was our last evening at Black Knowl and our time had gone far too quickly.
Monday was yet another beautiful blue sky day so after breakfast we were off out on our bikes again. We headed into Brockenhurst and over to Balmer Lawn first and then into Hollands Wood campsite where the bike trail continues deep into the forest. We hardly saw any humans on our travels but plenty of 'locals'!!!
At lunchtime we headed back into Brockenhurst where we enjoyed lunch sat outside a tearoom before biking back to the campsite, where were spent the rest of the day. It really was far too hot for Paddy who found shade where ever he could, at one time he was fast asleep under the rear end of the camper!
