After my dog sitting spell, I accepted my friend's invitation to go home with them for a little holiday in Bournemouth in Dorset, UK. It was supposed to be raining today and although we had a few dark clouds, it brightened up later, so I'm glad we took a chance and visited the Sandbanks Beach near Poole.
The beach was voted by the European Commission as having a high standard of cleanliness and has held the international Blue Flag for 30 years. The Blue Flag, according to their website is awarded when all the educational, environmental, safety and accessibility criteria have all been met and continued. Last year, the Ocean Conversation spearheaded a campaign encouraging people to pick up at least five pieces of litter off the beach. Usually, when I'm on the beach I always pick litter up but on this occasion it was very clean. We parked on a side road as parking prices are quite steep nearer to the sands. The beach was beautiful but I've heard it can get very busy during the summer with all the tourists, just like me! It is still lovely though, even out of season, which I prefer.
Sandbanks is where the millionaires live, some of them are well known celebrities. Obviously, if you have the money I can understand the attraction as it is secluded with great scenery. Disappointingly, there was a sign saying dogs weren't allowed on the beach until after Sept 30th, which was a bit of a bummer, so we just had to walk alongside it. As you can see, the pooch couldn't read!
We then left and parked up to look at the Sandbanks Ferry that crosses the entrance of Poole Harbour and ferries foot passengers, bicycles, motor cycles, vehicles etc over
to Studland, a village on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. I have been on the ferry before. It's operates on a first come, first served basis. You cannot pre-book it. There's always long queues in the summer which is a bit of a nightmare. On the positive side, it takes less than 10 minutes to get to the other side and for a car it costs about £5. Once on the ferry, you can get out of your car and go to the top deck to admire the views. If you didn't catch the ferry you'd have a 25 mile car journey along the roads.
Just like us, quite a few people had just come to sit and watch the ferry coming and going and the various boats and jet skiers going past.
If you want a bit of reflection and mindfulness, this is the place to sit. It was quite calming.
On the way back to the car, we spotted a little lizard popping out of a pipe in the wall. Very cute! It was a nice ending to an enjoyable morning.
