TraceysTrek

Best bits: walking on grass

Worst bits: walking on shingle for too many miles.

Distance: 21.7 miles

It was windy last night and caused Priscilla to rock with each gust so it took a while to get to sleep. It was a bit of a shock when alarm went off.

However, we got off to an early start but then found ourselves stuck in a traffic queue which turned out to be to allow horses to cross the bridge and the road.

As I set off from Bognor Regis just outside the Butlins complex the sky was blue and cloudless, however it was quite cool and breezy as you can see from my flags flying.

The sea was no longer blue but more of a dirty brown colour and had lots of white horses as the waves were crashing against the groynes. 

There were a few brave souls walking close to the shore. These were mainly dog walkers.

The gardens of the houses are right up to the beach. Well, when I say beach it’s shingles again. I was walking on this for about 5 miles which combined with the strong headwinds took its toll on my energy levels.

I was glad to get a sit down and get a cuppa at the Harbour Lights cafe at Littlehampton I also had beans on toast to help refuel me.

Many of the houses have large manicured gardens. One had a series of about six garden shed that were all painted like beach huts and looked fantastic.

After a while of walking I realised I could no longer see the Isle of Wight. I asked myself When did that disappear? I can however, now see an offshore wind farm.

The wind was relentless today. The waves got stronger and stronger crashing onto the shore bringing up more shingle which can be heard as they land. It was a sensory cacophony, the sound of the waves, my footsteps on the shingle, the strength and sound of the wind, the seagulls squaking whilst flying, the smell of the sea and finally the sun beating down gently warming my skin, or what bit was exposed.

After a while the coast path became a path by the side of the beach and gradually became a wide expanse of grass. This allowed me to progress quicker and was much better on my poor feet.

It was even better when an area of foliage separated the grass from the beach giving shelter from the relentless wind.

This section was full of playful dogs running and fetching balls to their owners. However, the houses here barricade themselves off from this green walkway by large walls and fences which literally shout keep out, private!

Suddenly there was the smell of freshly cut grass. It was being ‘manicured’ by a guy on a sit on industrial mower. He could easily have been a rally driver, making sharp turns, and spinning around at high speeds. It looked like he was having great fun.

Unfortunately I was back on the beach for about another hour of walking. There were many beach huts along here but they weren’t as pretty as some of the others I have seen on my walk.

After another exhausting session of walking along the beach, it was a relief to get back on the grass. This next section reminded me of walking along the cliff tops on the south-west coastal path but without a cliff, well, there was sort of one but it was only about a meter high!

I met at Dave at the Bluebird café which was absolutely mobbed with people. It had an inside area, a covered outdoor area and loads of tables outside. It’s extremely popular and you had to have booked to reserve an inside table.

It wasn’t long then before I was on the promenade into Worthing. This was really busy with families and I enjoyed seeing children walking on sea wall.

The big wheel was visible from quite a distance and was actually quite large once I got up to it

Worthing is everything typical of a an English seaside town. It had amusements, beachside cafés and shacks and of course numerous beach huts. It also has a working pier.

The carousel was decorated in vibrant colours creating a sensory overload.

The quality and aesthetic nature of the beach huts improved as I came into Lancing. Dave met me there and we walked together for about another 30 minutes before he went back to collect the car.

Trying to rendezvous with Dave at the end of my walk was tricky due to traffic. He couldn’t work out where I was so I told him I was waiting for him by the big F-off Lighthouse and surely he would be able to see that. Needless to say, I was a bit cranky as I was exhausted, my foot was aching and I was hungry…hangry Tracey came out!

Our return journey was in rush-hour and so it took awhile to get back to Priscilla. Dave had bought me a present, a Cadbury’s chocolate button Easter egg. We had some with a cup of tea before Dave got ready to go out with his friend.

I was too exhausted and so hobbled off to Asda where I managed to get a wash and even washed my hair in the toilet facilities.

I had something to eat, I treated myself to a glass of wine and of course some Easter egg and then jumped into bed to rest my legs.