Our weekend in Dorset

A view of Lulworth Cove from the coastal path. Picturesque, even in the mist and rain.

Some of you may have seen the pictures I posted on Instagram of our trip to the beautiful Dorset countryside. It was a fantastic trip and we learned a lot about traveling outside of London for a weekend away, renting a car and pumping petrol. We stayed the night with my Aunty Margaret and did some tourist sightseeing. Although the fickle English weather didn't come to the party, we did have a lovely time. Kyle and Kelly also joined us for the trip, adding a fun-with-friends feeling to our road-trip!

Frans and I decided to rent a car and do our overdue visit to my special Aunty Margaret and Uncle Brian. We had been told by Kyle that the car rental company to go for is Kendall Cars in Wimbledon which was sound advice! The car was affordable, performed brilliantly and the proximity of the rental ground to the edge of London meant that we didn't have too many scary London roads to navigate before we were on the (more) open roads to Dorset.

Kyle had to teach us how to pump our own fuel. In South Africa, you
always have a petrol attendant to do it for you! 

We had been meaning to go and visit Margaret and Brian ever since we arrived in London, so we decided that last weekend was the one. Aunty Margaret is actually my mom's aunt; she is my gran's sister and we have been very close to her all our lives. She has come to visit us in South Africa many times and has lived in Dorset her whole life. Margaret, my gran and her two brothers John and Bob grew up on Poxwell farm where their parents were farmers. In her twenties, my gran married my grandfather and they moved to South Africa.

Margaret has always been a deerstalker and supplies the local pubs with a variety of venison cuts for their dishes. She, like my gran, has a palate for the foods that the rest of us might find a little gross. She is as strong as ever and takes regular walks around their steep and uneven farm land with her terrier, Terry. We had supper at a local pub which Margaret supplies with meat. I had the venison loin and Frans had the venison faggot, a large, rich, stuffed meatball containing all the bits and pieces that don't usually make for perfect cuts of meat.

From left to right: Uncle Brian, Aunty Margaret, me, Frans, Uncle John,
Aunty Lynne, Kyle and Kelly.

On our way down to the farm, we visited the abandoned village of Tyneham. Due to its close proximity to a military training ground, the village was evacuated during the second world war to be used as a practice ground for military practice. The village was never repopulated but in more recent years, has been carefully preserved and the church and school house have been restored to their original state. It is a really interesting place to visit, but our favourite part was the incredible, remote roads and views on the road leading to the village. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures of the spectacular scenery as a chilly mist had descended!

The restored telephone box at Tyneham Village

We then made our way to Lulworth Cove, with the intention of walking the few miles along the coastal path to see Durdle Door. Lulworth Cove is a cute little village on the Dorset coastline. It started raining as soon as we arrived there so we didn't really get the sunny seaside experience we were after. However, we didn't let the rain get in our way and persevered on with our short hike. Although we got drenched by the irregular downpours, we thoroughly enjoyed our walk and the scenery was well worth the squidgy shoes and chilly cheeks!

Durdle door and seaside chalk cliffs. Pebble beaches make walking
on the beach in shoes much more pleasant than on sandy ones!

On Sunday morning, we had a lazy morning followed by a fry-up breakfast, which included black pudding! After breakfast, we went for a walk on the farm, guided by Margaret. We scrambled through the woodland, hopping over brooks and bashing through bracken. We popped out of the forest at the top of the farm with delicious views of the countryside stretched out in front of us. I didn't take a camera, so these images are recorded in the photo album of our memories only. Later that day, we took a scenic route back to London, stopping off at the Cerne giant and Fovent badges, some of the many hillside carvings in the chalk landscape of Dorset. 

A terrible picture of the Fovent Military badges with a field
of bright yellow Rape below it. 

Taking the scenic route meant navigating some rather narrow lanes, putting Frans's driving skills to the test! Every so often we would suddenly come round the corner to find ourselves in another village out of a post card! the houses are all right on the street with beautiful stonework. It was a perfect drive home. Back in London on Sunday evening we decided that it was a very worthwhile outing and we will definitely be doing something similar again.

Village lanes