Easter break – Day 3

What excitement! This morning after breakfast guess who found his way to where we were on our holiday? Easter Bunny left eggs all over the yard of the farm and even hid some tantalisingly close to the poor rabbits’ hutch. Luckily no other animals ate the eggs before James got to them (think hungry dogs)! He squealed with delight as he discovered them all and proudly showed off his stash before offering and sharing.

But even a tummy full of chocolate couldn’t stop him from falling asleep on the 90 minute drive to Lulworth Cove, east of Dorchester. This unique cove has been fashioned by the sea over the centuries as the softer stone erodes leaving the hard Portland stone and an almost perfect circle with an opening to the sea. It was just beautiful on yet another summery day. We strolled through the village and ate our lunch on the stony beach. Martin got the energy to go scrambling in search of the impressive geological formations just around the headland but James and I stayed put and played. Martin came back and we tackled the 2km walk up and over the chalk cliffs. I was glad I had changed into my hiking boots. The reward was the view of Durdle Door, a natural archway carved into the cliff. It was just amazing to gaze at. The sea was a transparent turquoise and holiday-makers frolicked on the sandy beaches well below the cliff path. We went the whole way but it was a bit too much for James who scored a shoulder ride from Dad all the way back up to the top. Lucky thing!

Ice-cream was this time a necessity after all that exertion and as we ate a rescue helicopter landed at the top of the car park and air-lifted a walker to hospital. A bit of excitement for us but we felt for the poor person. Shame they would have missed the view from the chopper! [Martin: The roads and grass carpark were jammed when I heard a siren - first a coast guard ute followed by an ambulance. Seconds later I heard the sound of a huge coast guard chopper as it appeared over the cliff, circled, then picked a landing spot in the midst of all the cars.]

We had dinner on the beach at Lyme Regis so James could have more beach time and drove home again through the fields at dusk. We hated the idea of darting through this beautiful part of England on main roads, and the Sat Nav always gives us confidence to try new routes without fear of getting lost and home at midnight. As we crossed tiny bridges and ambled down single-vehicle farm tracks we saw many rabbits and pheasants. We actually ended up driving back through Stockland where we had started out this morning! It had been a very long day!

Photos are here.