We said goodbye to our lovely "Plassy (plastic) Scousers" (apparently a term used to describe not fully genuine Liverpuddlians) Ian and Anna and with newly appointed Rally Car navigator Keven Henley we set about driving 500 odd kms from Liverpool down to Poole in Dorset.
Apart from a 50km stretch of roadworks near Birmingham, a Motorway services area on the Birmingham toll way that resembled Chadstone Shopping centre on steroids and the fact that my navigator kept regularly falling asleep we made it uneventfully down to Poole passing the world famous towns of Henley and Litchfield along the way (...well we thought they were famous !)
In Poole we caught up with our great friends Kev and Julia whom we'd shared the Outer Hebrides cycling experience with just a few weeks back as well as trips to 7 different countries over the years.
Treated royally once again we were wined and dined while taking part in 2 cycling expeditions over 2 gloriously sunny days.
On day 1 our 65km cycle took us through the beautiful New Forest area near Bournemouth. Here we rode through forest and along lovely single lane roads past numerous herds of New Forest Ponies that graze on this former Royal hunting estate.
On day 2 Pommie Kev upped the ante (76 kms) taking ourselves and Julia on a terrific Dorset explorer featuring Poole Harbour (past million dollar boats) beautiful quiet country lanes, off road forest tracks and through lovely villages including Moreton (burial place of TE Lawrence) and Wareham with its enticing water frontage on a late summers afternoon.
We competed with heavy traffic to make it back safely to Poole to complete a fabulous days cycle.
Our stop off might have extended our place on the free loader circuit but confirmed once again what lovely people Kev and Julia are.
With the sun on the wane we continue our appreciation of all things Redspokes by journeying to the Isle of Wight for some more cycling, local tourism and to catch up with adventurers we have shared other trips with.
Thank you Kev and Julia hope to catch you again on another adventure !
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