So, picking up from where I left it in the last post, we advanced from Lulworth Cove, after a hearty meal of the freshest of the seafood one could try, making our way towards Durdle door on foot across the hill that separates the two wonders. It takes about 28-30 minutes to walk from one spot to another, depending on an individual's speed. I'll be honest, we were a tad bit slower than others but only cause I was stopping to take tons of pics at every angle I could see as we ascended the hill gradually, and believe me it does get better with every step you take up the hill. Also, the sun was getting a little overwhelming at around the noon so we were huffing and sweating a lot that may have slowed us down a little too. Here is a map of the foot trail from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door as mapped out by Google.
Like I mentioned, the view that we were leaving behind was as amazing as the one we were walking towards. It was worth every look I couldn't resist giving with every step we were walking away from it as we were going higher and higher up the trail....
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| Lulworth cove from up the foot trail.... |
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| Walking towards Durdle Door from up the foot trail... |
I'm not much into geology but I do like me some good fun facts about the geology of a place that is indeed admirable. For once, where the land rises to the sea there are several parallel strata of Jurassic rocks, which includes limestone, agates and the Purbeck beds. The excavated fossils and pretty stones can also be seen at the shops exhibiting the geo treasures at Lulworth. Much like Isle of Wight, ridge of white chalkly hills runs along the peninsula creating the Purbeck Hills.
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| The contrasting colours of the horizon |
Once there, all I could do was stare out at the astounding view the summer sun, the chalky hills, and english sea could lay in front of me. I decided to spend some time basking in the sun atop the hill before going down the hill, up to the gorgeous rock formation of Durdle door.
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| Blue water, dark seaweeds, rocky haven, stoney pavement.... |
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| Resting the two tired feet... |
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| On the other side of the hill from the Door |
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| The side of the Door |
Slowly but surely we descended to the foot of the hill, closer to the sea where the salty sea spray refreshed our tired and sun burnt skins. However, I probably still won't brave dipping into the cold waters of the english sea. Kudos to the many who did... The thing about the beaches in England is that they are mostly shingled beaches rather than sandy, this makes it a little harder to walk on without getting nasty little buggers in your shoes, and if you prefer walking bare-feet by the sea, mind you, you might as well be walking on millions of little lego bricks :p
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| Sun kissed... |
Anyway, even though walking in the sun had exhausted us quite a bit, we decided to walk the length of the beach up till the end of the shingly shore that stopped just at the foot of a giant chalky wall. Well, this was much more tiring than the walk up the hill but just like the view was worth it while walking from cove to door, the sheer feeling of walking in the beach, under the warm sun, by the bluest of the water was all worth...
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| End of the line... |
As we proceeded, the crowd got thinner. The turquoise water due to the white stones underneath was quite a treat too that took me back to my memories of the turquoise waters of Chile...
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| Turquoise blue... |
Finally, once the trek was over, we rested a bit, exploring the crevices of the hill that formed shallow caves at the foot of the hill, and the sea of rotting seaweeds (the brown layer on the water surface) that seemed to have clogged at the spot for the lack of drainage, perhaps due to the hill acting as a wall...
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| Finally here... |
We spent about 20-30 mins here, resting until it was time to head back. Well, as much as I would have loved to stay here a little while longer, we were on a tight schedule and hence we had to trek about 30 mins before the scheduled bus time. On our way back, we couldn't resist to indulge in the luxury that is a cone of delicious Dorset ice cream by the waterfront... And what an ice cream it was!
Well, even with the precautions we totally got lost on our way to the allotted bus stop (this was a different stop from the previous one in Lulworth cove and quite a bit away from the main sight...) and just made it on time to catch the last bus back to Wool (lucky much?! ;p)...
Well, I guess the pics speak quite a bit for themselves about the place... I highly recommend visiting the beautiful Purbeck heritage coasts in Dorset, especially as a summer expeditions to truly enjoy the natural English beauty that also has a strong feel of Mediterranean to it...
Anyway, that's that... Next post, next coast.... Until then I will be eagerly awaiting another opportunity amidst the chaos of my mundane PhD life...
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