I’d almost forgotten what it feels like to wake up by the sound of birds in the morning or to get your shoes all dirty with thick greasy mud or peat, having to walk across a bog trying to stay dry [mission impossible] or cycle to the top of a steep hill on a mountain bike… I was in New Forest, National Park near Southampton, over the weekend to visit friends. I went sailing with them in Croatia in 2006 facing some hectic gales and hail and thunderstorms at the time.
The trip to the south was crap since the M25 was the usual Saturday annoying kind of M25 where you sit in solid traffic for hours moving 50 mph -if you’re lucky- because there’s some serious rubbernecking going on literally over ‘nothing’. Because of this there was a two hour delay which was reduced to one hour at arrival due to the exceeding of speed limits the moment the rubbernecking zone was finally passed *sssh*.
Later that day I went to Lymington with M. to visit the local market and the pet shop. Lymington is a nice little place, slightly touristic but not in an annoying way. On our way back to the car, we sat down on the quay for a while to relax and enjoy a Cornish pasty and the view of the sea, the boats and the old! train going across the water. In the evening we went out for a pint and a curry at the local pub and the Indian restaurant in Ashurst.
Sunday we cycled most of the day through the New Forest, the weather was amazing: for two days it has been sunny and warm: perfect to go for a bike ride, speed down a hill, watch the wild horses or sit near a babbling stream for half an hour to enjoy a picnic while basking in the sun. I had some quiet time sitting next to a stream listening to the birds and the sound of the water. I came back with a ‘Katjang’ tan and totally relaxed: holding on to this while I can…
Coz today, it’s pissing with a strong wind and grey sky that’s about to burst with thunder any moment now.
Lymington
Lymington
A picnic break enjoying the sun
New Forest, National Park
Sitting next to a babbling stream for a while
New Forest, National Park
Swamp
Swamp
Swamp
The wild horses
I always look at pictures first before reading and my first thought was, I bet your boots got muddy… then I read shoes?
Just a look at the pics and I’m envious. Then I read and I’m even more so.
But I’m so glad you got to go and that the weather was nice.
A weekend like that would do wonders for my batteries, I hope it did for yours
Yes, shoes… the ones that I’m wearing here half way down the page. Some good light trainers for long walks… I brought Doc. Martens with me but when it’s warm like it was over the weekend I’d rather wear the trainers. The boots are too heavy and warm and I don’t really care if the shoes get wet or muddy, I’ll put them in the washing machine
I brushed off all the mud the next day btw and they were clean no stains at all so it’s proper mud *hehe*
Beautiful pics! Looks like a great time. (Wild horses? I didn’t know they had that in England.)
This post makes me wistful for camping… I can’t wait to go out in the mountains and camp this summer! I can live without the traffic though. It can get like that here as well.
Thanks Dalton, I had a wonderful time!
Whenever I went to visit my friends, I have been extremely lucky with the weather, always had sun so I could cycle, it’s so amazing out there! Yes there are more places around the UK where there are wild horses 
Camping is fun, just not in the UK, the weather is too unpredictable and I’d rather stay in the Ardennes. I can imagine it must be great to go camping in Washington, so many national parks out there and nature is amazing!
Dreamy places!!
Cool pictures as always 
I also miss the sound of birds to wake up in the morning…there are so few here in Malta.
Glad you enjoyed yourself and you managed to relax
Hey Wen
Thank you! I didn’t realise there aren’t many birds in Malta… Is that normal? Does it have to do with the climate you think? In Amsterdam there aren’t many either but I used to feed them so they knew after a while.
This reminds me of the time where I hung up my birdcage on the washing line, I had Japanese finches and the house sparrows and blue tits would visit their friends. They would be hanging on the outside of the cage, ‘talking’ to the Japanese finches…
I’ve never seen anything like it, I have pictures somewhere I think, these were such magical moments: to see three different types of birds communicating with each other without fear… amazing!
I had a great time down South
Thank you! 
Hi T.
The problem in Malta is that there are hunters and although many are trying to ban hunting unfortunately there are many people who couldn’t care less about the law and they keep on killing birds and also protected species according to what I read in the paper.
It is so sad because the chance to see nature here is so remote. The amount of trees here is also ridiculous. All one can see is cranes and buildings. And of course the sea which is beautiful but what shocks me is that hunting is allowed when there are so few specimens in the first place! and most of all many are protected species! but even more than that: it is illegal! at least the spring hunting has been banned now.
Unfortunately one still reads reports of birds being shot.
Hi T.,
I used the “Reply” link that your blog has to reply to your previous comment but I don’t know if it worked?
Anyway, basically what I had written is that unfortunately in Malta there aren’t many birds especially because they are shot.
There are many hunters in the island and there is always the debate that if they will allow the spring hunting season or not and well, you can imagine that sometimes I read reports about protected birds being shot.
Hi Wen, this is really odd… I saw your reply yesterday and it did work but somehow your comment has disappeared and I don’t know why… I checked the logs and I didn’t by mistake delete instead of publishing it, so I have no idea what happened. I’m sorry about that! I did publish it because I remember I noticed you used the reply button, I still have the email that comes in when someone leaves me a comment so I will put it back in the database. This is really really weird!
Anyway, I read your reply and was shocked to hear about such cruelty, I don’t see the fun in shooting any animal just for the sake of shooting. The picture you showed was horrible and I seriously think those hunters should be punished somehow: a jail sentence or something. Like I said earlier it’s sickening…
Note: I’ve put it back in the database… I still have no idea what went wrong but I’m happy I had the email so I could duplicate it