Sat 2nd Aug
Our Poole Apartment: Here
It was a beautiful sunny day for our drive down to Poole and we made it to our next accommodation by 1 pm. It was a nice, albeit compact, apartment however not overlooking Poole Harbour as we had initially thought, rather it overlooked a car park. It was clean and modern though and well located so we tried to focus on the positives.
We dropped our bags and then ventured out to stroll the harbour front area, directly in front of our building, and found the Poole waterfront to be lined mostly with pubs, which would no doubt suit one of us more than the other, and Mark wasted no time in testing out one of these establishments. It was much warmer down here than in London and we were both too warmly dressed so we headed back to the apartment to change, settle in and do some much needed washing. However, washing machine problems, that had plagued us in London, seemed to follow us down here to the coast. My cold-wash load emerged from the machine scorching hot, so much so, that I would not be game doing another load for fear of ruining our clothes. We seemed to have jinxed some ‘washing machine God’ somewhere along the line. We waited until it was safe to touch the washing before hanging out the load and then I was back into an all too familiar pattern of messaging the host about our issues.
It was after 6 pm before we ventured out again and we headed towards Rockfish for dinner. This was a very popular seafood restaurant on the Poole Harbour front and we both had a lovely fish meal to cap off our first day in the seaside town. For the Aussies in the audience think ‘Doyles’, but not as upmarket, and then you’d be on the right track. We were both still quite tired from our travels and so it was an early night after our dinner.
Sun 3rd Aug
It was an overcast morning as Mark set off for an early ride and I set out for a walk. We caught up later at The Fisherman Cafe and were treated to the rudest barista ever. The cafe was empty and he was upset that I had sat inside to wait for Mark and then had a go at Mark for ordering a macchiato. Needless to say, we won’t be going back there.
The plan for the morning was to visit Old Harry Rocks, about a 25 minute drive away, as this was a spectacular section of the Jurassic Coastline made up of 3 distinctive chalk outcrops. The Jurassic Coast stretches from Exmouth, in East Devon, to Old Harry Rocks, in East Dorset, covers a distance of 154 km and has been on the World Heritage List since 2001. Access to view the rocks involved a 5.5 km round trip walk from the car park and it was a rather busy route being a Sunday morning in summer and also as it forms part of the renown South West Coast Path, a 630 mile walking path from Poole to Minehead. The chalk cliff scenery out on the coast was absolutely stunning and you could sit there all day gazing across the various formations, hence the large number of photos below! We stopped off for a drink at South Beach on the way back where there were a few folk swimming but, at a water temperature of 17 degrees, it would not have tempted me.
Our afternoon was spent taking a 2 hr cruise out along the Jurassic coast where we got another view of Old Harry Rocks, but this time from the water. We found out that Poole Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world with Sydney Harbour being the largest. The cruise took us out from Poole Harbour, out through the narrow headlands, past Old Harry Rock, across to the port of Swanage to drop / pick up passengers and then back to Poole. The return passage passed closer to the affluent area of Sandbanks and a collection of grand, harbour-front homes referred to as ‘Millionaires Row’ where the average cost is around 8 million GBP and the likes of John Lennon and some football manager, which meant nothing to us but it did to others on the boat, used to own a home. We found this rather interesting as the area stood in stark contrast to that of Poole but was just a few kilometers away. Poole Harbour is a pretty and picturesque town but the area is much more working class. I don’t know where the folk from ‘Millionaires Row’ go to socialise and dine but it doesn’t seem that they frequent the area around Poole Harbour! The Jurassic Cruise was an interesting and enjoyable way to spend the afternoon and is an activity I would recommend if you were ever in the area.
We’d been eating out since our arrival in the UK so tonight we chose to have a night off and to dine at home.
Mon 4th Aug
It was wild, windy and a little bit wet on our morning walk so we quickly revised our plans for the day. Our visit out to Brownsea Island was put on hold for something that we could do indoors. A visit to a Castle seemed to be more the go for the day so we chose Highcliffe Castle, a 40 minute drive away. Highcliffe Castle was built between 1831 – 1836 and was more of a grand home than a Castle but it was still a most impressive structure. One of the most interesting aspects of our visit was learning a bit about the American born Harry Selfridge, of London’s Selfridge’s fame, who rented the Castle from 1916-1922. Poor Harry ended up being defined by the ‘rags to riches to rags’ moniker, as revealed in the panels in the photos below. The tour through the Castle was self guided and took about 90 minutes and nicely filled in the gloomy morning.
We stopped off for a look at Bournemouth Pier on the way back but the weather was so miserable we didn’t dwell there for very long and headed back to the apartment. It was 5.00 pm before we headed back out as we made our way to the Guildhall Tavern for dinner, which we were surprised to learn could be found in the Michelin Guide. The restaurant is located within a heritage listed inn and had a lovely ambience, somewhat reminiscent of Fawlty Towers though, the service was good and our meal was delicious so this is somewhere I’d highly recommend if you’re in the area.
Tue 5th Aug
We were fortunate to wake and find glorious sunshine greeting us for our last full day in Poole. Mark set off for a bike ride and I took a walk before we caught up for coffee at Limoncello. Our plan for the morning was to visit Durdle Door; a coastal formation regarded by many as being the most spectacular limestone arch in the world. Mark’s idea was to park at Lulworth Cove and walk a 1.6 km path along the coast to Durdle Door. He failed to realise though that the first 1,000 m of the path was a rather steep 10% incline and the final 400 m was a rather steep decline which was then followed by 140 steps down to the beach. All of this then had to be navigated, in reverse, for the return trip. Needless to say, it was rather rigorous but there were magnificent views along the way to keep our mind off the struggle and Durdle Door was well worth the effort to reach and view.
The afternoon plan had been to catch a ferry from Poole out to Brownsea Island and take a 5 km loop walk around the island but we were so tired after our morning activity that we ditched that idea and instead took a drive out the New Forest where we experienced the free roaming ponies and cattle across the landscape and saw a stand of spectacular redwoods. We stopped off at the Forest Park Hotel for lunch before heading back to the apartment for a well earned rest.
Dinner for our last evening in Poole was as the Rick Stein restaurant at Sandbanks, a 15 minute drive from Poole. We were lucky to be given a great table, right at the front of the restaurant, overlooking the harbour. It was a beautiful setting where we enjoyed delicious Rick Stein creations and a lovely way to conclude our time in Poole. Tomorrow we head to Dartmouth for 2 nights.
We had enjoyed our short time in Poole and it’s an area we would recommend to visit, especially for those keen to explore the Jurassic Coast. Our apartment was ok for our stay but it’s not one that I’d recommend. I had struggled to find decent accommodation options when I was first looking and the place we eventually stayed in was a last minute pick, due to our first reservation becoming unavailable as it was sold after I had booked. The apartment we stayed in was in a great location and was a relatively new build but it would be very hot in peak summer as there was no air conditioning and no fans, the bedroom windows barely opened and it was poorly ventilated. The other thing that annoyed us was the lack of any hand soap in the bathroom, the provision of just one roll of toilet paper for our 4 night stay and the host’s failure to help sort the broken washing machine. Really? Why not just charge 5 GBP extra and throw those small bathroom items in? That kind of pettiness is ‘red rag to a bull’ stuff for me and taints my overall view of the accommodation. I did find some better apartment options (when I looked just now), that weren’t available when I was first looking, so maybe try these if you’re ever in need of lodging in the area: AirBnB1 or AirBnB2 or AirBnB3 or this Booking.com1.