Through the dunes

We were promised a dry but overcast day, yesterday, and it came with high cirrus cloud and a 30mph chilling wind off the sea. We made an effort to get out early with sandwiches and walk to Three Cliffs Bay. As we left the man in the next door bungalow appeared, on his way out like us, clad in his angler's gear. He told us proudly that the previous afternoon he'd caught a four pound Sea Bass late afternoon when the tide in the Bay was highest. It was good to hear it's still possible around here for those willing to brave the elements.

Instead of going along the shore, we took the Coast Path through the dunes avoid the brunt of the wind's harshness. It's a walk full of surprises along footpaths with fine golden sand, underfoot, a water-course lined with young woodland, marsh grass and dry scrub-land, with occasional bright wild flowers and patches of autumnal mushrooms. There's a small herd of young inquisitive mostly white horses, in a neighbouring enclosure, and occasional glimpses of birds hard to identify. A natural wonderland.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in the shelter of a woodland clearing after walking for an hour and a half. Bearing in mind the necessity to retrace our steps on the return leg, with another hour's walk to reach Three Cliffs Bay, we decided that it was beyond reach and returned to the Bay hotel to book for Sunday lunch and have a warming drink.

The wind remained fierce all the way back to the bungalow. We'd done six miles, but it felt further.
After supper, more story writing, then bed by half past nine. Symptoms of the cold are receding now, but it's easy to drain my energy reserves and nod off no matter what I'm doing. Too much sitting writing is giving me wound trouble too, although it's less inflamed and painful than before, making it easy to sit for longer without causing grief. It's better when I'm active or lying down rather than sitting writing. So frustrating!