Time out in The New Forest

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A few photos of our recent camping trip to the New Forest in Hampshire.

The weather was good so we headed for a small campsite in the forest called Matley Wood. It has no facilities except for running water so only campers with a chemical toilet can set up there. Thanks to this, there were plenty of pitches available and we had a bit of room to stretch out. Best of all, the site is a starting point for some beautiful easy bike and walking trails. We put our bikes to good use by spending the afternoon peddling through the forest.

I had heard that the New Forest was full of ponies so I was looking forward to seeing a few ponies off in the distance. ‘full of ponies’ turned out to be a bit of an understatement. There were hundreds of them - wandering along the roads, lying near the rivers, stealing food from unmanned picnic baskets and even poking about the tents and camper vans. It was awesome to wake up to the sight of mares and foals grazing just outside our window. Of course, it happened to be one of those moments when the camera was just out of reach!

The clean air must have been good for us because we slept like logs. I woke up in the middle of the night to hear the most amazing silence. The forest was so still that it was unnerving. It was so quiet that my ears were actually ringing.

Brian performed perfectly except for a small problem with the fridge. Handyman Chris will have a poke about with it and have it sorted before we take off on our big road trip in a few weeks time.

I've also included a few photos from Scotney Castle in Kent where we went a few weeks ago. Absolutely stunning. Also a few shots from Hinton Ampner, an estate we visited before coming back to London. Loving the great weather.. let it continue!!

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Photos

Hanging out with 'Brian-Not-Sexy-But-Good'
at our camp site at the New Forest

New Forest Camping
For the record, I didn't spend the whole afternoon sitting here...

Beautiful Scotney Castle in Kent
Taken in mid June.