South Downs Way Getting to the Start

Getting to the start of the trail…

My sister had very kindly driven me to Southampton where I was getting the train to Brighton and then Eastbourne. We had visited the Eden Project yesterday for her birthday and had had a wonderful time – it was something we had been meaning to do for ages.

She drove on and left my car in the suburbs of Winchester – I had brought my spare key and would collect my car after my hike.

I watch the country whizz by and know I’ll be spending the next 4-5 days out in it – come rain or shine. It’s after 5pm when I arrive in Eastbourne and head out to the train head – a few miles from the station.

I snap a quick video and I’m off! Ascending up into the coastal hills, following the ups and downs of the path. It’s lovely to be hiking freely again, not having to be bound by time. Since I’m wild camping I can go where, I don’t have to get to a designated campsite all I have to do is hike until I get tired.

I tramp for eight miles, walking by a few other walkers, light houses, ambling alongside rabbits and swooping gulls. I peer from the white cliffs and see dark seal heads bobbing up and down in the cove. Chunks of plastic debris litter the stony shore. On I hike until I reach a suitable spot to unroll my sleeping bag. It’s 8:40pm and the sun is setting in the distance.

A couple appear from a nearby footpath – I’d walked a little away from the track and sit hiding in long grass. I’m still so they don’t see me, they are too pre-occupied with each other to notice me.