100th post! RSPB nature sanctuary, Arne.

Bay at Arne

A couple of days ago I was introduced to a lovely place, the RSPB bird sanctuary at Arne. It has some wonderful heathland and grassland walks but our main focus that day was the small, almost deserted beach. It was incredible being there with our families for several hours with just an occasional visitor wandering past. It felt very decadent having a sandy beach to ourselves!

My youngest was happy just to play in the sand though my eldest braved the mud to splash around in the water. This did concern me when he kept wading out to find a deeper patch, it is not a swimming beach and I have no idea of the nature of the mud here and how safe it is. Thankfully he listened(!) to me and came closer to the shore. Actually both boys behaved well, I was quite impressed. This is a definite lesson for me to push all of us out of our comfort zone more often.

Whilst waiting for our friends to arrive we also had a quick look in the nature/visitors centre where there were a few guides waiting, I believe that an organised walk was about to start. The guides were great, volunteering information about the reserve and talking my boys through each item on the nature table. It looks as if owl pellets are in my future, I'm not sure what to think of that.

I would love to revisit Arne when it is cooler and explore the other paths. When we finally left the beach and it's cooling breeze it took but a moment to find the more humid heat. The walk back to our vehicles felt like quite a slog thanks to the weather though it was really no great distance. All in all a fantastic day.

Can you believe that this is my 100th post? - I can't! Let's see if I will make it to 200...