Thursday 7th March 2024
WARSASH TO BURSLEFORD
Last night was my last night on the campsite. It was much warmer, and I slept well. This morning I surprise a fox that was lurking around the shower block and it runs off.
I have to carry all my stuff again, but I’m not planning to walk far today. After repeating yesterday’s bus-train-train-bus routine in reverse I arrive back in Warsash around 1pm to catch the bright pink ferry. You have to wait by a matching bright pink shelter on the riverside and, in theory, it should come and pick you up.
A man is already waiting at the shelter and he has seen no sign of the ferryman. The Barbie-pink boat can clearly be seen on the other side of the river but there is nobody on it. He phones the water taxi, the only other option for crossing the river, but finds it doesn’t operate on a Thursday. After waiting a while I face up to the fact that my only option is to start walking up the river. For a while I keep looking back to see if there’s any action from the ferry, but it remains stationary.
It turns out to be a really nice walk – the weather is sunny and very warm, and there are lots of shorebirds feeding in the mud along the way.
I had planned to walk back down the other side of the river but by the time I get to Lower Swanwick, where the river can be crossed via a bridge to Bursleford, I decide to call it a day, visit a couple of pubs, then get the bus to Southampton, where I’m booked into a guesthouse for three nights. I end up having a really nice, relaxed day, despite having made no progress along the coast.
After checking in to the guesthouse via a key box system I go out to get some dinner and have a quick look around Southampton, a city I’ve never visited before.
3.3 miles; 5.3km; 1.5 hours
Rivendell Guesthouse, Southampton (£43)
Vole Explosion 
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