Brownsea Island revisited

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny, if slightly cool and we headed off to walk to Poole Quay in order to catch the yellow ferry to Brownsea Island. This has become a regular for us as it's a delightful day out ... and nothing to do with the delicious sandwiches and cakes in the cafe. We lurched towards the harbour and had to speed up because we could see the ferry coming in. Not a good situation for Gabrielle with her dodgy hip. However, we arrived in time, joined the queue and boarded. We hadn't bought a ticket and the office didn't seem interested in us buying one as there was a notice declaring that we could fast-track payments on board.

All aboard the boat and we headed off across Poole Harbour in flat calm waters and bright sunshine. An announcement said that we could buy fast track tickets in the bar downstairs, thereby avoiding the queues on the island. Seemed like a plan so I headed off to find ... a queue. Moreover, the card machine seemed to be on go slow and so I gave up and went back on deck to enjoy the trip. In the event, the queue was very fast on the island and we were not delayed at all.

Gabrielle was keen to visit the Nature Reserve, which is a separate part of the island, managed by the Wildlife Trust as opposed to the National Trust which looks after the rest. The other player in this environment is John Lewis Partnership who have a hotel in the castle on the island. This is not for public use but for partners and families to use as rest and recuperation, or for conferences.

First though, it was time for a mocha in the cafe to fortify ourselves for the travails ahead. What a lovely cup that was.

The Nature Reserve is set off to the right as you walk into the island from the jetty. It comprises a long track that winds across the North of the island, bordering onto the lagoon where wild birds, geese and others play and live. The track has a number of spurs off that lead to hides where you can observe the birds in their natural habitat, but quite close up. In the Avocet Hide, for example, there was an ornithologist training a TV-adapted monocular lens on the nesting and wading birds. This was fascinating as it took you up close to the far reaches of the lagoon.

Sadly there were signs of bird flu around, with one or two birds dead in the water. The others didn't seem that bothered and the one avocet we saw was standing on a dead seagull. It's not just birds however: plenty of beautiful plants abound and, in the Nature Reserve, there's a small arboretum with a variety of interesting specimens. Not least of these is a massive Cypress that dwarfed Gabrielle.

We had two sessions in the Nature Reserve, interrupted by a dash back to the cafe for lunch - Gabrielle's hip seems to react favourably to the possibility of food!

The views on the island are stunning, across Poole Harbour towards Studland and the Purbecks in the South and towards Poole and Sandbanks in the North. This is particularly true in the elevated sections of the island.

When we had done in the Nature Reserve we had no energy left for the rest of the island - we've done it all a few times before - so you'll never guess where we repaired? To the cafe of course for lemon drizzle cake and flapjack - half and half each. While we were relaxing and watching the water traffic going by, a Border Force vessel came past. I photographed it and mentioned to Gabrielle that it was sponsored by the Daily Mail. First hook, line and sinker of the day!

And so, back on the ferry at 4pm and then a slow walk back home with memories of a lovely day.

Brownsea Island