For those of you that don’t know, I mostly work from home. While I absolutely love it, it does have some draw-backs. One of those is not being able to shut off. I have my computer open and pinging practically 24/7. Lately, work has been extremely stressful. I’ve spent the last few weeks dragging myself out of bed at 5AM and then back home at 10PM, spending days in workshops, trying to fit in bites to eat between meetings, and sitting on trains for hours a day commuting to various offices around the UK. So even though David and I had booked a weekend trip to Copenhagen with some friends in early May, I decided that I couldn’t wait that long and needed to get away from it all for a couple of days.
Where better to go than the New Forest? It’s literally the middle of the woods – no Wi-Fi, cell phone reception, or real-world distractions. The plan was just a relaxing weekend enjoying the beautiful Spring weather, immersed in nature.
The New Forest is a royal forest created by William the Conqueror and covers over 200 sq. miles of land on the Southern coast of England. It’s home to thousands of wild ponies, donkeys, deer, and other wildlife.
As the forest is only about a 2-hour drive from our home in
London, we decided to rent a car for the weekend so we could bring Kirby,
too. This was his first road trip in
England! Poor guy is always left back in
London at London Woof, a local boarder, when we travel...
Who am I kidding? He LOVES London Woof! He’s probably made more friends here than we have!
The New Forest is probably the most dog-friendly place in the world. Much like the wildlife, they can wander the streets without leashes. They are allowed inside the tourist office and museums and pubs. And for places with restrictions, like the Beaulieu Abbey, dogs can hang out in special areas of the building with water to keep them hydrated and other pups to keep them company.
The three of us arrived in the forest on Friday night. We had rented a cottage through a couple David found online through a Homeaway-type website. They usually only let people book in 7-day slots, but made an exception for us as it’s still the low-season. And on Sunday, they stopped by with fresh flowers and suggestions of places to see/things to do. They were really sweet.
Kirby was very excited to be in a new house! Whenever he does travel with us, he gets incredibly restless and wants to be out exploring and having fun all the time. So just like at Possum Kingdom, he woke up at 4AM when the birds started chirping (it gets light VERY early these days) and wouldn’t really go back to sleep. David and I finally gave in, and got up and at ’em by 7:30. So much for sleeping in during our relaxing getaway…
During the drive in, we had already seen a ton of wild ponies along the side of the road (the speed limit is 40, but everyone has to drive at 20 to avoid hitting one of these beasts).
But we were still so excited to walk out our front door and see the
ponies up-close!
Throughout the weekend, we took lots of walks through the woods. We started Saturday morning off on the trail near our cottage.
We saw plenty of wild ponies and even some donkeys. The donkeys were so curious, they cracked us
up! When we were driving around, they
would come up to the car to try and stick their heads in.
And the baby in this video was fearlessly trying to check out Kirby!
I wasn’t expecting to see Shetland ponies, but I’m happy we did! They are so adorable! I could not get over how tiny they were, and so docile.
The local cows weren’t too friendly, though. They did not like Kirby one bit, and would start to huff and puff when he got too close. We made sure to keep the dog on a leash around them, so he wouldn’t get kicked.
During our walk on the wild side, we met a nice couple with
an 11-month old black lab. While Kirby
and his new buddy were saying hi, the couple invited us to their local pub, the
Turfcutters, for lunch and made sure to tell us that dogs are welcome, too.
This was Kirby’s second time at a pub, but his first time actually inside a pub. Last summer, he just hung out in the beer garden with us. Luckily he was worn out from chasing donkeys and swimming, so he was very well behaved. It didn’t hurt that they had doggy treats at the bar and towards the end of lunch a black lab and a Scottish terrier came in and sat down right next to us. It was like doggy daycare inside that pub! I think Kirby really does have more friends than us…
After lunch, we needed to go to the market to pick up some things for the cottage, so we headed to the local village, Beaulieu. I felt like we had just arrived at Disneyland.
Picturesque homes line the river, a 13th century palace overlooks Victorian gardens… and a monorail runs through the town. A monorail? We figured cars were not allowed inside the village because there were parking lots outside the monorail station, but when we started to walk towards the entrance, we noticed tills and realized there is a charge of $60/couple to enter Beaulieu! With those prices, we really did feel like we were at Disney!
Instead, we headed to Lyndhurst, the capital of the New Forest.
That weekend, we also made time to go to the coast so Kirby could take a dip in the sea.
Where better to go than the New Forest? It’s literally the middle of the woods – no Wi-Fi, cell phone reception, or real-world distractions. The plan was just a relaxing weekend enjoying the beautiful Spring weather, immersed in nature.
The New Forest is a royal forest created by William the Conqueror and covers over 200 sq. miles of land on the Southern coast of England. It’s home to thousands of wild ponies, donkeys, deer, and other wildlife.
It was such a long winter in England that the New Forest wasn't as green as we thought it'd be. It looked like Fall with all of the leaves on the ground and the bare trees.
Who am I kidding? He LOVES London Woof! He’s probably made more friends here than we have!
The New Forest is probably the most dog-friendly place in the world. Much like the wildlife, they can wander the streets without leashes. They are allowed inside the tourist office and museums and pubs. And for places with restrictions, like the Beaulieu Abbey, dogs can hang out in special areas of the building with water to keep them hydrated and other pups to keep them company.
The three of us arrived in the forest on Friday night. We had rented a cottage through a couple David found online through a Homeaway-type website. They usually only let people book in 7-day slots, but made an exception for us as it’s still the low-season. And on Sunday, they stopped by with fresh flowers and suggestions of places to see/things to do. They were really sweet.
Kirby was very excited to be in a new house! Whenever he does travel with us, he gets incredibly restless and wants to be out exploring and having fun all the time. So just like at Possum Kingdom, he woke up at 4AM when the birds started chirping (it gets light VERY early these days) and wouldn’t really go back to sleep. David and I finally gave in, and got up and at ’em by 7:30. So much for sleeping in during our relaxing getaway…
During the drive in, we had already seen a ton of wild ponies along the side of the road (the speed limit is 40, but everyone has to drive at 20 to avoid hitting one of these beasts).
The village idiot - standing in the middle of the street, daring the cars to hit him!
Haha, there weren't really ponies EVERYWHERE but I was still excited!
Throughout the weekend, we took lots of walks through the woods. We started Saturday morning off on the trail near our cottage.
And the baby in this video was fearlessly trying to check out Kirby!
I wasn’t expecting to see Shetland ponies, but I’m happy we did! They are so adorable! I could not get over how tiny they were, and so docile.
The local cows weren’t too friendly, though. They did not like Kirby one bit, and would start to huff and puff when he got too close. We made sure to keep the dog on a leash around them, so he wouldn’t get kicked.
David's yummy chicken and leek pie
This was Kirby’s second time at a pub, but his first time actually inside a pub. Last summer, he just hung out in the beer garden with us. Luckily he was worn out from chasing donkeys and swimming, so he was very well behaved. It didn’t hurt that they had doggy treats at the bar and towards the end of lunch a black lab and a Scottish terrier came in and sat down right next to us. It was like doggy daycare inside that pub! I think Kirby really does have more friends than us…
Sooo... could I have a bite of that chicken pie???
After lunch, we needed to go to the market to pick up some things for the cottage, so we headed to the local village, Beaulieu. I felt like we had just arrived at Disneyland.
Picturesque homes line the river, a 13th century palace overlooks Victorian gardens… and a monorail runs through the town. A monorail? We figured cars were not allowed inside the village because there were parking lots outside the monorail station, but when we started to walk towards the entrance, we noticed tills and realized there is a charge of $60/couple to enter Beaulieu! With those prices, we really did feel like we were at Disney!
Instead, we headed to Lyndhurst, the capital of the New Forest.
Kirby running along a church wall
That weekend, we also made time to go to the coast so Kirby could take a dip in the sea.
It was too cold for us to swim, but it was a great chance to
see the Isle of Wight and hang out on the beach.
The Isle of Wight
A big storm passing us by
Empty beach huts. It was a little too chilly to be hanging out at the beach.
Throw a stone, Dad!
The seagulls in England in this area look a lot different than American seagulls.
Mission accomplished – a successful, stress-free weekend
away!
HAHA! That video of Kirby and the baby donkey cracked me up! Ella is jealous of Kirby's travels. She can't believe her boyfriend is having adventures without her! Looks like y'all had an awesome time. Oh, and sleeping until 7:30am is sleeping late when you have a kid. Thank Kirby for prepping you for a baby one day. :)
ReplyDeleteYour blog is finally letting me post a comment! I am glad you all were able to have a nice, stress free weekend. I am sure Kirby would love to go back again!
ReplyDelete