The weekends can get busy if POD has classes or parties but we love to explore the great outdoors whenever we can. More often than not deciding where we go at short notice and just going with the flow. One such occasion was a recent visit to the New Forest – somewhere we’ve often talked about going but never quite made it to. It’s a beautiful part of the country and luckily for us, located just an hour away from Surrey. The magnificent New Forest National Park in Hampshire is 571 km² (over 200 miles) making it the perfect area for a day out. It’s a haven for walking, horse riding, cycling and there are a number of watersports on offer too.
We decided to head towards Brockenhurst as we had family ties there although we came off the M27 at Cadnam. There are around 3,000 New Forest ponies roaming the striking and ever changing New Forest landscape. It wasn’t long before we spotted a string beneath a tree by the side of the road. We couldn’t stop at that point so we opted to go for a walk at nearby Setley Pond. POD got to skim stones with Daddy before we set off on our adventures while keeping our eyes peeled for ponies.
It was a bitterly cold day but we weren’t going to let that spoil our fun especially in such beautiful surroundings. It really is superb – such contrast in the landscape and numerous opportunities for silliness too. POD loved finding stones to throw into a little pond we found and Daddy thought it would be highly entertaining to pretend to throw POD in! While having a look around we got to see a few horse riders pass by which pleased her greatly. She’s ridden a couple of times and loved it, what an incredible location for a hack the New Forest must be.
Further down the road we found a string of horses happily feasting. It’s advised the New Forest ponies are not to be touched as they can be unpredictable although we discovered a couple of friendly ones. One in particular, a white one with a collar, insisted on nuzzling up against us so it got a quick stroke. The rest we kept a fair distance from just in case. The New Forest ponies are owned by commoners but are free to roam as wild ponies would so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
In Brockenhurst we found the Lymington River, ideal for a little more stone throwing, before visiting the Balmer Lawn Hotel. There we enjoyed a rather fabulous cream tea while listening to live music before heading back home with very full bellies.
Gorgeous pics. My family had a cottage in brockenhurst just along the road from the Balmer Lawn hotel so we spent a lot of time down there. My daughter loved that pond and used to take a net down to the river when she was Pod’s age. I think we’ll have to get back down there now I’ve seen this x