It's Craney... FYI 🤷‍♂️

My wife and I were both off work this Tuesday so had decided to do a walk on Portland Island

You’ll see on the map that the directionality seems a little bit odd, especially with the T shaped portion that seems to indicate we went back and forth across the same part of the walk a couple of times. Well…that’s because we did 🤣

The Drive from Dorchester to Portland ¹ went from overcast to hazy and then to beautiful sun. Weymouth and Portland are really not far from Dorchester, but the weather can sometimes be completely different on the coast. It’s surprising how much the decrease in altitude and closeness to the coast changes the weather.

We parked in the (now free!) car park, I loaded the route onto my Apple Watch Ultra and we began our walk.

We first came across a local farm/petting zoo that had Wallabies! The wallabies also had babies! 😊 Wasn’t quite what I was expecting to see wildlife wise on my walk, but it was very welcome!

Next was a crow drinking water from a rock puddle. he couldn’t care less that we were there, no matter how close we got.

We were soon right next to the coast and looking over the land next to Portland that’s used by the military. I think it used to be a dock, but it’s now used for parking Navy ships and training exercises. We could hear a few “boom boom boom” noises so I wonder if there was something going on.

There was lots of seagulls in the sky in this area.

They came inwards into land and circled overhead.

We were soon on the coast road, and a Portland Town Council sign indicated that we would come across some sort of diversion. I didn’t take a screenshot, but they had put up what must be the worst map I’ve ever seen that gave no indication of where you were, where the diversion actually was and what was closed. The “Coast Road” indicated on the map appeared to be right next to the sea, where our route kept us more in-land so we didn’t worry.

There’s some really breathtaking cliffs and scenery here. After going down some steep stairs were hit the main path and were off but suddenly!

It was closed…with the exact same confusing map we’d seen 15 minutes before… With no other path we went back the way we came, checked our maps and saw we could maybe continue the opposite way, and loop around that way.

Well, we did that only to find that path is now private land and fenced off with a huge metal fence 🤣

With no other choice, we walked back the exact way we’d came and re-joined our walk bypassing the area we were going to go through. It appears it’s closed due to the sheer volume of rain we’ve had lately and coastal erosion making portions unsafe to cross.

I think Portland Town Council could have made a bit of a better sign and clearer directions. The map made absolutely zero sense… 🤔

It didn’t stop our enjoyment however. Portland is such a lovely place to walk and you’re guaranteed impressive views in everything but the absolute worst weather.

Having finished our walk, we rewarded ourselves with lunch at The Lookout which was just what was needed after a good stomp.

I had chilli cheese and chips, whilst my wife had a Halloumi burger. Both hit the spot splendidly.

Walking is such a good thing for not only your physical health, but mental health as well. Just walking, talking and navigating is great fun and something we should make an effort to do more… But maybe check the route a bit more in advance the next time 😜