Our perambulation along Studland beach this morning was as much a meditation as a walk; inhaling the clean fresh sea air, and exhaling your troubles, malaise relieved, if only temporarily. To add to the elemental calm, the initial part of our walk saw Studland's broad sandy beach devoid, for the most part, of folk. Again you're struck by the stark dichotomy between the Isle of Purbeck with it's air of isolation and rugged semi wilderness, and the adjacent Poole/Bournemouth conurbation, an urban sprawl with a population of around 480,000, running well in excess of ten miles east along the coast and extending a considerable distance inland. Two distinct environments separated by Poole Harbour, the second largest natural harbour in the world. Access between these two disparate worlds is facilitated by a short chain ferry journey across the narrow harbour mouth, although when the ferry breaks down, and in recent years it has, the alternative route is a lengthy, and during the summer frequently frustrating, drive around the harbour. Although, however you get to Studland, once here, you feel a million miles from the rest of the world, with all it's noise and commotion, and that's priceless. As I said, it's a meditation.
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