Raft spider

Got up early and decided to try and walk to the Arne bird reserve across the heathland.

We had a lovely walk in the sunshine across the heath and only made one map reading mistake. We were ready for coffee and scones by the time we arrived. We walked round the reserve again but it was much busier than the day before and the deer were not around and little going on near the hides. We did the heath walk and were really excited to spot 4 or 5 of the raft spiders on one of the ponds. They were beautiful creatures - I've never seen them anywhere else. 

Fuelled by a sausage bap (with choice of veggie sausages) and more coffee, we set off back to the cottage. We managed a different route back and had lovely views over the heathland. The pub across the road seemed to be a fitting end point to the day - over 14 miles and 34K+ steps.