On Tuesday we will depart for Amritsar to begin the seven week foray of a life time into the foothills of the northern Indian Himalayas. Temperatures will range from very hot to very cold, and there will be much moving about on foot. What better way to shake the legs therefore this weekend than to sniff the sea air and stretch out along the undulating chalky cliffs of the Seven Sisters in Sussex. We walked a few miles from the Birling Gap to Cuckmere Haven and back again. Here is where we were…

The sea boiled cold and grey at the start of our walk – and the two black dots in the water are surfers!…. Well….each to their own, no?

Further on and looking back we could see large cracks appearing in the cliff below…

The sun eventually broke through and we got deliciously hot ascending some of the Sisters, before running like staggering children down the other side. Every year the coast retreats 0.4 metres. The photographs dating back to early 1900’s in the gallery of the Birling Gap National Trust tea shop, display buildings long since claimed by a pounding and voracious sea. Spring felt round the corner the moment the sun came out, and one was reminded that seasons do turn eventually. Larks wheeled above us, hawks hovered and a few crows dived and circled in the grasp of a strong wind. There were many indentations in the ground at random intervals. These proved to be rabbit holes, from which popped forth their little community.

As we neared base back at the car park, the sun retreated and were grateful to have had the best of the day.

As a post script to this first post (sorry!) the cyclists amongst you may be pleased to learn that we rescued a pink cyclist with Kent Velo on her jersey. She was standing by the side of the road with a flat tyre and watchful companion, who flagged us down. They had tried everything but the wheel in question was having none of it. Tyred out in fact. We popped both her and the bike in the back and dropped her at Birling Gap. Where are you going? We asked. “Um….well just following the person in front… Birling Gap I think.” Which car park? we asked “Um…. well not sure actually!” Will someone come and pick you up? “Um… Don’t know!” I inwardly smirked not to be the only such person…