Wake up feeling rather jaded from yesterday’s walk, enjoy breakfast then pack up and drive be round Chichester harbour toward Hayling Island.

Head as far East as we can and park up at Creek Road car park, where parking fees appear to have been abandoned for the winter months and sadly the wooly hat is back on for today’s coastal stroll.

Wander along the pathway to find the farthest eastern corner of the island before setting the garmin and starting our stroll. A small nature reserves at the eastern tip abruptly ends with a row of rather stark houses. Our gaze is permanently pulled away from the sea to the seafront houses – this area has so far been spared the rich pickings of people pulling down older dwellings to replace with the stark lines and massive glazing of the latest “grand designs”! The house that most entertains has a menagerie of creatures in It’s seafront garden – from what looks a boxing ring of a rather large gorilla and other animal garden ornaments to three beach hut style huts with animal heads peering out at us – sadly the prescence of, i’m sure, rather eccentric owner prevented me from snapping evidence of this amusing interlude in our walk.

We wander past the rows of beach huts – many of which appear to have been blown out of position by the wind..

Then slowed to look at a memorial to the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties COPP – a group led by Lord Mountbatten, set up here on Hayling Island in 1943, who undertook clandestine operations prior to allied landings on enemy territory.

A narrow guage train runs along the middle section of the islands coast – it was the real thing unlike so many other coastal land trains, with rails and steam and stations and timetables on blackboards and little carriages.

Take a brief stop for a delicious hot chocolate and toasted tea cake at the mad hatters tea room before continuing our walk along the stony beach and alongside the hayling island golf course to the point where the estuary comes in again.  We look over toward Portsmouth expecting to see the spinnaker tower, which we’ve been observing from way back, but we can only see the nearby headland with an intriguing brick tower – I guess all will be revealed when we next venture down this way.

Wander along the estuary to the pub where we call a cab back to our car – bargain only £6.

The drive home is very quick (well I’m asleep for most of it)..