The Seven Sisters from Birling Gap

The much anticipated breakfast turned out to be good but not the exceptional experience I think we had been looking forward to. We opted for porridge followed by smoked haddock and poached eggs. The porridge was not as we make it and the haddock a bit dry and lacking in flavour. I made up for it with a helping of bacon, sausage, mushrooms, black pudding and fried bread from the buffet after the haddock. That was good. We rounded it off with fresh fruit salad and mini pastries. My only regret was that I didn't sample the smoked salmon and cheese! The dining room was lovely though and the service excellent so it was a good experience in the end.

We needed those calories though as our walk along the Seven Sisters turned out to be a 9 mile trip from East Dean to Birling Gap then along the coast to Cuckmere Haven returning via West Dean and Friston Forest back to East Dean. A lot of ups and downs as well into the gale force winds - we should have walked it west to east with the wind behind us rather than battling into it all along the cliff tops.

On the early part of the walk we were passed by numerous people running an endurance race along the cliff tops. Muddy, sweaty and generally dishevilled groups of people slipping, slithering, walking and running I don't know how many miles.

After the walk we were faced by the long drive home - not long in terms of distance but long in terms of time. The 44 miles took nearly 2 hours on the winding, pothole ridden roads of Sussex. Not a relaxing journey even if it does pass through some pretty decent countryside.