I suppose it's getting to be a regular routine but once again the previous few days had been very wet and we opted for a walk around the New Forest cycle tracks.  We tried a couple of forays down the other paths and rides but the ground was really wet.
Although it was a grey and cloudy day there was no rain and the forest was amazingly colourful considering the conditions.
As you walk through North Oakley Inclosure towards Bolderwood Grounds, quite close to the Deer Sanctuary, there is quite a large number of seats.  We chose one of these on the edge of Bratley Water to stop and have our morning refreshments.  This is an area which is criss crossed by several small streams and has a large number of mature beech trees.  A great place to take the children for a picnic.
A little further on towards South Oakley there are more coniferous trees including some larches that had just about shed all their leaves.
We had hoped to walk on the lawn between Woods corner and our turn into Burley New Inclosure but it was almost under water so we stuck to the edge of the road.  It was quite muddy for the short stretch we had to cover between the car park and the next cycle track but was easy going thereafter.
All in all a very enjoyable walk on mostly easy tracks and very few ups and downs.
Lunch at the Queens Head was fish and chips for £6.00.  Not the best in the world but pretty good value for money.  It's a shame they only serve tea by the cup - what's wrong with a nice big pot of tea?

The car park at the Sir Walter Tyrrell seemed a nice safe place for Rob's camper and we set off along the road towards the Golf Club.  We followed the edge of Kings Garn Gutter and then follow some quite small tracks before crossing the B3079 and heading into Brook Wood.
On reaching the Bramble Hill Hotel we thought it might be pleasant to sit at a table on the lawn.  A little cheeky perhaps but the place looked deserted and it seemed harmless.  We did not reckon with the rather cantankerous owner who, having ascertained that we did not intend to spend any money, ordered us off in   a manner that would never encourage us to go back and sample his hospitality.
Undaunted we pressed on and found a fine log to sit on and enjoy our break under the trees. 
We joined the road near Long Cross and walked back along it for about half a mile before going back into the woods and finding our way back to the Golf Course.  The paths throughout the last part of the wood were not so easy to find but excellent leadership paid dividends!
It was interesting to see how much lower the water level was at the Ford compared with last week when it was impassible in an ordinary car.
We enjoyed a good lunch at the Sir Walter Tyrrell which had chafed hands two weeks ago.  Three chicken and mushroom suet puddings provided a good finish to the walk.
The pictures show that it was a nice bright sunny day for most of the time but there were always a few dark clouds threatening rain.  Luckily that's all they did and we stayed dry the whole time.

The weather forecast looked dire and we decided that it would be a good plan to walk around some of the New Forest cycle tracks.  These are normally pretty good underfoot even when the forest itself is saturated.

This turned out to be a good decision.  Parts of the forest were indeed very wet.

We were very lucky with the weather and managed to escape the rain until the last couple of miles.

The walk was somewhat unplanned and we made joint decisions at various turning points.  We set off through Pignal Inclosure towards Parkhill inclosure on the cycle track but as it looked reasonable dry we took one of the forest paths for some variety and were pleasantly surprised to find it passable.  We diverted from the cycle paths in a couple of other places and although it was "sploshy" in parts it was not too bad.

The walk ended up at a nice round 8 miles.

We thought to go to the Sir Walter Tyrrell for lunch.  We did not fancy crossing the A 35 so took the back route from Woodlands.  Unfortunately there was a very large volume of water running though the ford and it looked rather deep so we reversed and ended up at The Queens Head in Burley where we all enjoyed the gammon egg and chips for £6.99.  

Another bright morning and a very good walk which had its adventurous moments.
The track looks quite straightforward when looking on the map but the reality is a little different.  The most challenging section was probably the one after Crooked Withies Farm.  The path just vanished and we were left trying to find our way across a part of the heath which was pretty boggy and lumpy underfoot.  This was not made any easier by the low sun shining directly towards us.  Nevertheless we found our way back to solid ground and felt proud of our achievements.
We have got used to the idea that even if the paths disappear completely the gps will tell us where we are and which direction we need to travel.  A compass still comes in handy though when advanced technology looses battery power. 
We drove back to the Haymoor for lunch which was excellent value for money.