* After a comfortable night's sleep, I'm up quite early with the intention of seeing the quieter side of Weymouth. Its a beautiful, bright and sunny morning and the harbour views are stunning. I get a few pub photos of places such as the Kings Arms and the Sailors Return, and also watch the Town Bridge being raised and then lowered at 8am.
- Weymouth Harbour -* Back to the hotel as Mark summons me for breakfast, a rare full English with fried bread, sausage, bacon, egg and beans. We get to meet some of the other residents and quickly feel a bit out of place amongst an army of pensioners, although they all seem friendly and the hotel has a nice atmosphere.
* We're well set up now for a good ride out. After saying hello to Clive, we board a packed X53 towards Poole calling at Wool (with its somewhat stark little station) and alighting at Wareham.
* We had planned to visit Wareham Station but it would've been quite tight for our Swanage connection. Instead we alight in the town centre where I go on the rampage with photos of the Red Lion, the Antelope, the Duke of Wellington and the Post Office.
* To Swanage then, courtesy of the Wilts & Dorset route 40 which seemed very popular to the extent that it was standing room only and the driver was contemplating turning passengers away. The bus takes us through the Corfe Castle and Langton Matravers as I take cover from some dodgy D9 manoeuvres.
* The terminus is Swanage Station with the 50 also in attendance for some forecourt photos. The station itself is part of the Swanage Railway heritage line and comes with all of the traditional fixtures and fittings I have come to expect from such organisations, hence a nice period atmosphere out on the platform.
* Swanage Town now beckoned, heading down to the Mowlem for a (soft) drink then grabbing photos of the White Swan and the Ship. Woody also pointed out Swanage Library after I'd inexplicably failed to spot it, the radar must've been on the blink.
* Back to the station and time for a treat - the No. 50 Purbeck Breezer service to Bournemouth operated by an open topper. This is surely one of the best bus rides in the country, trundling up through Studland and then across the Sandbanks Ferry. Rumour has it that Mr Wood's hair actually moved in the breeze, as you can see below...
* Bournemouth Centre and a mooch around Gervis Place where there are plenty of Yellow Buses to keep us occupied. Thoughts then turn towards beer (a swift pint in the Moon in the Square Wetherspoons) and chips.
* Bournemouth as a resort is impeccably clean and well-presented so I had high expectations when we caught the M1 Wilts & Dorset to the railway station interchange. Sadly the facility was a bit of a letdown, with rows of brown stands straight out of the 1970s. We were also expecting to see more in the way of bus activity but the place was surprisingly quiet - a handful of Yellow offerings make the visit worthwhile though, including route 4 with a blind for Bearwood.
- Route 40 at Gervis Place -* Poole was a strange kettle of fish. I didn't like the bus station at all - dark and quite dated on the ugly side of the Dolphin Shopping Precinct. The railway station wasn't much more appealing, perhaps because we approached it beneath a looming flyover. The main station building was relatively modern but still interesting whilst the platforms were functional and bland, so there wasn't much in the way of history or character to admire.
* Things improved once we got to the High Street. The level crossing in the middle of the town is fascinatingly quirky, and a pint in the Lord Wimborne Wetherspoon's also improved my mood. A bizarre sequence of events saw Woody talking about Jack Sparrow only for us to find ourselves by besieged by swarms of pirates as we strolled to the quayside. Apparently there was an event on at the waterfront but I wasn't tempted to find myself a cutlass, beard or a parrot sidekick.
* With the Route One being diverted we have to walk it to the bus station for our X53 to Weymouth. The ride back gives Woody the chance to demonstrate his reversing prowess then 'Dave' gets a bit of an earbashing just before Wareham.
* Next its time to sample Weymouth on a Saturday evening. An excellent curry courtesy of Chillis is followed by a pint at the Kings Arms - the view overlooking the harbour as the bridge is raised was great, but the beer was a tad disappointing. We then investigate a pub we'd spotted this morning, the Cutter (which we'd mistakenly thought was the Gutter, a name that stuck for the rest of the weekend) - it turned out to be a decent little backstreet boozer.
* For some inexplicable reason we still have yet to identify, we thought it might be a good idea to sample the entertainment back at our hotel. What an experience that was! We were the youngest people there by at least 40 years and the barman was so stunned we'd attended that he virtually went on strike. We urgently needed a pint in the William Henry afterwards just to restore some semblance of credibility to proceedings.
* And with that final drink, a fascinating and eventful day was over - but more was to come as tomorrow would bring the main event, the Vintage Bus rally...
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