Day 5 - Friday September3rd

Today started with a good breakfast and a large packed lunch provided by Bernard my host.
I left at 8.00 and took the route back to the coast which took 20 minutes. After a short while the promenade ran out and the path wandered either side of an extensive line of tamarisk trees and even running like an avenue with them either side. I passed some open land and then through Ferring. The coast path ran through an estate at Kingston Gorse and again at East Preston. Next I passed through Rustington and then into Littlehampton. At 11.05 I had a coffee near the lifeboat station. In Littlehampton I had to walk inland to the footpath the cross the river Arun. On the other side the path quickly became rural with a golf course on the left and fields on the right. Either side there were reeds in the ditches - the weather was fine and the scene beautiful. I then came to Atherington and ate some lunch. The route continued to Middleton-on-Sea. As much of the path was on shingle I opted to walk on hard flat sand as the tide was out. I moved from the beach on to the promenade when that started and continued to the pier at Bognor Regis. As it was early I opted to continue westwards and soon the promenade ran out and some very expensive housing meant that the only option was to walk along the shingle until I got to Pagham. This last part was exhausting so I am glad that I have done it today and I can enjoy starting tomorrow by going around Pagham harbour and doing some birdwatching, although it has not been without some interest in this respect so far - twice I have seen hobbies - they are so beautiful and distinctive.
Walking distance today was 17-18 miles - not as long as previous days and tomorrows is about the same. I am going to leave some of my baggage with Tim & Margie after the weekend to lighten the load - a lesson to be learnt here for me. However I am in good heart and all is going well apart from yesterdays miscalculation!