Broadstairs

We set out from Broadstairs, wandering along the coast through Joss Bay and on to Botany Bay — a walk that started as “just a little stroll” and somehow turned into let’s see how many steps we can rack up!!

This stretch of coast has my heart —it's wild and beautiful and has that unmistakable British seaside charm.

Joss Bay — by far my favourite — a sweeping stretch of sand framed by chalky white cliffs, and blissfully, sand, not pebbles. Soft, sun-warmed sand that your feet sink into with every step. There’s something almost childlike about it — that simple, giddy joy of feeling the earth give way beneath you as you walk.

Barefoot and blissful. (Oh my God, I’m such a beach girl. A sandy beach girl, of course!).

Halfway along, we (predictably) veered off track — or, as us South Africans like to say, “took the scenic route” (wink, wink). And THANK GOODNESS we did.

Because there it was — an old stone castle clinging dramatically to the cliff’s edge, unapologetically grand and gloriously moody, like it had been placed there just for me to gasp at (and, obviously, photograph from every angle). I was utterly obsessed.

And then came Botany Bay — the cliffs rose before us like giants — jagged, chalky, sea-battered stacks, worn by time but still standing proud.

We wandered beneath them, toes in the sand, necks craned skyward — completely and utterly spellbound.

By the time we looped back, the sun had started to dip, the tide rolled in, and I remember thinking — it was one of those perfectly imperfect moments.

Broadstairs turned out to be one of those accidentally perfect finds — it all seemed to come together without even trying!! Everything just worked… and those are my favourite kinds of days.