Sunday and a very quiet drive to the QE Country Park start with bacon sandwich shared today between the two of us so as to not be greedy! It was the first day of the 7 day walkers, who were starting today and boosting the numbers by another 50 or so. While about 200 sprinted away from their coaches enthusiastically into the woods 
we let them go for 15 minutes or so before we set off and joined one of the 'red-shirts' who then went a different route by following the road through the woods which we found out later is the alternative SDW for bikes, horses and possibly walkers but we followed the acorns through the long wooded section, now pretty well on our own. Coming out of the woods through the carpark and crossing the road we take to a track that is also a by-way eventually becoming a narrow tarmac lane for seemingly several miles. The sun came out in full strength as we dodged in and out of shaded areas, taking on water as much as we could before a long but pleasant stretch besides the National trust property of Uppark. 
Crossing the road and following a lovely path upwards through the trees, across the road and out onto Harting Down for our anticipated and eagerly awaited ice cream stop. It was to be maple syrup and pecan tub each and it was not to be the last time this week! In the distance we could see the village of Harting nestling in the dale below with its landmark of a unique coppered church steeple. Time to walk again and the decisions to walk over or around Beacon Hill had pretty well been already made but we went through the motions of a democratic discussion.
It was pretty tough going and after taking photos of the crossing signposts it was just go slowly up and up and the trick is, don't look up. The views all around made the hug-a-trig at the top well worth it before taking our lunch break here along with quite a few fellow SDW trail -walkers. Some were pausing to take breath and some were to ask me which of the 3 paths they should take. This is the point when I realised that I was wearing a red T-shirt today, not a good move and I soon went back to a more neutral colour for the rest of the week to avoid any more directional questions. Following the descent of Beacon Hill we had lovely open grassland up and down section with views towards the sea before emerging into the woods where the shade was good but horseflies tried to do what horseflies do to us on what seemed a long section passing by the Devil's Humps and the sound of a peacock just as Keith had promised us earlier on our coach. 
What a relief to be out in the open again, Lesley had found the last section quite spookily claustrophobic. We were joined by a lone guy for the last 2 miles of the trail into Cocking who told us he had just wandered off-piste by mistake. He said he was not 'one of us' but was independently doing the whole of the SDW in small chunks. Today was about 20 miles but was finishing in Cocking where he hoped to take a bus back into Chichester and then a train onto Brighton where he lived. He mentioned he was separated from his Polish wife and when he was not working or flying out to visit his young son, he was walking the SDW for the pleasure and for the stress relief from the family separation. Things that people get off their chest to complete strangers when walking!
At the end of the day at Cocking, Hillbarn Farm, the owners had erected a pop-up cafe with a nice welcoming tea and cake that we ate in the now strong sunshine. Lesley purchased some highly recommended (by Keith) sausages, as she did a year ago, before going back on the 3rd bus once again, with Clive and Lizzy, lots of familiar faces and their dogs that all seemed somehow to be walking the same pace as us. Everyone seemed quite tired today, the heat and it was of course, the infamous............third day, as promised!