On safari in Dorset

Discover wildlife and history on Jurassic Coast

We're bumping along a track, scanning the undergrowth for any sudden movement, any sign of life.

To be precise we're seeking Sika deer, who can be a bit choosy about their choice of habitat.

When they were introduced to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour back in 1856 they promptly swam to the mainland and colonised the local countryside instead.

You've probably gathereS d by now that our particular safari is way out of Africa and more for stay-ath ome types... but there's still plenty of wandering off the beaten track here in deepest Dorset.

This corner of southwest England takes some beating. Even if you don't spot the wildlife (we did spot the deer, by the way) the scenery in itself is breathtaking.

Jurassic Safari is run by Gary Fry and his wife Carol, its name coming from Dorset's Jurassic Coast, the geology of which spans 185 million years of the Earth's history.

There are a variety of safaris on offer. My wife Angi and I joined a jolly woman from Cambridge and a young German couple with faultless English in Gary's 4x4 and headed to the Isle of Purbeck.

Technically Purbeck isn't an island although it's largely bounded by water - the Channel to the south and east and the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north.

It's a place of rich contrasts and includes the largest onshore oil field in Western Europe (though it's so well hidden you wouldn't notice) and the majestic remains of 1,000-year-old Corfe Castle, perched on its own hill high above the village of Corfe.

Slightly more bizarre was the sight of cows grazing contentedly next to the military targets on Lulworth tank range.

Gary, the son of a local farmer, saved the best for last. Taking a track he used to drive his father's tractor along, he took us towards the coast and a jawdropping view known as Heaven's Gate. From here you can see a vast expanse of coast and countryside, with Kimmeridge Bay and the folly of Clavell Tower below, and Gad Cliff, Flower's Barrow, Studland and Portland Bill trailing off into the distance.

The tower built by the Rev John Richard Clavell in 1830 had to be moved stone by stone 80ft away from crumbling cliffs in 2004.

Along the coast in Weymouth they conjure up similar miracles of construction on the beach.

Sand sculptures have been part of Weymouth's beach scene for years. The sand grains here are among the best in the world for sculpting and at Sandworld, enclosed in a massive marquee at Lodmoor Country Park, you'll find artists from around the world creating huge dioramas of Vikings, pirates, Neptune and ships.

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Newspaper reported today (Tuesday). It said that the vessel is currently under construction in Australia, where tests on the hull have already been completed. A trial dive is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Only two men, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, have ever completed such a dive (in 1960). Andrew Bowen, director of the National Deep Submergence Facility at Woods Hole, told the Guardian that while Cameron’s aim is not so much about scientific exploration as about making a compelling movie, both purposes are likely to be achieved. “Exploring such an inhospitable and extreme realm of the deep ocean is hugely valuable, because it creates a chance for people to engage their imagination. There is nothing quite like being there,” he said.