PORTSMOUTH, UK - 30 April - 2 May

Time to leave the Fairalls and their idealic village.  We had a fabulous time with them enjoying their wonderful hospitality.  We headed off about 12pm, south to Portsmouth for 2 nights.  It only took us 2 hours to get there and were wow’ed by the beachfront and lovely city.  Jim, a friend of the Barlows, had booked us into the Royal Beach Hotel, right opposite the South Beach Pier and beachfront.  The hotel was fabulous.  You could picture it in its day: very grand, awning out the front, overlooking the pebble beach and South Beach Pier.  The room we had actually had 3 bedrooms, so it was very large to say the least with grand floor to ceiling windows looking out to the ocean.  Once we had settled in, we went out for a walk along the pebbly beach, the kids having a great time throwing rocks as far as they could into the ocean.  The sun was starting to set as we wandered along the boardwalk and watched the many cruise ships and large ferries coming in and out of the port.  Just across the bay is the Isle of Wight and we watched many car ferries to and from here and also hovercraft which excited the kids when it came out of the water and up onto the beach.  It was starting to get quite windy and cold so we headed off for dinner.  We found a cute diner right on the boardwalk with incredible views across to the Isle of Wight.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and put the kids to bed and then went downstairs to the bar for a quick drink with Jim and other friends of the Barlows who kindly came over to where we were staying to meet up with us.

SUNDAY 1 MAY – PORTSMOUTH, UK

First thing this morning we went over to the ferry port and booked our tickets to France for the next day.  We had to go from Poole which is about an hour further down the coast.  From here we then went to Gunwharf which is a great outlet shopping area and restaurants and bars right on the harbour.  It was a beautiful sunny day so there were plenty of people about.  We walked down to the docks area where the history of the Mary Rose ship was on display – Henry VIII’s ship which sank in 1545.  It’s first voyage was in 1511.  The Mary Rose spend 437 years under the sea and was raised in 1982.  The air drying has only just started this year 2011 and should be ready for visitors to view when the air drying is finished in 2016.  We also had a wander around the Victory ship which was on display.

It was time for a drink after our history lesson so we headed out to Waterlooville where the Barlows use to live and where their friends still live now.  We had been invited to Sarah and Graham Gough’s house.  Kriss and Steve Hill were there too.  Before we arrived, we went past the Barlow’s house and had a quick photo out the front.  Once we got to the Gough’s house, we had a drink, the kids had a lovely play together and then we walked around the corner to the local pub, The Woodpecker, for dinner.

Off to France again tomorrow ... x