Wednesday 21 May
Headed towards Plymouth this morning. I had read a bit about it and thought it might be a nice place to visit. Didn't get away from Mevagissey until anour 10.00 because breakfast didn't start until 9.00. Had to carry our luggage to the car which was parked about 500 m away. We did find a way that we could drive the car on to the wharf in front of the Wheel House but it meant that we would have to negotiate the narrow streets and figured that the exercise would be good for us.
We have been keeping a list of interesting names of places. On the way out of Mevagissey we came across a little village called Apprentice London. It was quite small but didn't resemble the London that I know. There was another town called Mutley which amused me.
On our way to Plymouth we had to go over a toll bridge and I did a couple of things I haven't done for quite a while:
1. Pay the toll in cash
2. Pay it to a real person. (We actually got change)
It was an absolutely beautiful day, shorts and T shirt weather (I didn't bring shorts) and showed Plymouth at it's best. Plymouth has a beautiful harbour and where we parked was near a memorial garden, originally a memorial to the First World War but added to for later conflicts. The Memorial Garden is on the side of a hill which is just below Plymouth Hoe of Sir Francis Drake fame.
There is a pavilion just up from the Memorial Garden called the Tinside Lido. It a series of swimming pools and other outdoor recreation areas that dates from the 1930's. They are gradually refurbishing it and have completed the salt water pool. When the whole thing is finished it will be absolutely fantastic.
After having some coffee, lunch and a look around we headed for Exeter. We are trying as much as possible to travel on A roads rather than the motorways. We see much more of the countryside and the age of the buildings in some cases are more than 400 years and they are still occupied. It is hard for us, I mean Australians, to imagine buildings of this age because the oldest we come across is just over 200 years old.
While in Exeter I dropped into the telephone provider because there seemed to be some changes to the phone since I put the UK SIM into it. Got it sorted no problems.
The Internet is a very handy thing. Deb has been able to organise all our accommodation since we have been overseas using it. While we were in Exeter Deb organised our accommodation for the night at the Aquila Guest House in Dorchester. What a gem. It is light and airy and well appointed. Had to walk into the town centre about 10 minutes away for dinner. Found a group of restaurants in an old brewery and picked a good one called Zizzis. They are a chain but the food was excellent.
Walked back. Finished the blog for Tuesday and headed for bed.
Deb and Den
Thursday 22 May
Off to Portsmouth today after a delightful breakfast. The fresh fruit was amazing and there were heaps of choices. I was a bit boring with fresh fruit, yogurt and then toast and marmalade. If I have a cooked breakfast every day I will be the size of a house before I return.
Our first stop was the village of West Lulworth. This is a pretty little village and vehicle access to road leading to the harbour is restricted. It is obvious that it is set up for tourism by the number of small shops selling souvenirs etc.. It is a pretty little spot and I can see why people would come to stay.
As we left West Lulworth to go to East Lulworth the heavens opened up. This made it difficult at times to get the most out of the views as the visibility was reduced to about 200 to 300 m. We kept close to the coast and passed some ruins of a castle called Corfe Castle. Unfortunately by this time the rain was quite heavy and the area where we had to park was a sea of mud so we thought it would be a good idea to give it a miss.
We kept off the main road and ended up on the western side of Poole Harbour and had to catch a ferry across. Another real person collected our fares and gave us change. The trip across the mouth of the harbour took about 10 minutes and then we were off to Bournemouth. By this time the rain had become torrential so we decided to head for Fareham where we had our accommodation booked. The rain did stop and the sun came out for about an hour. We took advantage of this to get out and have a look around Fareham. I did spend some time around here when I did my submarine training at HMS Dolphin at Gosport. Needless to say there have been some changes.
We will go to the Submarine Museum tomorrow. We only have about 2 and a half hours of driving tomorrow so we can afford to spend some time around Fareham/Gosport/Portsmouth. The only thing that is concerning me is that the rain might continue into Saturday when I have a ticket to the D Day commemorative air show at Duxford. Time will tell.
I suppose that a good thing about an early mark today is that I can get the blog up to date at a reasonable hour. I know when you see this blog it will appear to be posted on Friday, however I can assure you that Thursday 22's blog is being posted on Thursday 22 May.
Deb and Den
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