Have reached are first hotel and we are all plugged into the free wi-fi internet filing our first reports to HQ.
Our flight was a little delayed leaving Sydney due to an emergency light not going out in one of the cabins on the plane. However the old trusty computer re-boot had the problem sorted out and we were on our way about 30 minutes late.
We made up time over the rest of the flight and if not for a bit of delay circling Heathrow airport would have pretty much been on time. We didn’t get much sleep on the plane thanks to a rotating chorus of about 4 babies upset during most of the flight. Luckily we had a dream run through customs and having landed about 06:45 we were off the plane, through immigration, collected luggage, past (not existent) customs, on the bus to the hire car depot and then driving out of the depot by 08:30.
Being in peak hour on the M25 we had a few slow sections but were still in Portsmouth by 10.00.
We were going to visit the Historic Dockyard first to see Wellington’s Victory amongst other historic vessels however were put off by the 60 pound entry fee.
Spinnaker Tower
So we instead headed for the Gunwharf Quay – which turns out to be an outlet shopping mall – clearly not part of my itinerary planning ! However we did need a coffee and sausage roll to spur our sleepy heads and once refuelled headed to the Spinnaker Tower – a prominent landmark of Portsmouth Harbour.
A ships bow decoration (but which one?)
The whole Gunwharf area looks fairly new and upmarket and has quite a few residential buildings right on the water. Being a beautiful sunny spring day to greet us (top about 23degrees ) there were quite a few people around the wharf and in the cafes overlooking the harbour.
We then headed a bit further around the harbour to Southsea, near where we are staying. Our next stop was the Portsmouth D-Day Museum.
We re-acquainted ourselves with the British “Park and Pay” system (where you drive around the UK feeding parking meters everywhere you want to stop) and headed inside.
The front had two big tanks outside and a statue of “Monty” facing the museum from across the road.
Beautiful flower garden with flags and D-Day Museum in the background
Inside is a little theatre which runs a short film on the build up to D-Day as well as a huge D-Day tapestry which outlines various war scenes throughout the war. It is in huge cabinets that take up half the building and must have taken an enormous amount of time to make.
In the other half of the building are various exhibits and war memorabilia – quite extensive – with a fair bit centering on Portsmouth’s role during the war.
The whole thing was very well put together. After leaving, we walked up a broad pathway heading away from the flower bed in the picture up toward the harbour and the Southsea Castle – an early fortification for the harbour. It was closed for renovation but there is a walk that runs right along the harbour foreshore and, with the sun out, was wall to wall with Brits sunning themselves (despite the chill wind blowing off the water). We walked along the path in a loop back to where we had parked.
We then drove a little back toward Portsmouth proper to a pier area – complete with arcade halls, tacky souvenir shops and fish & chip shops were we found a nice cafe for lunch.
After lunch we went to a place called Portchester Castle – a little west of Portsmouth – which is a large, mainly ruined, castle but it dates originally pack to roman times when it was first built. The Normans then had a go before Richard II made it into a palace (14th century) and it was finally used as prison for french prisoners from various conflicts in the 17 & 1800’s.
Portchester Castle grounds – main part of remaining castle in the background
It is run by English Heritage and it had an interesting audio tour as part of the entry cost. They have restored some of the castle keep and the tour takes you through the building with various stories of its history.
By the time we had finished here we decided we were flagging and headed for our hotel. It’s a nice B&B with a lovely park across the road. The parks around Portsmouth are quite vast and seem to be full of people – taking advantage of the lovely weather. Portsmouth is also a university town so there are lots of students around.
We are heading to dinner shortly and will probably collapse into bed shortly thereafter. But we have certainly had a great start to our trip !