London to Portsmouth

My weekend started on Friday afternoon as I made my merry way to Victoria Coach Station. A serious case of de ja vu reminded me that I needed to focus and be listening to when my coach arrived, being that the last time I was there, Portsmouth bound, David, Rene, Alasdair and I all managed to miss the call for our coach and missed it! This time I was ready! 

At 6pm it was time to board- I was relieved knowing that I'd be in Portsmouth within the next two hours. No such luck! There had been a traffic accident on the way out of London so that added an hour to the journey- never mind. I settled my head against the window- rested on my jacket and got some shut-eye. Turns out all my holidaying in Turkey and Greece has exhausted me! 

After a three hour journey I hopped off Horndean and saw Gill parked up. Rodney and Gill's place is only a few minutes from that stop so it wasn't long before we were 'home'! Rodney was at a rehearsal so Gill and I caught up on life for the first half an hour- when Rodney burst in the door. How nice it was to see him again, as I haven't since 2007 when I last came to Portsmouth. 

A little background about Rodney and Gill... I know them through my maternal grandfather as Rodney was in the Royal Marine Band with my grandfather. Rod played clarinet and violin when he served. He also used to babysit my mum and her sister when they were young. He came over to NZ in 2000, which was when I first met him. He learned that I didn't own a clarinet, and once he went back to England, what turned up in the post one day but a clarinet... Which is the one I still play! I've always felt a special bond with him - both playing the clarinet and loving music I guess :)

We caught up and went to bed at about 11pm which was lucky as I was exhausted... I think I'm still catching up on sleep from my Turkey/Egypt trip! I had joked before bed that I should be up by 10am... I surfaced about 9.45am haha! 

Gill was out for the day, so I showered and dressed whilst Rodney made me breakfast- tea and toast :) breakfast wasn't long finished when we were setting up our instruments, Rodney the clarinet and myself the flute, and played through some duets for a bit which was great fun. Rod later switched to violin too. After loads of mistakes (disguised as laughter and giggling!!) we packed up and started bantering about where to next. We settled on a drive to Southampton so hopped into his car and went that direction.

It is quite a nice place, Southampton. Somewhere that I'd like to see a little more of. We parked and walked around, following the wall which was built onto the front of merchants houses in 1380. 1380!?!!!!! Insane to think. We wandered for a bit and somehow (no idea how this happened) ended up at The Duke of Wellington where Rod splashed out on a pint of coke, whilst I enjoyed a Pear Cider. Which was brewed in Tipperary... It's a long way!! The pub was so old it was held together with wooden pegs- quite amazing. 

The Southampton Wall (or a part of it!)

Harbour view :)

It's a long way... tee hee!

Held together with wooden pegs - that *is* old!

Me and me mate Rodney :) Mad musos from way back when...

We then went back to the car and returned to Portsmouth as Gill would be home soon and we were to be going to a pub for dinner, which was very nice actually. (even if the apple crumble was cold ;)

We chatted a bit once home again and then it was time for bed. I thought I'd be up earlier the next morning.... And I was. I was out of my room by 9am this time!! Rodney and Gill had been talking and making plans and drove me to Bosham first- and what a quaint but interesting place that is! I hadn't understood why Gill had been concerned about the time of the tides until I saw this place! 

Bosham is a small coastal village located in the Chichester district of West Sussex. The unique (and crazy) thing about Bosham is that at high tide the water comes right up an floods the lower road. In fact- many of the houses lower down have really big front steps or concrete barriers, just in case!! There is seaweed strewn all over the lower part, it kind of just looks like a playing field... But with stranded boats on! A really interesting place to visit- and quite busy with tourists having a nosy! We had a good look at the church there too. We then went in search of tea and scones and found a cafe with a great view of where the water comes up. Great scone too!!!

Insane that it floods this much!! It looks like a field!

You can see how far up the wall the tide goes.

High doorsteps... in case of flooding! Tiny wee doors! 

NOM! How very English. Rodney had a flapjack and coke... somewhat American I thought!

After we left there we drove to Chichester as we were so close by. We went to Chichester Cathedral and spent a decent amount of time looking around. The cathedral itself is 900 years old. That alone is impressive! Rodney and Gill are definitely the best people to go somewhere like that with as they have such broad knowledge of things about the cathedral. Rodney often plays concerts there so knows it well. I ended up getting a bit of a bonus whilst there- as it is where Gustav Holst is buried! Wow. 

I've seen that many cathedrals, yet still say WOW when I see the ceilings!

Oh my... best bonus ever. I didn't know his remains were here! 

The rear view of the cathedral

We made our way back to Portsmouth and Gill started organising 'Sunday lunch'- a roast! Yussssssss! Dericious. Aaannnnd... Hot rhubarb crumble. Really nice- and a lovely way to finish our weekend together over a meal. As the lunch was cooking, Rodney and I squeezed in a few more tunes which, as always, was great fun! 

Myself, Rod and Gill xxx

I had a wonderful weekend staying with them both- It was so nice to catch up properly. I felt very well looked after, like family- which let's face it, is a real novelty when living on the other side of the world from your family!! I am coming back on my whirlwind trip of the UK in August which I am now really looking forward to. 

As I boarded the coach back to London town, the sky chucked it down... We were so fortunate with the weather this weekend! I emailed Rodney and Gill to let them know I was on the coach and only minutes later received a phone call from Rod asking if I was on yet as they'd passed a coach on their way home again and were worried I'd be waiting a while. Then he asked if I'd call them when I arrived home so they know I arrived safely. Feeling the love? Very much so! It's nice having people care about where you are. Something I think that is taken for granted when you have it all the time. 

On another note... Cam and I do need to be out of the flat by this Wednesday. Best adventure ever haha! We are having a lol about it- I'm so lucky to have Cam around as he makes me feel like it's not worth the stress... So I'm feeling pretty calm about it to be honest. (Cam might beg to differ...) We'll sort it out ... Watch this space!!

Until more adventures...

Cheery bye :)