Best bits: oyster shells, pink ferry, ice cream
Worst bits: late finish
Distance: 25.7 miles
I was up early this morning and put some things back in Priscilla and then popped to Sainsbury’s for some breakfast pastries. Had a quick breakfast with Joyce and then set off on foot through the urban suburbs of Southampton passing close to the river before hooking up with the coastal path.
I was hoping to see some of the large cruise liners, but unfortunately the only one that was docked was obscured by some new construction taking place.
The scenery soon changed and I was looking at the oil terminal and the large tankers. There was a distinct chemical smell in the air.
I was soon walking past Netley castle but it was difficult to see much of it.
Victoria Country Park was popular but I only walked round the edge of it.
The beach was full of oyster shells and it made walking quite difficult on the legs.
The estuary is quite busy with huge commercial ships, the Isle of Wight ferry, yachts and then a crazy speed boat came past sounding more like an aircraft breaking the sound barrier!
I stopped for lunch at Hamble and then missed the Hamble ferry by about a minute, which was a bit disappointing as I had to them wait for the next one to come. Fortunately it was only about 10-15 minutes.
I occupied my time by watching small children having sailing lessons in tiny yachts. They all seemed to be natural in the water. Jumping straight in and one taking the boom and the other taking the tiller. They actually went at some speed as the wind had picked up.
The ferry and the waiting area on the Warsash side are painted bright pink so you can’t really miss them.
Danielle, Devone and Ella at Breezes Cafe at Hillhead enjoyed the hearts when I stopped for a cuppa.
Sometimes it’s difficult to not be tempted by an ice cream and today was one of those days. I had to have a Mr Whippy 99 in a waffle cone.
The Isle of Wight was visible all day. It’s much larger than I had in my mind.
It was Saturday today and the coast was full of families but as the afternoon progressed the temperature began to fall however there were still hardy people on beach with blankets.
There was yet another diversion around an MOD firing range and later around MOD camps.
Gosport hosts the submarine museum and it was weird to see one out of the water. They are strange black things. I didn’t get a great view of it due to the multitude of boats in the marina.
As I was arriving at my destination in Gosport, Dave gave me a call to say he was a couple of hours behind schedule. Plan B, now I needed to get myself back to Joyce’s. It would take me almost 2 hours on public transport from Gosport. Plan C, I walked to the ferry and took it across to Portsmouth Harbour.
The iconic Spinnaker Tower dominates the skyline at Portsmouth.
Of course military vessels are docked and a huge ferry was entering the harbour dwarfing this poor yacht.
Once at the train station I had to run for the train and just caught it. Of course today trains aren’t running directly to Southampton there is a replacement bus service and I had to take a train to Eastleigh to then change for the bus.
Finally we arrived at St Denys’s at 7:30pm. Now for food. I walked along the street and found Pizza Hut and took it back to Joyce’s to eat.
Fortunately I have been able to start this blog during my unexpected train and bus journeys and while waiting for my pizza to cook.
Dave arrived about the same time as me and we ate pizza and had a beer while Joyce was chatting to her friends. We then had a cuppa and a debrief with the wonderful Joyce before heading for a shower and bed.
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