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Bucket list to visit as many countries as we can, while we can afford it. Read more New Zealand
  • Traveler2019 Europe Trip
    Day 4

    Day 3 Isle of Wight

    August 3, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    About 16 months ago during our last trip in Japan we attempted an epic public transportation challenge, well today we undertook a similar journey across to the Isle of Wight. Now I had been hoping for a little bit of inside information as a colleague of mine had recently been to the UK and planned to go, however she decided that the sites of Leeds were more alluring so no insights were to be had....

    We left the hotel at about 8.45 and typically having just missed one, took the 9.45 train from Southampton to Portsmouth which stops at every lamppost between Southampton and Portsmouth and then caught the bus down to Southsea. From there the day’s transportation highlight - a hovercraft. Yes, the last remaining hover passenger service in the world runs from Southsea to Ryde, it’s an epic ten (!!!) minute journey across the mighty (you’ll have to take my word for that) Solent channel.

    By the time we arrived it was after midday and time for lunch, so after a walk up (and I mean up, it’s a steep little township) the Ryde Main Street for a look around, we went back to the waterfront to the Royal Esplanade pub for lunch. That was nice enough, but there was no time to linger as we had legs four, five and six to complete.

    That involved a bus trip to Newport in the middle of the island on a double decker and we managed to score the front seats on the top deck for a rapid trip through the pretty Isle of Wight countryside. From there it’s a connecting bus and an equally foot to the floor ride down to Cowes. Honestly you’d have thought we were on the Isle of Mann the way those drivers wrestled those buses rapidly through the narrow roads, and getting into the Cowes bus stop involved some of the tightest and best manoeuvring of a large bus I’ve ever seen. These guys must have been failed F1 drivers at some point...

    Cowes is famous for the yachting regatta that takes place each year and as the starting point for the Fastnet classic, a famous open water yacht race that back in the late 70’s resulted in some really tragic loss of life as a big storm blew in. The Fastnet started today and happily there were no weather dramas to report. After a walk through Cowes township we decided a trip to another pub was in order so repaired to the Fountain Hotel next to the large yacht harbour.

    After a quick pint of an underwhelming lager (and a half of berry cider for Christine) we caught the Redjet fast ferry for the 25 minute journey back to Southampton to complete the round trip and arrived back to our hotel (by foot) at about 4.30pm.

    We’ve sussed out a nice restaurant down by the waterfront for dinner and we have the morning in the city before boarding the Nautica in the early afternoon. Ship’s wifi permitting, I’ll report in after that...

    Photos attached show.... Our hovercraft!!; Our Hovercraft from another angle!!; me on the hovercraft!!; a rare slow point of view from the bus; the Main Street of Ryde: the Royal Esplanade pub (pubs may become a recurring theme so be warned); the Redjet fast ferry (with it’s slow cousin the background); the dining room of the Royal Esplanade pub (featuring me at the bar!).    Read more

  • Traveler2019 Europe Trip
    1
    1111
    Day 3

    Day 2 Southampton

    August 2, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Sometimes things don’t go quite as planned which seems to be a bit of a recurring theme so far... The delay meant we had to jump on-line and change our transport arrangements to Southampton (at a cost of an extra 20 pounds).

    So the flight from Singapore was delayed, and delayed, eventually taking off just after 3 am. The flight itself was pretty uneventful with a sleeping pill ensuing 9 of the 13 hour flight passed with me knowing nothing about it. We were just about to land at Heathrow (literally just over the end of the airport) when we had to do an emergency go around as there was a plane on the runway in the way. Luckily no issue apart from from some startled looks on the passengers faces and we eventually landed safely.

    A quick trip through immigration and then onto the loser cruiser (err...bus) to Southampton arriving about 2.30pm. We are staying at the Premier Inn West Quay which is pretty basic but close to the centre of the city. So we walked down to the Sea City museum to visit the Titanic exhibition and history of the Southampton (both really good).

    While we were there we saw some photos and commentary about Robert Hickens who was the grandfather of a friend of Christines (Deidre) and the Quartermaster on the Titanic. More of him later as we have a special job to do when we get to the Titanic Experience in Belfast.

    We went out for dinner and were going to a local pub (the Titanic) which is cute from the outside (see attached picture) but really basic and I don’t say that lightly. It had a small but friendly crowd of regulars so we had a couple of drinks there and adjourned to the nearby Standing Order pub for actual dinner.

    An early night as we were both knackered after about 38 hours of travel/faffing around.

    Photos attached show our seats from Chch to Singapore; Singapore Airport terminal 3; seats on the much delayed flight to Heathrow; the double round approach to Heathrow; the Standing Order pub; the Titanic pub; the old City Gates Southampton; a bio of Deirdre’s grandfather; a mock up of class 2 Titanic cabin; a article from an April 1912 newspaper again featuring Dee’s grandfather.    Read more

  • Traveler2019 Europe Trip

    Day 1 Wgton, Christchurch to Singapore

    July 30, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    30/819-01/08/19

    Getting There....

    A somewhat mixed start to the trip. We arrived at Wellington airport in good time for our flight to Christchurch so that we could take a look at the new Rydges hotel and have a drink in their house bar. All well and good so far and having done that we made our way back into the terminal to go to the lounge. The airport was packed and I couldn’t get Christine in as they were accepting no guests so we had to fork out for our own refreshments......

    The rest of the journey to Christchurch was uneventful and we stayed the night at the Sudima hotel which is walking distance (in the freezing drizzle) from Chch airport. I say uneventful, but when Christine unpacked her suitcase she found a note from airport security telling her that her rechargeable power pack had been confiscated and destroyed as they can’t be taken in the hold of an aircraft! We walked back to the airport in the morning (just freezing this time....) to find our flight was delayed by an hour. Still we have a 5 hour turn around in Singapore so hopefully no dramas there and we had to amuse ourselves in the deserted international koru lounge at Christchurch until boarding. We bumped into another couple we’ve met at various travel related events over the years and they were on the same flight en route to Bali to meet their daughter.

    Did I say 5 hour turn around...? Well despite our flight being late arriving, our flight to Heathrow was even more delayed and didn’t leave until 2.55am local time (we arrived at 7pm). I’ve now seen more of the lounge at terminal 2 in Singapore than I ever wanted to....

    The photos show the view from Rydges Airport Hotel in Wellington, our Christchurch hotel, the view from the international terminal in Chch, the “packed” koru lounge and the beer I had with dinner last night!    Read more

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