Holidays...part 1

Monday and Tuesday

Because Tom was playing football all day, I was able to pack without someone following me around, meaning no stress and I think I managed to remember most things we needed. 

On Tuesday morning we quickly packed the car, had breakfast and then headed on our way.  Our ferry wasn’t until 10.45pm, we didn’t need to be checked in until 10pm, but we were ready early and not knowing what the traffic would do we thought it wise to head out early and then kill time in Portsmouth if need be.

Spinnaker Tower

Of course, because we left with loads of time in hand we didn’t come across any delays or hold ups on the way down!  We were going to find a pub just off the M6 for lunch, but then Matt had a sudden hankering for Ikea meatballs, just before we passed the one in Birmingham – so we stopped off and had lunch there.  We then headed down towards Portsmouth.  We stopped at a services near Winchester and saw a brown sign for Beacon Hill – it sounded interesting so we headed there.  We found a parking spot and then walked up the hill – it was a stiff climb up, but the view was good, and it meant we all got some exercise, we even managed to play football at the top which was a bit dicey as it was steep and if kicked in the wrong direction, we would have ended up with a lost ball!

Once refreshed we headed back to the car and drove to Portsmouth.  We parked up at Gunwharf Quays (as instructed by Simon who has been there and done that before) for a look around the shops, a walk along the harbor and a drink in a pub before having dinner in a tapas restaurant.  We then headed to the port and got checked in for the ferry.

In the cabin

We were early so we went for a mooch around the terminal (boring) and back to the car.  As we were one of the first to arrive at the port we were first on to the ferry, so much so that our cabin wasn’t ready!  We had a drink in the bar, explored the boat and then waited for the cabin to be ready.  Matt went first and came back all worried as there were only 2 beds in the cabin.  I went back with him, thinking that there must be a trick he was missing – our tickets clearly said 3 passengers etc etc.  Luckily I looked up and saw a leaver.  Matt pulled it and behold, there was another bed.  Phew.   The beds were actually very comfortable and we had a shower and toilet as well (wasn’t expecting that)!  We all got ready and snuggled in. It was an amazingly calm crossing, there was no roll at all on the boat.  We were on the 9^th floor, so there was no engine noise either.  There really was no excuse for a bad night’s sleep (except I am rubbish at sleeping in a new bed!)