I woke up around 4am when the ship started pulling into Harwich harbour. I tried to dose a bit more but eventually gave up when we docked. Kevin woke up not long after and got the internet working for us. I was able to check e-mail again which was great.
Finally everyone was awake and dressed around 6am (glad we gained an extra hour of sleep last night) and went to our last breakfast in the dining room. I didn’t take my camera (for the first time all cruise) but had a very yummy cheese omelette and my last delicious dark chocolate donut.
We then back to our cabin to finalize packing our last bits and pieces, then it was time to to meet in the Coral Theatre and depart the ship. Kevin was reminded upon leaving to collect his leatherman, which he did and were finally off and collecting our luggage.
It took us a little while to work out where we were supposed to meet Barry with our motorhome but eventually we did. We had to haul everything over the railway line – but we manage to find two trolleys along the way which made things easier. And just as we exited the lift we saw the motorhome drive into the car park – talk about perfect timing!
We spent the next hour going over how everything worked in the van and then we set off the next part of our adventure. First up was a 40min drive to Jimmy’s Farm. Kevin quickly got the hang of driving the big MANUAL van and I loved driving the country lanes with cute little towns.
The Sat Nav Kevin bought is really good and gives very clear instructions about where to go. We arrived at Jimmy’s Farm at 10am and weren’t sure where to go or what to do.
Kevin went and paid for whatever we had to pay for and we went in to the see the animals.
Turkies…
Ferrets….
Guinea Pigs….
A whole lot of guinea pigs had been dumped off over the weekend and the lady treating them was very good about telling us what she was doing.
We then went to have some morning tea as we were getting hungry. I had the most delicious lemon drizzle cake. WOW – so good! We bought another 2 pieces so we could all share :-).
Kevin and Amy shared a burger (made from the rare breed pigs breed on the farm). They both said it was delicious.
We could see the extensive vegetable gardens, and were very envious of the large strawberry patch.
Then it time to do the woodland walk. This was lovely. So peaceful and quiet (thankfully we didn’t take this at the same time as the 2 group of school kids that were also visiting the farm). Christy was especially excited to spot these little doors in the trees.
After the walk we visited the butterfly house – which was just full of gorgeous flowers and butterflys.
Next we saw the rest of the rare breed pigs. They are smelly and noisy but very cute. All the animals here certainly have a wonderful a life while it lasts.
We then went to the chicken area – wow, talk about chicken heaven.
We let Christy have a play at the play area while we sat and relaxed for a bit.
Last stop was the farm shop where we bought some strawberries and raspberries and a few other items.
Jimmy was apparently here today but we never saw him – much to our disappointment. We really did enjoy our visit here and are glad we made the effort to come.
Time to hit the road for the big drive to Portsmouth. We drove for around an hour before stopping at a Little Chef for some lunch.
I couldn’t believe how many vegetarian options were on the menu – not to mention organic food on the kids menu. I chose the tomato soup and it was delicious.
We then continued on to Portsmouth. It was a long drive. Including another stop it took around 4 hours so we were very glad to see the ocean and know we were close.
We found the caravan park, only to discover our booking was for tomorrow night. Not to worry there were plenty of spots and we were given one right by the beach.
The girls came back very excited by the fact the beach was covered in pebbles, and not sand.
We hadn’t managed to find a supermarket so after getting the van set up we walked to a nearby SPAR to get a few essentials, including dinner for tonight.
Then came the tiring part of unpacking our suitcases and trying to find homes for all of stuff. It’s a cute van and would be fine for two people but it’s very squeezy for the four of us. We were all pretty grumpy by bed-time but hopefully we’ll get into a routine in the next few days and it’ll be fine.
