Travel – UK – Page 8 – Life is a Journey

Day 19 – Portsmouth

Posted on July 10, 2010October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

It was a pretty rough night for both Kevin and I myself as we adjusted to our new bed. Plus I had a panic attack when I woke up to almost pitch black in the middle of the night. I felt claustrophobic and like there was no air. Kevin opened up our vent more which helped but tonight we’ll have some more blinds open so it’s not as dark.
We played on the computer for a bit and I got some blogs uploaded before we headed off around 9.45 to catch the bus into Portsmouth.

Once in Portsmouth we walked the very short distance to the Historic Docklands and exchanged our voucher for tickets (after waiting in the wrong line). Poor Kevin had a REALLY sore back today and was in a lot of pain. By now it was 10.30am and we were hungry again so went to the tea rooms for morning tea. We had Cream Tea which was just delicious.

Next was the highlight of today – the HMS Victory. Unfortunately there was no guided tour but it was well sign posted and thanks to Kevin reading all the Hornblower book he knew all about how everything worked. There was also a number of guides around if you had questions. It was busy but not too crowded.

We saw the plague showing the location where Lord Nelson was shot during the battle of Traffalga.

After viewing the ship we went into the museum and watched a presentation about the battle which was rather well done and very interesting. Next up we saw the only remaining sail from the battle, which came from the VIctory. Christy was impressed to see the holes in the sail where shot went through.

We then went to the Mary Rose Museum. Unfortunately the Mary Rose is currently unavailable to view but the museum was interesting. And a bit more hands on for the kids. We also talked to one of the men who was part of the search for the Mary Rose which was raised in 1982.

It was now 2pm and time for some more food. We decided on a pub lunch and there was one right across the road, which even had a kids play area.

Kevin and I shared a very yummy nachos.

We then decided to go back into the dockyard and do the cruise (that came with our ticket). So glad we did this because we saw many of the naval ships – including the new one and an aircraft friggat.

There was also a US Nuclear Submarine – which is apparently very rarely seen in the harbour. It was a great cruise and gave a really good idea about the importance of Portsmouth.

We ended the cruise in the Dockland Quay – a lovely area full of shops and resturants. We even found a Christy shop selling towels/linen.

We then went in search of a supermarket. We should have gotten a taxi as we ended up walked a LONG way and Amy had a very sore ankle and ended up crying. We went back via the Dockyard – which was just as well as Christy had left her new compass on the boat and was very upset – so we were able to get her a new one.
FInally we got to a Tesco and got enough to keep us going for a few days. We also bought some pillows – as the ones in the motorhome are pretty pathetic.

We then got a taxi back to the caravan park – much to everyones relief. My own feet were very sore today (wearing my joggers instead of my crocs). I unpacked the groceries. and put dinner (pies and quiches) in the oven. We played on the computer while it cooked. My quiche was delcious and Kevin was very impressed with his supermarket pie.

We moved inside when it got cooler and I spent more time on the computer before going to bed around 9.30pm.

UK – Day 6 – Setting Sail

Posted on June 24, 2010October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Finally a bit of a sleep in. I didn’t wake until 6am today :-). I started typing up yesterdays blog while Christy was asleep but once she awoke I moved to packing up all our stuff. We enjoyed our last breakfast at the B&B.

Just before 10am the van arrived to drive us to Harwich. It took nearly 2 hours but it was a nice drive through the English countryside. I was very excited to catch my first glimpse of the ship.

Check in hadn’t yet started so we had a bit of a wait till we could check in, then we were on board. Unfortunately we can’t go to our room yet as they sanitising all rooms (after having virus onboard the cruise before last). We set up camp and had lunch at Windjammers.

I started with some Asparagus Soup.

I then hopped online to finish up yesterdays blog post.

I later enjoyed some salad – love the salads you can get onboard.

It’s 2pm and they’ve just announced we can go to our cabins so we’re off to drop off our luggage and explore the ship. I’ll try and update when I can.

UK – Day 5 – Please Sir can I have some more?

Posted on June 24, 2010October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

More of London that is. I can’t believe it’s our last day. Time has gone so fast and we’ve seen and done so much.

The day started out like every other – waking around 5am, playing on laptops, getting ready for the day, breakfast watching the kitties play and catching the tube.

First stop today was the London Eye. It was such a beautiful and a whole lot quieter than I’m glad we skipped going the other day. The 3D experience was enjoyable but only because there was no waiting for it. Luckily there was only a few minutes wait to get on the Eye as well and we had a fantastic view. It was certainly something to do once but the kids were a little bored.

We then walked over the bridge to Westminster Abbey – eating an ice cream as we went.

We were also lucky enough to be passing Big Ben right at 11am and got to hear it chime.

Westminster Abbey is amazing. Unfortunately we had just missed the last verger guided tour (at 11am) so had to make do with the audio one. We encountered our first unhelpful Londoner who wouldn’t let Christy do the audio tour. Apparantly all under 10s get bored and start swinging their audio players around! We just sent Amy over to another guide to collect one. And of course, she listened and didn’t swirl her player around even once :-). No photos inside but I got plenty of the outside.

Kevin was excited to find the graves of Issac Newton and Charles Darwin. I was amazed that Elizabeth I is buried over the top of Mary I. Just an amazing place. So full of history. We had lunch in the courtyard cafe.

We then walked to the nearest tube station and went to Baker Street – home not only of Sherlock Holmes but Madame Trussards.

Some of the celebrities we met…

Charles Darwin in case you didn’t know.

And we even got to meet the Queen of England.

Christy loved doing the little ride at the end. We also did the Marvel Superhero 4D ride which was fun. Since it was only 2pm we decided to go to visit Buckingham Palace so Christy could see the gates that my Poppa painted.

Both girls were suffering with blisters so we decided to catch a black cab to Covent Garden.

Upon arrival in Covent Garden we went in search of somewhere to sit and rest our weary feet. We eventually found a Marks and Spencer and shared some ice cream sundaes.

We then wandered around for a bit, bought Christy a handbag, watched some of the entertainment. After another wander around we sat and the girls waited, in vain, for some street entertainers.

And Kevin & I enjoyed some fresh raspberries.

Christy also played with the video camera. We now have some very riveting footage of the local pigeons.

We then walked over to the Royal Theatre where we were to meet my old school friend, Sue, for dinner before the show.

It was so good catching up after reconnecting on facebook. I haven’t seen her for 25 years and she was THE BEST company.

Dinner was yummy.

The girls loved this puffy bread.

All too soon we had to say farewell to Sue and head across the road to the theatre to see the musical Oliver.

The show was great. Amy fell asleep and missed half the show. I must say I was that tired my eyes closed a few times as well. The show was fantastic though. Christy loved it – esp. all the kids. I couldn’t believe how many were in the cast.

After the show we staggered back to the tube station and went home to Southgate for the last time. Because we were all so tired and the girls had blisters we caught another black cab. Then it was straight to bed. It was 11pm but boy it had been a busy, long, day. We’ve loved London but are looking forward to two more relaxing days.

UK – Day 4 – Science & shopping

Posted on June 23, 2010October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Unfortunately I awoke a little on the early side today – around 3.30am – and couldn’t get back to sleep. Kevin & Amy woke around 4.30am and Christy a while later. Once again I used the time to blog and play on the computer. Just before 8am we went downstairs for breakfast. Today we were greeted with the delicious smell of warm crossiants.

We set off, with Kevin taking our “setting out for the day” photo. As you can tell warm weather of 25deg is forecast for today. We haven’t even packed jackets (except for Christy) so they’d better be right.

We caught the tube all the way to South Kensington today – 19 stations and a short walk later we were at the Science Museum. We had about a 10min wait till it opened.

Kevin had wanted to come to this museum but he was a little disappointed as a lot of renovation work was going on.

We stopped for some morning tea. I can’t get over the healthy food choices available here and the fact that so much is organic. All the disposable plates were recyclable, the cutlery was bambo and fairtrade tea, yet again. I tried my first flapjack – can I just say YUM!

Probably the best part for the girls was this great interactive area. We probably spent around an hour here, but it was a bit overrun with bad mannnered school kids.

We then walked next door to the Natural History Museum. This was just one of the entrances.

This was another caotic, busy, hard to find your way around museum. We decided to leave lunch till Harrods so had a quick snack. I had organic popcorn! We then set off to explore.

Can’t say I particularly enjoyed my visit here but Amy was in one of her “tween” moods which didn’t help. We paid to go “The Deep” exhibition but it was a bit of a fizzler.

I did like seeing the deep sea fish though – very weird!

We then walked to Harrods, stopping along the way for a photo in a red phone booth.

So many beautiful buildings. Especially set against a lovely blue sky.

And so to Harrods….

First stop…FOOD! Another maze of a shop. We eventually found the kid friendly Wonderland cafe. Try not to faint when you see the prices (just under double for Australian dollars).

We ordered 3 bowls of Sweet Potato Soup, which was made with the amazing care and attention. And was delicious!

And a bowl of fries for Christy. Who had fun watching Tom & Jerry while eating her lunch.

We had a visit here from Evil Tween Amy so it was an expensive but not an especially nice lunch. I was mean Mum and made her buy her own water – I refused to pay 4.50 pounds (around $8AU) for a bottle of water, when we had some in our bag.

I had to laugh when I looked out the door of our cafe (with cartoons on the TV) and across into the next restuarant with a man playing the piano.

We then did a small amount of shopping. The girls were just amazed by the pet section.

And these pet cupcakes look good enough to eat.

We also watch a Vitamix presentation and were amazed to discover all it can make – including hot raw soup. The samples made were delicious and we’re looking forward to playing with our vitamix some more.

Back on the tube. When we got on there was only one seat which I told Amy to sit in as she’d whinged the most. Immediately the man sitting beside her (complete with tattooed scalp) jumped up to give me his seat. Just goes to show you can’t judge manners based on looks. My feet, and I, thanked him, as did Christy who sat on my lap. Back in Southgate we had dinner once again the Charcoal Grill. I ordered the pita with hummus, which was delicious, but too much. We seemed to have a LOT of leftover food tonight.

We then walked home – it was such a warm night and there seemed to be a lot of people around. Still so light at 7pm.

I washed all our underwear in the bath and hung them around the bathroom. We had planned to do a full wash but found out there in no laundromat in Southgate and we’d have to catch the tube and lug all our laundry. Plus we don’t really have the time. So we’ll need to pay to get everything washed on the cruise :-(. We watched a few episodes of Airline and then everyone gradually went off to sleep. I was the last one standing (or lying in bed as the case may be) at 9.30pm.

We have a big day tomorrow – the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Madam Trussards, dinner with an old school friend and seeing the musical Oliver. Can’t believe it’s already our last day in London.

Goldies spotted today – zero 🙁