Jul 20, 2012

We enjoyed another 11 hours sleep overnight and headed off nice and early with blue skies which quickly turned largely grey however we only got a small sprinkle of rain and not enough to entice us to stop and don the waterproof gear and we soon dried off. The sun has come out this afternoon which has been nice.

We still haven’t managed to sort out our route plotting on the GARMIN so have changed our preferences on them tonight to see if we can see less Motorway and more rural roads tomorrow. We rode ‘past’ the ‘sign’ to Windsor Castle and just about every other town we had fed into the thing last night. The only reason we got to see the Cathedral was because we had added it as a via point instead of part of the route. Ah well, we will probably have it sorted by the time we get back.



Winchester Cathedral, well about half of it actually…..just typing the name starts me humming the tune!

We arrived at our hotel with plenty of time for a good walk down to the High Street and on to the Priory which was quite beautiful in rolling green grounds then headed for the quay. Lots of people about the street and also through the parklands here and the local council have made a great effort with their floral gardens which form a lovely backdrop to the recreation grounds.

Heard this afternoon that there has been another quake close to home in Gippsland (4.3) so after how rattled I was after the last one I’m happy to have missed it and staying in Christchurch tonight has made us conscious of our New Zealand neighbours in Christchurch who are still trying to come to terms with dramatically changed circumstances since their massive quake. We truly are fortunate.



A view along the River Stour to the Christchurch Sailing Club

Bits and Bobs:

Big numbers of trucks / lorries on the road today, mainly semis but some rigids as well. I was impressed to pass one car carrier with 11 cars stacked up on it. Couldn’t get a pic as I was mobile. I largely enjoy the Motorways over here. Everyone gets in and travels at or close to the maximum speed which they need to or there would be chaos and traffic volumes have been consistently heavy.

Last nights’ Accommodation:

Phil & Jean’s, Marshside UK

Lovely comfy home away from home and we look forward to catching up with Phil and Jen on our return before we head back home



St Kilda