Ashton came and picked us up from our place in Brighton. He was the same driver that took us from Canterbury to Dover. It was good that we had already met him and had confidence in him. When he turned off the motorway and onto a single track road we would have been concerned if we did not know the driver. But he was just avoiding traffic and giving us a fine tour of the countryside to boot. The ride took a few hours and before we knew it we were in Netley, just south of Southampton, The AirBnB was in a tricky location and the hosts sent us specific direction to the place. We were somewhat turned around and we thought we had found the place but there were people in the back yard so we were confused. We got out to inspect and it was the hosts taking a break from cleaning. We dropped off the luggage said goodbye to Ashton and took off towards the park. The Royal Victoria Country Park is a sprawling park and our place is right on the edge. The property used to be a large military hospital and it was turned over for a park. The AirBnB was part of the married officers quarters. We walked just a few minutes into the park and found a spot for some lunch. Then we walked further afield, stopping by the water and a pond. a new Lifebird was our reward, the Eurasian Oystercatcher. In town we stopped at the Coop and got food for dinner. We were enjoying a fizzy drink in the back yard when we noticed a bag of cleaning supplies. We sent a picture to the host and in a few minutes Neil was sitting in the backyard with us giving us great pointers about the area.
Some impressive buildings on our ride
We hugged the coast and saw the water many times
Horses munching the new green grass
A large coastal building
We are in the AirBnB
Lots of light and all the furnishings are new
This place is a delight
Kids everywhere as well as a café and ice cream shop
The Cedar Rooms
A church in the distance
The Fairy Garden
Carved from a 140 year old cedar tree
the rest of the tree was used to make the benches and other carvings
Our first view of the water
White Wagtail
An Eurasian Oystercatcher
Lovely blue feathers around the eyes of this blackheaded gull
Walking into Netley for some dinner
This Minor 1000 was a cute car
It seemed lonely on the street
A shortcut on the way home
A new Gin to put in the book
These were gin tonic fizzys
