Lovedean - Wednesday and Thursday (Rowlands Castle, Portsmouth)

Wednesday 25 July 2018

After the phone call on Tuesday night we were picked up by Nikki and David on Wednesday for the drive to Rowlands Castle where we were going to meet the walking group.  As expected, a nice bunch of people and a great walk about the Stansted estate.  I think we were joined by two Helens, a Lisa and Mike and Dave and Nikki of course.  It made for nice chats and it helped forgetting about the heat, although part of the walk was in shaded forest. I forgot my camera, but my old mobile phone did the job (when I remembered)!  We finished the walk with coffee, and cake (for Wim and me, we are on holidays after all!) at the Pavilion Tea Room. 

Thursday 26 July 2018

It was about time that we would explore a bit of our surroundings, having a car now, so we decided Portsmouth was within reasonable reach.  But oh, those roads, road signs and my crappy GPS.  I would love to forget the number of wrong turns I have taken to get to Great Bedwyn on Tuesday and to Portsmouth today.  Google maps is not the ideal navigator in the UK.  Never had any problems with my TomTom, but the suction cap has broken, so I have to make do. ;-(

We walked along the seaside to Old Portsmouth, then to the town centre and from there we walked back through some side streets, as I wanted to pick up a cache and see the Ernest Smith Clock Tower.  From there we walked to the Southsea Castle and back to the Pier (which was not a pier in the sense of the word, just a collection of entertainment rides).

In town we had lunch at the Portsmouth Guildhall.  I had picked up a cache in the morning at the Round Tower.  A nearby cache at a church had gone walkabout, so I ended up with two caches.  Not bad.  I am not chasing numbers as you know...

gravel beaches

Isle of Wight ferry

all towers have a wind vane in the shape of a ship

just a nice gate

Old Portsmouth

Old Portsmouth

Emirates Spinnaker Tower

Old Portsmouth

Old Portsmouth

Ferry Mont St Michel from Caen

Ernest Smith Clock Tower

Southsea Castle

And the two caches that I found:

#1976 - The round tower (cache)

There were a lot of muggles around, but I took the opportunity to get the container when everyone was watching the incoming ferry.  When I had logged my find they all had disappeared, so re-hiding was no problem.

#1977 - Robert's Legacy (cache)