Pippa and I went to Havant and Portsmouth for the weekend to primarily visit Kim and Oliver. They have been out in Australia since Oliver was born and so Pippa was really looking forward to seeing him. At 4 months he is a big boy.

We caught the train down from London on Friday evening and came back on Sunday night. Train journeys in England are quite good as the railways came along after the towns and villages so the scenery is quite good.

I met Pippa at London Waterloo at 5:30pm for the 6pm train to Havant. Havant is the station before Portsmouth where Kim grew up and is staying with her father in the house she grew up in.

We walked form the station to New Lane as Kim was shopping and got caught up. No drama it was a pleasant spring evening.

Pippa was excited to see both Kim and Oliver when Kim got home. And to become the official God Mother. Dinner of Lasagne and salad very late as the recipe required a lot of cooking time. But lots of chatting and a bit of wine made for a nice evening.

After a sleep in and Oliver attending in the form of food and more sleeping we headed for town. A few errands and then to a Harvester pub on East Road for lunch. The pubs claim to fame was it has scored the lowest of all pubs on mine and Pippa's pub guide. The only redeeming factor was the waitress was very good. However the drinks order was wrong and served in dirty glasses, the food order was wrong and served after a long time in the heat rack, and if Anouk was with us we would have to have sat outside on the grass away from all tables.

After lunch, to help the meal go down, which was not necessarily the best option for the meal, we walked along the foreshore, then Kim remember a much nicer walk near Langstone Harbour. So we drove there via Toys R Us and walked along the shore.

A really good choice on Kims' part as this end of the harbour was much more like a wet land with the tide out. In the lane we saw some old buildings, a great Magnolia and some friendly horses. After the walk, to wash the last of lunch off out palettes, we stopped at the Royal Oak near the Mill for a quick drink. This pub confirmed that not all pubs in Portsmouth are bad. This place was great and relaxing, with slow service but good atmosphere. Not officially scored as we did not have a meal and did not ask about having a dog.

Home for dinner and a bit of television before another restful sleep. Oliver really is a good baby so we never heard him cry through the night. Also Kim is a fantastic mother so in combination they are brilliant.

Sunday was 'Mother's day' in England so we planned to meet up with Kim's mum, Marnie, and her brother James for Ten Pin Bowling. But first Kim wanted to show us around Portsmouth. We went down to the Portsmouth Historic Docks and walked around. It really is very interesting as Lord Nelson fought the Battle of Trafalgar from a base here and the Mary Rose (Henry VIII's ship) is exhibited here. Unfortunately we did not have the time to fully enjoy all the museums but did have time for an ice cream while walking around the ships.

Ten Pin Bowling was fun and we had some nachos. There was a spread of scores and even Oliver got a strike, with the help of the ball launcher. Kim dropped us back to Havant station for the train ride home. We will see her again in London after we move to our new place in Herne Hill.

Another nice weekend away and looking forward to a fortnight away when we go to Godalming to see Me Julie.