Once we had the car we set the GPS for Golden Cross, about 70 miles from the airport. As usual late in the afternoon, the traffic was quite heavy and we arrived at our destination about 5:30.

We would spend the next two nights with Nellie and Eric Davis, the aunt and uncle of our brother-in-law Michael Reilly. We first visited Nellie and Eric in 1982 on our first visit to the UK. Nellie & Eric are 90 and 91 respectively and are always keen to catch up on family news and reminiscing about the times we have spent together. When we first met Nellie and Eric, they picked us up from Wimbeldon Station in London - we had never met each other before this. We went to a pub for dinner. Nellie told us on our last visit that this was well planned - if they liked us, we would be taken home to spend a week with them - if they didn't like us they would sneak out the back door never to be seen again! I guess they liked us as we have now stayed with them on 8 occasions and they have also stayed with us on the Gold Coast. After a couple of glasses of wine and a lovely dinner we collapsed in to bed early; our 26 hours of flying as well as waiting in airports for 7 hours and a 2 hour drive had exhausted us.

As we had a full day with Nellie and Eric we decided to spend our time in Eastbourne and have a drive around the coast to Seaford. After morning tea in Eastbourne, we had a great lunch at The Harp Hotel overlooking the seafront. The Harp is a beautiful old building and our table was in the conservatory overlooking the ocean. The sun was shining and the wine was flowing - a great lunch! We then drove around the coast enjoying the scenery of Beachy Head and Seaford. After a light dinner we once again fell in to bed exhausted - the flights had well and truly caught up with us.

After a leisurely breakfast, farewells to Nellie and Eric and promises to see each other 'next time' we set off for Southampton, also only about 60 miles away. On the way, we visited a Triumph Dealership to organise an oil change for the bike for May 29th after our trip to Spain - talk about planning ahead!

Our home for the next two nights was with Ciggy and Betty Hughes. Betty is Greg's cousin and we have been visiting her in Southampton every couple of years since 2007. Our plans are to enjoy lovely food and many glasses of wine with Betty and Ciggy, as usual! We had dinner at the Plough Inn. The hotel was a beautiful spot to eat with great decor and food.

We also had a full day to spend in Souhampton so we set off in the car for some sightseeing. We drove passed the docks where cruise ships visit every day and then drove through the New Forest to Lymington for morning tea. Lymington has a large marina and the village was crowded with tourists. While driving through the New Forest we were amazed to see hundreds of wild ponies and a few donkeys, grazing by the road. We returned to Southampton via Bealieu and headed to The Victory Hotel in the Hamble for drinks with Ray and Maggie, a couple of Betty's friends. We then went back to their place for a late lunch. Dinner tonight was home cooked Beef Stroggonoff - delicious. We will be back with Betty and Ciggy for a night in late May when we get our bike serviced.