Back in Southampton for the weekend. Not such a quiet start however because Ches was concerned about our car giving urgent warnings about "battery failure". What if there is something seriously wrong and we break down in a country lane … or motorway AND despite the fact we have brought our old phones and purchase O2 sim cards, we can't call for help. That's two issues actually. The car is one. The other is 02. You think Vodafone has patchy coverage in Australia? How can the UK have a premier service provider for a country the size of Victoria with a population of 80million have any issues with coverage? It does. Relying on google maps to find where you are and where to go when you are in the countryside is stressful.

As with any country in this age of "customer noservice", there is no way of actually speaking to anyone. The best I can do is to book a RAC visit to check out the car. After 3 hours I figured that wasn't going to achieve anything anyway, so I decided to go back to the Europcar depot … at the docks. That was a good idea. It's late Saturday morning, there are two massive ships docked, the streets jammed with cars and pedestrians towing cases on wheels.

I made it to the depot 25 minutes before they closed for the weekend. The only lass on duty decided on the quickest solution; gave me a huge Citroen in exchange for a small Peugeot. One's designed for driving narrow country lanes with hedgerows, the other for motorways. Oh well, at least Keith and Drew will have legroom in the back seat when we go to the Isle of Wight.

The next problem is, where to park the beast for the weekend? At L1.50 per hour in the streets between 8:00 am and 6:00pm, it's not an option. Apart from free parking at the university, a 20-minute walk away, there may only an occasional street nearby that is free parking. With the university as the last resort, I follow Drew in his car, with phone lines open between us, as we head off to try some local streets first. BINGO, not 5 minutes' walk away, one parking spot. It's perfect for the Peugeot, not so much for a Citroen. With lots of tight back and forward shuffling, I park it with two wheels up on the footpath (I only discovered this later) and a bare 20cm space back and front. Fingers crossed for the weekend.

Saturday afternoon was afternoon tea at home with one of Drew's colleagues, his wife and two children. Oh, and "Pictionary", which we haven't played in years. Drew had composed a piece for Anna; a cello player. As it had eventuated, she didn't get to perform it but passed it on to a friend who has recently performed it in concert.

Later, we walked in to town and had dinner at Drew and Keiths favourite South Indian restaurant that specialises in Dosa. Packed with families, we were the only Anglos. What does that tell you? We'd never been to a Dosa restaurant in Sydney, now we have to.

Sunday here in the UK is Father's Day. Drew has never believed in Fathers Day … too commercial. He made an exception, and along with thousands of Southampton families, we spent a good part of the day at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens; an arboretum covering 180 acres and accommodating over 42,000 trees and shrubs - most notably an almost unparalleled collection of oaks, camellia, magnolia and rhododendron. And one gum tree and bottlebrush. This has to be one of the most spectacular gardens anywhere. We were amazed at the variety of flowers and almost everything was in full bloom. It was so easy to spend hours here and Ches managed the long walk reasonably comfortably. I'll post several galleries of photos because the pictures do such a better job of describing this amazing arboretum.

The tea rooms however were bad enough to confirm our decision to never again visit any tearoom in a tourist venue.

It was back to Southampton because Keith had to leave on a four-hour drive to Manchester for a work meeting on Monday morning and we needed to pack for a two week tour. We also need to vacate our bedroom because Drew had another colleague flying in from Australia to participate in a project involved in documenting an ensemble performing Drew's music as a choreographed performance. Whatever way in which I try to describe Drew's projects won't satisfy him, I'm sure. The best I can do is to describe it is; he composes music for specific ensembles for specific performance spaces, both composing and choreographing as would a choreographer do for a dance company.

History of the Gardens

The award winning Sir Harold Hillier Gardens is famous the world over. In 1977 Sir Harold left the Gardens under the sole trusteeship of Hampshire County Council. It is now run as a charity under the remit of horticulture, conservation, education and recreation. Among its outstanding features are the splendour of the seasonal planting displays set in 180 acres.

Sir Harold Hillier

In 1953 the distinguished plantsman, Sir Harold Hillier, established the Gardens and Arboretum. Over the many years he assembled a remarkable collection, in the aim to bring together the most comprehensive and unrivalled collection of trees, shrubs and hard hardy plants in the UK.

The Gardens were left under the sole trusteeship of Hampshire County Council in 1977. Run as a charity, the Gardens are continually developed to further Sir Harold's philosophy of horticulture, conservation, education and recreation. In 1997 the Gardens were included by English Heritage on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Sir Harold was born in 1905, the son of Edwin Lawrence Hillier, a world authority on conifers, whose own father Edwin had started a small florist and nursery in Winchester, in 1864.

Much of Sir Harold's time was devoted to expanding his ever-growing plant collection. He corresponded with garden owners, curators and nurserymen all over the country, and, indeed, all over the world. Many plants from his visits to such countries as Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the United States of America, and Mexico grow in the Gardens today.

Sir Harold was closely involved with deciding what was to be planted and where. It was common to see him on Saturday mornings in the Gardens with his first Head Gardener, Jack Brice, Sir Harold with a handful of labels and Jack with an armful of canes, marking out suitable planting positions.

Sir Harold died in 1985 but those of us who heard his voice, booming amongst the trees, will never forget him and in the Gardens he created we can still admire the same wonderful collection of plants that he raised, loved and knew so well.

History of Jermyn's House

From medieval times the area now occupied by the Gardens was part of the vast Fleming estates. Known as the Manor of Romsey Extra, it consisted of woodland and grassland.

The date of the first house here is not certain; however, in 1724 a Farmer Jarman was reprimanded by the Manorial Court for taking land as 'a backside'. That is, as a back yard of a house, or, presumably in this case, a farm. This does indicate that the original house here could have been built in the early 18th century. It also gives us the origin of the name.

After being used as a smallpox hospital and inoculation centre in the 18th century, the next record comes in 1808 when the house and 360 acres were leased to Frederick Blundell who was instructed to plant 'proper and sufficient quick plants along the boundaries', the first record of planting here. It was then sold in 1822 - the first time in several hundred years - to Sir Thomas Heathcote of Hursley Park for £2,103 17s 4d, around the equivalent of £272,000 today.

Sir Thomas, the fourth baronet of Hursley, had bought Hursley Park from Oliver Cromwell's granddaughters. He died in 1825 and another member of the family, Gilbert Heathcote, bought Jermyn's House. It was during Gilbert's time here that extensive renovation was carried out and by the 1830s the house had largely assumed the appearance it has today.

In 1844 the house was sold to Captain Sergison Smith, from Staffordshire, for £4000. Local JP, Robert Linzee took on the house, but sold it in 1900 to Reverend Gordon. It subsequently passed through several hands.

By the beginning of World War ll it was owned by Brigadier General Cuthbertson, who made it the HQ for the local Home Guard. The General died before the end of the war and his widow sold the house to Lady Cooper.

In 1951 it was auctioned and the Hillier family took up residence in June 1953, the day after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.