Our trip to Southampton has been planned for 2 years now. When we were in the UK in 2013 we stayed with Greg's cousin Betty Hughes and her husband Ciggy in Southampton. We told Betty that we could be back in 2015 and she immediately invited us to her 40th Anniversary party which would be held 12th September 2015. We gladly accepted the invitation - if the dates coincided with our trip. They did!

We arrived in Southampton late afternoon and caught up on all the family gossip before a delicious fish and chip dinner and a few glasses of red wine. The next day was party day. We discovered that not only was it Betty and Ciggy's 40th anniversary but it was also Betty's birthday. While Betty prepared for her big night out Chris, Greg and I went off to explore Southampton.

To get in to the town centre we took a short detour and drove along beside the docks which are the lifeblood of the city. Cruise ships constantly sail up and down the Solent to dock and either pick up or drop off tourists from all over the world. You can see the cruise ships clearly from Betty's apartment as they live right on the edge of the Solent. There was a huge P&O liner tied up at Royal Dock and we had watched the Queen Mary 2 sail by Betty's kitchen window the previous night.

After parking the car be wandered through Bargate - part of the ancient walls that once surrounded Southampton, only small sections of the wall are still intact. We spent some time checking out the street food markets and the Quayside Shopping Centre - HUGE! We discovered that there was a Comic Con Expo on at the shopping centre and had a bit of a giggle at the grown ups all dressed as their favourite comic book characters. We were expected back at Betty's for the start of the celebrations at 4pm - champagne and nibbles with Betty, Ciggy and Betty's close friend Jane. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

The main party was a buffet dinner in the Victory Pub in the Hamble - about 10km away. Our taxi picked us up and 7pm and we all set off for a night of celebration with family and friends. We were able to meet many of Betty and Ciggy's immediate family, some of Betty's past workmates and friends of them both. We had a lovely night chatting, eating and drinking.

Next morning we were on the road again. We were returning to Hockley Heath for another 2 nights at The Oak Hotel as we still had a few sites we wanted to visit in that area.

While we were at Bettys we had spoken to a couple of bikers who had told us about a bike café not far from Southampton. As it was in the right direction, we made "Loomies" our first stop for the day. We felt a bit out of place as we pulled in to the carpark in our Ford Focus but our discomfort soon disappeared as we began to chat to the local bikers. The café was obviously a bikers hangout with plenty of bikes coming and going constantly, helmets filled with flowers used as hanging baskets and old boots and gloves also reused as flowerpots - very quaint. We spent a couple of hours looking at the bikes, swapping riding stories with other riders and generally feeling a little homesick for The Outpost Café at Canungra.

We continued north and travelled on the A roads to enjoy the scenery of the Cotswolds - beautiful country homes and villages with narrow streets and thatched roof cottages. Back at the Oak Hotel we had a lovely Sunday Carvery for dinner before a good night's rest after our busy weekend.