The mini heatwave and Indian summer continues here on the South coast of England. We have been staying at Sunnydale Farm caravan park for about a week now and daytime temperatures are close to the mid 20s although these drop off fairly rapidly overnight amid quite a strong easterly wind.

Friday morning and we headed off on a short bike ride to the shores of the River Solent.

We ate our picnic at the point South West of Hamble-Le-Rice, the views being somewhat mixed. Spoilt largely by the oil terminal at Fawley.

Nethertheless we took a few photos from the shoreline.

Bob and Mandy arrived in the afternoon and we enjoyed an excellent BBQ at their Airbnb which definitely saved the day since our original plan to cook on the banks of the River Hamble was thwarted due to the strong easterly wind.

The meats had been purchased from a local butchers in Kingsclere (The Village Butcher) during a previous visit to our old stomping ground earlier in the week.

Chicken kebabs marinated in a maple dressing. Fresh beef burgers and some excellent Chipolatas.

Saturday arrived and we had a lunchtime reservation at the Jolly Sailor. The walk from the campsite was pleasant and took around an hour. The afternoon vanished rapidly, the views over the River Hamble just stunning.

Sunday morning and normality has returned to our autumnal break as B and M return to Oxfordshire to watch the Southampton game! The times we live in as St Mary’s is just a short walk away but no crowd allowed.

Breakfast is fresh croissants from the Co Op in Hamble market Square and today promises to be a lazy one, again in full sunshine but a nippy feel to the wind.

A picnic lunch by the Solent, the wind ceased and the afternoon and evening remained very pleasant. BBQ for tea.

Perhaps this should be Part 2 but as the first visit was essentially a swift pint we will call this our first proper visit to the Jolly Sailor.

Anyhow, we spent a relaxing morning in Hamble itself trying to find a suitable BBQ site for later in the week when we will meet our friends Bob and Mandy. We think we have found the perfect spot.

Lunchtime arrived and we had already booked a table at the Jolly Sailor which seems standard practice in the Covid-19 world we live in today.

The Jolly Sailor is rather aptly located on Lands End Road near Old Bursledon. Situated down a set of steep steps the Inn is nestled against the side of the River Hamble estuary.

The view is stunning, all the more so under clear blue skies and temperatures peaking in excess of 25 degrees.

What better way than to spend the afternoon drinking cold beer with our good friends Chris and Alison.

We hit the road from Exmouth around 10:00am. It was a straight forward departure as we hadn’t had a pitch large enough for the awning.

The drive to Hamble-Le-Rice was equally un-eventful but whereas we had expected nice quiet roads, the reality was quite the opposite. The roads were rammed with travellers and a multitude of caravans and motorhomes were heading towards the South West. This could have been a Saturday in July, not the middle Sunday of September!

Arriving at Sunnydale Farm, Netley Abbey around 13:30, we were greeted at reception and escorted to our pitch which is fully serviced. First impressions are that this is an extremely well organised site and the staff are very welcoming. If there is a downside to our pitch, we are quite close to the main road and there is some unwanted road noise.

Our latest awning had arrived just a week earlier – a Kampa Leggera Air awning 260. This was purchased as a “cheap and cheerful” option for use on short trips within the UK. Some basic shelter and somewhere to keep the Dometic freezer and our muddy boots, shoes and coats. We now have FOUR different awnings and many others have been cast aside along the way!

It is also fully Covid-19 compliant as there isn’t room for any guests.

I must write a blog entry, specifically on our experience of awnings!

This latest addition is lightweight and was quick to assemble, taking just over an hour. Now we know how it all works we think it will be around 30 minutes to erect and similar to take down. So far it does exactly what it says on the tin but as it’s a Kampa, we are still unsure just how watertight it will be (see Facebook group – My Kampa Awning Leaks).

It’s a fantastic “Indian Summer” along the South coast and our first full day (yesterday, Monday) was spent with friends on Hayling Island.

Yet again, traffic was busy – this time travelling onto Hayling Island and the beach was busy too, to say the least.

Tuesday and another scorching day. In the morning I fixed up the bikes and also added brake sensors to Moe’s outfit – such that the power to the electric motor is removed when the brake levers are pulled.

We then cycled around the area, loosely following the “Strawberry Trail”, which proports to be a cycle trail all the way from Botley to Bursledon and then via a circular route through Hamble, all the way back to Bursledon.

The route takes one through the Royal Victoria Country park (maybe we will have a BBQ there later in the week) and past the Royal Victoria Chapel. The Chapel was once the centre of the vast Royal Victoria Military Hospital, which served the soldiers of the commonwealth from 1863 until 1966.

Ruth and Duncs have been away in their van since the start of lockdown and more recently enjoying the delights of Devon and Cornwall. They checked into Prattshayes Camping ground (known formally as Exmouth Country Lodge and Prattshayes Campsite) around a week ago.

We decided to join them on Wednesday for four nights, prior to a few weeks away in Hamble (Southampton) and then the New Forest.

As we live just 10 minutes drive from the campsite, we were a little more disorganised than usual and it took us several trips before we had everything in place.

First impressions of the site were not great. We had booked a large pitch and without studying the small print hadn’t realised that we wouldn’t be allowed to use our new air awning – in fact the pitch just wasn’t big enough for an awning! This was a tad inconvenient as we had bought the Kampa Leggera awning specifically for short term trips in the UK as a small porch awning where we could keep our boots, coats and the Dometic freezer. This being important as generally we are still avoiding supermarkets due to Covid-19 risk.

Our Pitch at Prattshayes Camping ground.

On the Wednesday night, we visited the Bridge Inn at Topsham for their first food event of 2020 – Pie night. This was also our first visit to a pub in 2020! We had a spot under the Pagaoda and the beer and “Tom’s steak and ale pie” were excellent.

The remainder of the week was a mixture of various bike rides, pub outdoor visits and an inevitable succession of BBQs.

The Exe recreational (cycle?) trail runs from Exmouth all the way along the eastern edge of the Exe estuary as far as Exeter and then north-south along the western edge all the way down to Dawlish. It’s a fantastic route and we went out on the bikes on two occasions. Once as far as Lympstone and the second time to Topsham.

Ruth and Duncs have been away since the end of March (the start of lockdown) along with four very friendly dogs. Layla likes me but Moe has already chosen Lucy…

Sunday morning, an early start and it is time to move on. A three hour journey to Hamble and whilst we expected a nice quiet drive, the roads were rammed. Looks like the whole furloughed world is on the move to enjoy the Indian summer…