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Day 15 - Freshwater to Southampton - 27.8 miles

    It was time to say goodbye to Freshwater. We had made contact with a couple in Southampton through the Warm Showers list before leaving for England and were due at their house this afternoon. We had worked out a suggested route by communicating by E-mail and thought the ride would take about three to four hours since the actual distance didn't look more than 20 miles on the maps.

    We viewed the day as a "work" day and decided that we should do our wash before leaving Freshwater. We didn't want to show up at our guests' house with pile of dirty laundry. After breakfast and saying goodbye to our hosts for the past three days, we rode into town where we found a laundry and did three loads of wash, the total coin-op fee, $15. While Jeanette washed and folded clothes, I rode to a liqueur store and picked up two bottles of wine, one surprisingly with a Lodi appellation. They were to be gifts to our new hosts at the end of the day.

    The weather was picture perfect again when we left town, taking the bike trail one last time from Freshwater to Yarmouth. We purchased ferry tickets and were soon aboard, sitting in comfort on the second level lounge while our bikes were tied to the interior of the railings. The 20 to 30 minute crossing was uneventful but pleasant and we watched with anticipation as we neared the shore at Lymington. Lymington is a small town and it wasn't more than a few blocks before we were out of town and riding on minor roads through the New Forest. 

    Much of the New Forest is no longer forest at all and has not been for many centuries. King Henry VIII and future kings began harvesting the sturdy oaks that made the forest up, using them to build the Royal Navy. Much of the area is now farms with rows of trees every now and then dividing up the various properties. The perfect weather and the minor roads, all practically flat, made for easy riding. 

    We meandered our way through, not hurrying, stopping and looking at the views, sometimes of the fields, sometimes of the Solent to the south through the trees. We came to a field with small paper sign covered with plastic protecting it from the weather. The sign marked the site of one of the fighter fields from the Battle of Britain. No buildings or any other sign of the deadly combat that took place in the skies above the base could be seen. We reflected on the sacrifices that the men and women of that era made so that we could live free from the terrors of Nazism and the horrors of world war.

    Our route took us eastward to Buckler's Hard, billed as an old port and shipbuilding village. When we arrived we found that it was  a pay for play place, something we didn't see much of a point in since we had been riding through real villages just as old or older. We decided to have lunch at the village store only to find that the food was pre-made and packaged for the most part. We decided to continue on to see what we could find ahead.

    We continued on to to Beaulieu, a ride of about three miles. The village and abbey across the lake were picturesque and full of tourists. A place so popular had to be a good place for lunch. We stopped and spent an hour sitting in a restaurant courtyard, having drinks and eating gourmet sandwiches.

    The B3054 road to Hythe was fairly lightly traveled and an easy flat ride. We saw small groups of wild horses in the fields as we rode along and a few tourists in cars stopped by the side of the road to take their picture. Once in Hythe, we followed the signs to the ferry. We found a coin operated ticket vending machine and luckily had the right change in pounds to buy our fare. The ferry docked at the end of a very long pier, so long that at one time a light railroad transported passengers from the ferry to the town. The worn out and rusted tracks running along one side of the boardwalk were all that was left. As we pushed our bikes down the pier we discovered why it was so long. Southampton Water, as the estuary was called, was very shallow and the pier crossed what must have been a quarter mile of mud flats.

   Twenty minutes later the ferry arrived and it was a short boat trip across to the docks at Southampton. We had a general idea of which way we wanted to go but didn't have a street map of the town, just a regional map that showed the major thoroughfares. We'd done pretty well so far just following our instincts and noses so we headed northeast, following any signs we saw that said Bitterne or Thornhill. We rode through the downtown area and into a mix of shops and homes. The road changed from flat to a gradual uphill. Then it got really steep. We had told our hosts we would arrive around four but four o'clock came and went and we were still on our bikes riding up hill or at least walking up hill next to them.

   The addresses finally indicated we were within a block of where we wanted to go but we just couldn't find the house where our hosts lived. After knocking on a few doors, we were directed to a very small opening in the hedges that was just wide enough to drive a car through. The opening led to a group of townhouses. We found the address and knocked on the door, an hour late. A smiling lady opened the door and introduced herself as Susan, welcomed us in and called for her husband, Mike.

   After greetings and introductions they showed us to our rooms and then told us that if we wanted, we were welcome to accompany them to a birthday party next door. We took them up on their offer and had a wonderful evening meeting about six or seven other people, having a delicious dinner and some birthday cake as well. Except for the hills at the end of the journey, as a "working" day, this rated as one of the best.

Recommended:
Brookside Forge Hotel (Map)
Brookside Road
Freshwater
Isle Of Wight
England
01983754644

The Vine Inn
School Green Road
Freshwater
Isle Of Wight
01983 752959 

Total milage 27.8

Day 16 - From Southampton to Winchester by train
Day 17- From Lyndhurst to Salisbury 27.5 miles

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