When a plan starts coming together

With the ferries to Spain booked and most of my first choice hotels already bagged, Grizzly and I discussed the first day, i.e. the day he arrives in England and I ride to Portsmouth. I'd imagined that he'd ride the whole way from Pembroke to Portsmouth but Sanch O'Panza ain't as young as he used to be or he's just a wuss, one of the two, so he's decided to split the journey when he arrives in Blighty and has thus booked a hotel on the M4 at Magor, just passed Newport, for the Monday night.

To be fair to the old fella, he will have been up since about 5am in order to get his ferry at Rosslare, so a 250 mile ride this side, having done a hundred or so back in Ireland, might be a bit tiring. In any case, there's no rush. We'll still meet up in Portsmouth on Tuesday 11th July, for an overnighter before the ferry to Bilbao.

I've booked us in the Keppel's Head Hotel, less than 3 miles from the ferry terminal. It's an historic hotel, built in 1779 and sits right by all the dockyard attractions, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the Mary Rose. If you look on Booking.com, some of the photos are so grainy, they may well have been taken on a 1779 camera! (yes, I know they didn't exist then). It has free on-site parking, which is always something I look out for on our tours and includes both a full English and Irish breakfast. That's us both sorted then. 😉  It also has a bar!

That's all for now.

Our overnight in Pompey