Highlight. Seeing Chalky again.

We were up at a good time this morning and ended up leaving earlier for Hammersmith than we intended. It worked out perfectly as, by the time one train was cancelled and we spent some time at Gatwick looking for the right way to the car rental place we arrived with just a few minutes to spare.

We enjoyed the train ride to Gatwick other than one moment of concern. We had changed at Clapham Junction as directed and found the train to Brighton which was stopping at Gatwick. However, about three minutes into the journey the announcement said we were going to Victoria Station!! This was in the exact opposite direction. However, the man sitting opposite confirmed we were ok as he had in fact got on at Victoria Station. All the way south both the scrolling written message on the train and the announcements kept referring to the wrong direction. They did flick a couple of times to referring to Brighton but then back again. It was funny once we knew it was wrong.

The car collection was straightforward. We were given the option of 2 cars, but opted for a 1.3L Honda Jazz. We checked it over for damage (all hunky dory) then headed for Hayling Island.

Our only stop on the way was at the Chichester Canal Boat area. We had spotted the area and a pub near it as we drove by and there was also the all-important parking area. However, it took a roundabout drive to get back and we needed to be careful as the police base is right there as well. The pub did not in fact offer food but there was a café. We found the café was run by volunteers and others were working in the area providing rides. The women in the cafe were very friendly and the toasted sandwiches were freshly toasted and very filling. It proved to be a great spot to stop.

The drive to Hayling Island was generally good with not much traffic and country views on part of the route when we detoured to avoid some hold up that our navigation devices detected. It was a good way for John to start.

After picking up some cake and biscuits we then headed to Katrina Gardens to catch up with Ken ‘Chalky’ White. Chalky is the sole remaining member of Ted’s (John’s dad’s) bomber crew. We had previously visited when Chalky’s wife Pam was alive and we have always been treated as ‘family’. Chalky is now well into his 90’s and looking rather frail, but he greeted us with such genuine warmth. While he now lives alone he gets plenty of visits and help from friends and family. We chatted about all manner of things for over an hour and Chris made us all a good cuppa tea. We presented him with a silver fern badge with a poppy that we had bought for him at the NZ Army Museum. He also had gifts for us and John’s sister Jennifer, who keeps in close contact with him. It was so lovely to meet him and you could not meet a nicer man. After final hugs and farewells we slipped away.

After we left we went to the beach front. John took some time to compose a small note and load a photo of Chalky onto Facebook. We are always reminded of Chalky when we see the colourful beach huts in the UK, as this area has a large number of them. We then found one of the caches there that we did not find on our last trip.

The drive to our Airbnb was a little more stressful as we did miss one turn by being in the wrong lane. Then we had only coordinates and not a street address for our accommodation, but a call to the host told us we were close and we were soon settled in. Harlequin Lodge is a self-contained 2 roomed building with a very well equipped kitchen. If I had brought more (and warmer clothes) a 2-night stay would have been appealing. There was both a cat and a ginger guinea pig in the back yard. We will try to get a photo of the guinea pig for Ashley and Micky.

The sun is not setting until after 8.30pm which is a bonus. We borrowed a jacket from the cupboard in the lodge before we headed out for tea. It was a toss-up between Italian and Asian but as the Penang had what we wanted, Asian won. After a nice meal we walked along the foreshore (stony) and then a grassy area near the foreshore, which was popular with dog walkers. John laughed as I took a photo of a red Dog Waste bin, but it was really as a reminder. These were every 200m or so and looked like mini-post boxes. We watched the sky turn red to the west then headed back to the Lodge.