Friday 14/4/2017 (Good Friday). Marwell Z00 – Hayling Island – Central London
Hayling Island South Beach
A very early start beckoned, as we wanted to be at the Zoo around 10 am when it opened. Shani went off to fetch Ash from Leicester around 6 am to save me an extra 30 odd miles and 45 mins driving. By the time they got back, and we had set off, it was 20 past 7. The weather was mild, but thankfully no rain. Driving was going to be boring – mainly motorways and A roads (M1, A34, M40 etc). We stopped off for breakfast en route, but aside from that it was a straight run down to Marwell Zoo. According to my tracking App, including the stop, it took bang on 3 hours.
Marwell Zoo was easy to find and they have a huge car park. We skipped the queue as we had booked and paid online the day before. A well laid out park was simple to navigate and they have fun exhibits for kids. We found some of the animals were a little reticent to show themselves, and all of their big cats were asleep. You can get very close to some of the other animals, the Penguins, Meerkats and Giraffes being some of the best. They suggest you give it at least 4 hours, and we were there for a little over that. They also have a massive gift shop, which Erin had to be prised out of.
Zoo done, we went back to the car and had a quick bite to eat before deciding where to go on the coast to enjoy the rest of our picnic. Ash suggested Hayling Island, near Portsmouth. It was about half an hour away. When we arrived there, we parked up right in the middle of the southernmost beach. Parking is expensive, and the beach is shingle, not sand. Not many people there, so we had food by the ocean, and went for a walk along the shore. We then drove down to the Ferry Point on the south western tip and had another wander around. After an hour or so it was time to bid farewell to the coast and head home. We chose a route that took us through the South Downs to Farnborough. It was supposed to be scenic but the Sat Nav unusually let us down and sent us down A roads. We once again found ourselves amidst military towns as we went through Aldershot. I tapped the Home icon on the sat nav, and before we knew it we ended up on the M25.
BBC Broadcasting House at night
As we endured the mind numbing trip around the magic roundabout, I decided to take a detour and went down the M4 straight to the West End of London. It was fun weaving through the traffic, and Shani managed to upset the driver of a Lamborghini Aventador, He rolled his window up at the lights at Picadilly Circus. I assumed he was upset that our vehicle was a lot better than his. Who can tell. Anyway, we ended up dumping the car in the Q Park at Cavendish Square, and went for a wander up to the BBC, then back down to grab some food at Byron’s.
We came out of the restaurant around half 9. It began to spit with rain just as we reached the car park. By the time we drove out of the car park it was properly raining. We did well to survive the whole day without rain. We then ploughed on home, stopping only for caffeine at Watford Gap services. We had to take Ash home, back into Leicester city centre and didn’t get back home until 1 am. A good, but knackering day out was had by all!
Total Miles: 342