Southampton, England

“Winchester Cathedral, da da da da da  🎵🎵🎵

You’re bringing me down
You stood and you watched as
My baby left town”

Southampton is a university city in Hampshire with the biggest common I have ever been to in the centre.  Sadly it looked more like straw than grass due to the lack of rain. But the surrounding trees were healthy and the countryside no less mesmerising than other places we had visited..

We had left Cirencester a little sadly as Scrappy was such a beautiful hound and we had to leave him a few hours before the owners got home.  (Jacky: As Gerry was cleaning the car, Scrappy jumped in the back and refused to budge.  Gerry had all the bags waiting to load and Scrappy decided he was coming with us.  Gerry had to chase him out with the vacuum cleaner.  It was Scrappy’s only defiant act!)

The trip was pretty short between Marston Meysey and Southampton so we stopped into historic Winchester. Little did we realise that around 1000AD it was the capital city of England before London. So the oldest pub called the Royal Oak was in the centre of town along with the Great Hall where William The Conquerer would meet with his Knights of the Round Table to discuss strategy. Of course it was also the seat of Winchester Cathedral made famous in my mind from the Beatle’s song. There were lots of tourists and tour groups throughout the city centre. We ate at one of the local cafes and enjoyed a baguette sandwich and then toddled off to our new residence and to meet the family.

Well, if first appearances were an indication of how things were going to go, I was in trouble. The rescue black lab, Daisy didn’t want anything to do with me. She was growling and a little hostile. She was fine with Jacky but I could see I was going to have to earn her trust. She was very protective of her girls.  It isn’t unusual for a female rescue dog to have issues with a new male in the house. Mylene, the owner was so apologetic and I think at one point she even asked me if we still wanted to do the house sit. I had faith she would be ok once the family left and we had time to bond. Fortunately that was the case and we got on famously from the next day on. Mylene made us a delicious meal with her French flair and really made us feel welcome.

Spending a night with the owner at the start of the sit seems to be ideal as it gives us time to settle in. It is lovely to get a chance to make some connection with the owner’s family and pets. I haven’t mentioned our cat duties which was Tigger who is an outside cat. Daisy and Tigger have had a difference of opinion and he has decided it is safer outside. We had the strangest first night with the animals after Mylene had left in the morning. In the middle of the night I had Tigger, the cat, purring around my head and the next thing we know, Daisy is chasing him down the stairs. Somehow she escaped and I couldn’t find out how she managed to get outside. Meanwhile Daisy was moving from one bedroom to the next throughout the night.

We went on several excursions in the surrounding area, but two that stood out for me were Bournemouth and the New Forest.

As it had been unseasonably warm, since our second week in England, going to the beach was a must. Our golden opportunity arrived in Southampton as we were only 35-45 minutes to the sandy beaches around Bournemouth. I had been joking throughout the trip about the beaches in England. Blackpool was nice other than the commercialisation with all the amusement venues spoiling it for me a little. We stopped at a Boscombe Beach, just out of central Bournemouth and it was moderately busy for a hot summer’s day. The scenery was spectacular with white limestone cliffs in the distance while the beach had little waves of crystal clear water lapping onto the sand. Jacky was first in the water not wasting a moment. I was shocked to see it didn’t take her breath away. I had to find out if she was foxing me to get in. Whoa! It was refreshing but still on the warm side. It felt so good to be in the sea and basking in the sun.

Later we ventured into Bournemouth and it was bustling with activity at every point imaginable. 

The New Forest is an immense area where the government has integrated some towns, farming and natural wildlife. So you will find wild New Forest ponies grazing on the side of the road with cows. (J: Even donkeys sheltering from the sun under the trees.) Each area of the Forest has its own uniqueness with animals and history. We had lunch in the town of Lyndhurst, with Daisy, at a lovely little cafe. Down the street a few metres was a Ferrari and Maserati car dealership! Some of the old homes in the town were very stately. We had a couple of lovely walks although nothing seemed to be mapped out or particularly sign posted that well. You kind of follow your nose and that usually leads you to some sort of track and animal.

In Southampton itself we were blessed with being only a couple of hundred metres away from the Southampton Common. This is a vast area in the heart of the city suburbs that has been set aside as park and bushland. Another great idea of integrating the public with nature. You have cyclists, walkers, joggers, dogs and picnickers everywhere with enough space to feel like you are connected to nature. There was one favourite tree that I have taken several photographs of because it had an energetic healing resonance around it for me. Daisy did plenty of chasing the tennis ball around the park and by the end of the sit she was actually letting us have a turn at it as well. 

Jacky:

Southampton was, at times a difficult experience for me.  Since leaving London my left knee was becoming progressively more painful and my regular magnesium supplement was not available here so I was struggling to find something or someone that might assist.  When we had been to Stroud I had visited a McTimoney Chiropractor (like Network Chiropractic, it is very gentle and there is no physical manipulation as there is in more mainstream  chiropractic). I found another one not too far away and although her patients were usually horses and dogs, she had a human appointment available.  By the time we got to her my body was aching all over and I was really struggling.  A testament to the regime I usually follow in Australia, of regular Network Chiro and a nightly dose of Magnesium powder.  Gerry was walking Daisy as Labradors are quite strong and we did not want any further damaged knees spoiling the trip.  

Amazingly after the adjustment a lot of the pain left me and the numbing ache in my legs was completely gone.  I hope we have McTimoney back on OZ as it is a super holistic treatment.

Gerry

Before we headed on to the next house sit in Abbotts Bromley we went back to Winchester this time we were meeting one of Jacky’s friends that I had met on the Central Coast in Australia. Danielle had come to England for a couple of weeks to get away for some relaxation and we noticed on Facebook that she was coming. Jacky contacted her to see if we could catch up. It didn’t look like it was going to happen as Danielle didn’t have a car and we were quite a few hours drive apart. But as The Universe has taught us, set the intention, get out of your own way and it can happen. We met Danielle at the train station and went for lunch near the city centre in a quaint pub which had a stream running on both sides of us in the garden area at the back. So picturesque! After an enjoyable and chatty lunch I became the tour guide of Winchester as we had been here once before. We managed to see a few new places that we hadn’t visited the first time. 

Time to leave our new animal family. Probably no easier than anywhere else as we had bonded with Daisy, although Tigger the cat was not fussed. Mylene had kept in contact with us and was always thankful, she made it so easy. It was on to our last house sit in England, Abbotts Bromley. We would take our time and stop half way at Oxford, which left us spellbound.