Friday 11th January 2019

It was time to say farewell to the fair Isle of Wight. I have seen it at the eight of a heatwave, gazed down from its sunbaked chalk cliffs down into the azure blue of Alum Bay, as well as stayed in the hotel as rained lashed down for hours on end.

I can say I like the place, just to visit, the mainland with gigs, shows and the rest of the UK an eighty quid return ferry trip for you and your car seems a high prices to pay. But then they have Glanville Fritillaries and Jersey Tigers as well as many orchids, and red squirrels, so not all bad I suppose.

So, the alarm goes off, I get up and shower, then pack my case and I am all ready to check out followed quickly by a quick breakfast.

It is a short drive down to the floating bridge, where I wait in line for ten minutes before boarding. Over the other side I have to then queue for another ferry, the one back to SOuthampton. It is already docked and traffic is being unloaded, so i wait in lane, making phone calls before we are allowed to board.

It is now too cold to sit on deck for the crossing, or even the departure from Cowes, so I take a seat by the side of the ship, next to a large window so I can still take shots if I want or see something interesting.

In the end, I do, as over in the shadow of an the old power station at Fowley. It is there where we have a new blade painting facility, so I can see several blades destined for our project all looking white and bright, also not looking like they are 81m long from a mile away.

I finish my book as the ferry pulls into dock in Southampton, and we are told to return to our cars.

Leaving Southampton is easy enough, much easier than getting to the dock, just u a dual carriageway to the start of the motorway then put your foot down. Until you get to where the motorway from Portsmouth joins, and its at a standstill for a few miles, and then again as traffic tries to get off to go to Winchester. I wasn't at the A303 junction and already delayed by close to an hour.

That said, I wasn't in a hurry, just had to get the car back by three so that I did not incur extra charges, so I pressed on.

Now, I try not to moan, but it seems to me the standard of driving in this country is getting worse, with people picking a lane on the motorway and not just moving from it. It was bad enough when there was three lanes, but now there is four, people lane hogging in all three of the inside lanes.

I press on to the M25, then round through Surrey, trying to get past traffic, but I am getting nearer to home.

I am back in Kent at one, so have an hour to go before I am home, half an hour there before I have to meet Jols at the port.

Work in the motorway is just about done ready for Brexit, meaning the speed restrictions have been lifted, which is nice, but pretty much only just in time for the whole road to be closed in March.

I get home just gone two, time enough for a brew and unpack my stuff before I go back out to refill the car and take it back to the office in the port, where Jools was waiting. She finishes at two on a Friday, meaning that once home, it were the weekend.

Back home we have a brew and the rest of the gingerbread biscuits.

We listen to the radio for a couple of hours, while I battle with the ongoing issues I have with the computer.

No need to cook as we were going out for dinner; to The Lantern at Martin, who have now employed a Japanese chef, so we could enjoy a nice fusion meal.

In the pub the log fire was roaring, there was a choice of a dozen beers, and a meanue with a choice of three Japanese dishes for each course. It was very nice. And we both used chopsticks, which was a bit of a battle, but we manage and clear the plates. They do a cheeseboard for us to have for dessert, which I wash down with a glass of house red.

Back home there was no Billy Connolly to watch, so I watch Stewart Copeland talking about drums and drumming whilst Jools snoozes.