Portsmouth

My first trip to the English seaside. As luck would have it the sun was out and it was a warm winter day with temperatures in the mid teens! So hot in fact I wasn't far off getting sunburnt.

Portsmouth is renowned for its Royal Navy history. I had a fabulous day exploring the Historic Dockyard with Sharyn, Mark and Mark. The picture below was taken on board HMS Warrior otherwise known as 'The Black Snake' due to the 65m long armoured box that protected her guns and machinery.

It is amazing to think that over 150 to 200 years ago people designed and built ships of this size. The rigging is very impressive but what you see is a mere portion of what was actually required to sail the ship.

At lunchtime we enjoyed a cruise on the harbour. This took us past the Navy's modern warships - frigates, destroyers etc. There is a good collection in varying states of repair. The one below has been pawned off at bargain price to a South American country - Chile or Brazil - I think.

After lunch we explored the HMS Victory, the world's oldest commissioned warship. It was on board the HMS Victory that Lord Nelson died during the Battle of Trafalgar. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures as this was when my camera began its temperamental power tantrum.

There are many more things we could have looked at and done in Portsmouth but time did not allow. We purchased tickets which are valid for 12 months so may return to look around some of the sights we missed.

All in all a great day in the sun (in England in February)!