I left home at about 4pm, and made my way to Wycombe station, buying a combined train and ferry return ticket to Lake for about £107. Into Marylebone, tube to Waterloo, then train to Portsmouth Harbour. At Portsmouth, I had half an hour to wait for the next ferry, which was actually the fast catamaran service. We boarded, and the journey was quick and easy (18 minutes, I think?) on the Ryde pier, the transfer to the train was right there, and very convenient. The 'train' was a wonderful old Northern Line tube train from 1938 stock. It had been updated over the years, obviously, but was clearly a very old thing. Every time people got off, one of the doors got stuck and had to be persuaded on its way by the conductor.
The train went through a tunnel, and continued through the dark. I got off the train at Lake, and walked in the direction that I thought I needed to go. It was pretty dark, but I had it sorted. As the people who'd got off the train peeled off in various directions, I was aware of someone coming towards me. It was Stephen from Haytor Lodge, with a torch, to see me safely to my destination. Very kind.
We walked to Haytor Lodge, with him explaining about the trains, and went up to my room. Linda was busy as we came through the house. In my room, Stephen showed me everything, and left me to it, offering me a cup of tea downstairs. I was impressed at the level of detail they achieved in the room. There was everything I needed, including a bottle of water for walking. The room was lovely, and the bathroom a bit pokey, but perfectly comfortable, and warm. I made myself a cup of tea upstairs as I was a bit tired, and settled down to read for a while. It felt good to relax after the journey. I went to sleep not long after 10pm, with Christian still on his way to Newcastle.
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