We set off on Thursday 31 May to make our way to Lymington in the New Forest for a 4 day break at the Passford House Hotel and managed to get within 18 miles of the Hotel before having to pull over and put the top up on the 968 as it began to rain.
John and Tanya were already enjoying afternoon tea so we joined them before unloading the car. Andrew and Gail had arrived a couple of days earlier and we all met up in the bar that evening to begin the WOTY. Peter joined us on Friday, and Ray and Jolanda along with their dog Monty left their Suffolk home very early Saturday and arrived at the Hotel in time for breakfast.
Friday was a free day with most of us visiting local attractions, including Exbury Gardens, Poole, and a Falconry Centre while others took the opportunity to visit family and friends in the area.
Saturday dawned hot and sunny and nine of us had booked a visit to Bucklers Hard Maritime Village and Museum with a River Cruise. The Village was extremely busy but we managed to have a tour with a lady dressed in the costume of a Shipwrights wife back in the 16th Century who told us about the hard life building ships back in that time and the dangers that went with the job. Needless to say the Pub in the Village was heaving but we did manage to get a drink eventually before wandering down to the River in time for our Cruise. Another convivial evening at the Hotel with a few bottles of wine being consumed then off to bed for a reasonably early start on Sunday.
We had been invited to join in with Regions 17 and 26 to share their Club Stand for the day at the Simply Porsche Event at Beaulieu and leaving our Hotel in glorious sunshine at 9am we travelled the short distance to Beaulieu and were on the Club Stand just before 10am. We learned later that around 1240 Porsches had turned up so you can imagine the queues to get in - we considered ourselves very lucky not to be delayed too long. An amazing collection of Porsches were on display, and Chris and Rhian’s red 356 (Elsie) received plenty of interest as did Jean's yellow Boxster. Our £10 entry fee gained us entrance to the Motor Museum where several new exhibits were on display, we then met up with Andrew and Gail for lunch in the restaurant before walking down to the House and gardens later in the afternoon. Several cars were leaving early but we stayed until 4pm intending to pull over somewhere on the way back for a group photo but unfortunately because of the fabulous weather everywhere was busy with cars, ice-cream vans, ponies and donkeys so we continued onto the Hotel for a cool drink in the bar. Our last evening at the Hotel and we reflected on a most enjoyable weekend with the weather being much better than forecast.