Southsea

Considering I lived in Portsmouth for a couple of years it’s surprising what you discover when you go back with a different pair of eyes! We went to Southsea today, parked for free just off Eastern Parade and had a cheap day out full of fun.

We started off by visiting Portsmouth Natural History Museum (yes that was new to me!) which is just near the Canoe Lake.  It isn’t huge, but it is free and Isaac loved it. We spent about an hour pottering around looking at fossils and bones, doing jigsaws, looking at things under a microscope and meeting their dinosaur.  It’s also just got a brand newly renovated butterfly house on the side with some lovely big blue butterflies.

After that we headed outside. There is a nice gated play area with splash fountains, zip wire, playground and lots of hills and grass and places to picnic.  I think there is a larger splash pool further West near the Pyramids, but this one happily entertained Isaac and wasn’t too busy even for an August Sunday when the sun was shining.

We went for a paddle on a swan boat on the Lake – 20 minutes for £7.50 was reasonably expensive, but as everything else around the day was pretty much free I decided it was worth a treat – although my legs may not forgive me tomorrow!

We went for a play on the beach and threw stones in the sea – a necessity for a 4 year old boy.  Some brave sole was even swimming!  And then we headed back via stopping at the bouncy castles and slide (apparently also essential) – £2.50 for 10 minutes.

All in all, despite being suckered into paying for the boats and bouncy castle, plus two ice creams (it would have been rude of Mummy not to get one too right?) it was a fun and cheap-ish day out.

Natural History Museum

Today, we decided to go to the Natural History Museum.  I hadn’t been since I was much younger so I fancied going back, and I also saw they had the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition going on which appealed as I like wildlife and photography!  Entry to the museum is free, and the exhibition costs £7 – but if you travel to London by train you can get 2 entry tickets for the price of 1 with a voucher from the Days Out Guide website.

We started at the photography exhibition where the winners, runners up and highly commended photographs in each category where displayed on light boxes.  The categories ranged from different groups of animals and birds, to children’s categories and some special awards.  There was some stunning photographs, and also some which I was surprised to see had won over others.  The age 11-14 children’s category was particularly impressive with one of my favourite’s being a shot of some wildebeest.  It has inspired me to keep up with my wildlife photography and possibly even try entering! 

After the photography exhibition we headed in to see the dinosaurs.  It was quite crowded as it was a Saturday, but we enjoyed wandering through the gallery.  We then went through the rest of the blue zone, seeing the mammals and marine life.  In the gallery where the giant blue whale is housed there are a number of huge whale skeletons which were very impressive.

One of my favourite areas of the museum was in the red zone where they had a gallery of gemstones, rocks and minerals.  I find it fascinating the different patterns, colours and shapes that come from nature and some were truly beautiful.

The museum is huge and you could easily spend days there reading and looking at everything.  Whilst it is nice that it is free to go in, it is a shame they don’t ask a small token fee of a couple of pounds, just to help keep the exhibits maintained.  Some of the interactive areas could easily be spruced up.  The building it is housed in is also stunning, and I could easily have spent time just taking photographs outside!  All in all I enjoyed our visit.