I make it up and over the footbridge to Platform 4 at Southampton Central station in time for my next train.

I have a few minutes to spare. Which is just as well because the train indicator shows that the next train splits at Bournemouth and I need to be in the front coaches. I often get disorientated at railway stations, particularly when changing platforms, and can’t always tell from which direction trains are going to arrive.

There are no staff around to ask so I hover in the middle of the platform like England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on his goal-line during a penalty shoot-out, bouncing on my toes and ready to dive to the left or right. Like him, I hope I choose the correct side because otherwise the consequences could be disastrous.

The sight-lines are good and I see the train approaching from the right so I start moving speedily to my left in order to be in the front few coaches. I hop on board and relax in my seat.

Leg 3: Southampton to Weymouth

Journey time: 1 hour 38 minutes, 14 stops

The South Western Railway train is relatively empty. I flop into a forward-facing seat at a table by the window. Unlike the Southern trains on my journey so far, this one has power points throughout and I plug my phone in for a much-needed charge.

And the cable stretches far enough so that I can hold it up to the window and capture the departure.

Third time lucky. So here, for what it’s worth, is the time-lapse of the view from the window as the train leaves Southampton Central.

The countryside soon opens up as we journey through the New Forest with the sight of ponies among the landscape.

What I particularly liked about this section of the trip was the taglines on the station signs.

It made me think that every railway station should have a tagline. Every railway station is a gateway to somewhere or something. Every railway station welcomes passengers to a different area. Every railway station is the start or end of an adventure.

This part of the journey has some busy stations like Bournemouth and some quiet stations like Holton Heath where just one man gets off and carries his bike over the footbridge.

My excitement mounts as the train nears its destination.

Out of the window are quintisentially English summer scenes. These tents and the flagpole with the England flag set among green fields could almost have been part of a model village.

And then there are the first distance glimpses of the sea and cliffs.

Perhaps it was my imagination but the train seemed to speed up as it reached Weymouth – as if it was as excited as I was to arrive by the sea.

As we pulled in to the station, there was an on-board announcement: “We will shortly be arriving at sunny Weymouth, our final destination.”

It made me smile. My journey had taken me from the sunshine coast of Eastbourne to sunny Weymouth.

Total journey time: 4 hours, 23 minutes. Three trains with two changes.

I glanced at my phone. It said “100% charged”.

And that’s how I felt too.