Isle of Wight Holiday Diary #1 - Settling in

Hi there everyone 😀

As you will all know, back in September we headed off for our third visit to the very lovely Isle of Wight. We stayed for three weeks in the not so lovely, but adequate, Bramble Cottage and I just have sooooooo much to share with you about our stay.

Day 1 - Saturday

We were up, packed and off early. It was the first time we've been away for a three week break and we were both really ready for it and were so looking forward to being back on the Island.

We had a lovely drive down from The Midlands in glorious sunshine ... just generally chilling, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine through the glass, listening to Radio 2, with Graham Norton interviewing Benny from ABBA, with the odd very cool tune thrown in.

The drive down through The New Forest was lovely and had us both hankering for a return visit. It looked lovely in the sunshine ... clear blue skies, lots of green and plenty of ponies and cattle to be seen. As we drove through Beaulieu it was lovely seeing the donkeys again, which brought back very fond memories.

Arriving at Lymington to catch the ferry was, as always, a real treat. There was a real feeling of calm and tranquility ...

There was time for a quick wander and our first holiday selfie ...

... before we saw our ride coming into dock ...

We were soon boarded and on our way, leaving Lymington behind in the afternoon sunshine ...

The weather was glorious and we sat out on deck for the whole journey thinking we would be quite happy with this if it stayed for the duration of our stay ...

Our first view of The Needles always lets us know it’s not far to go ...

... and before long we were sailing alongside the pier and into Yarmouth harbour ... time for the holiday to begin ...

It was about a half hour drive to Bramble Cottage, which was to be our home for the he duration of our stay, and we were both excited to see if it matched up to the pictures we’d seen on line when booking. We were both pretty disappointed to find that it most definitely didn’t and the less said about our first impressions the better ... we both just hoped it would grow on us as we settled in to our stay.

The view out back was nice though ...

It was bittersweet when Timehop showed me the very lovely West Holm where we’d stayed in Bude this time last year ...

Deciding that there was not much option but to make the most of it, we got unpacked and settled in.

Day 2 Sunday

This being our third visit to the island and with having a three week stay, with a visit from mum and dad for our second week, we were really looking forward to having that bit more time to get off the beaten track. We wanted to visit places we hadn’t seen before, as well as spending more time at some of our old favourites. 

For our first week we really did want to slow it down, saving all the usual touristy bits for when mum and dad were here.

With this in mind we spent our first full day in West Cowes. We had never visited before and we needed to do some food shopping so thought it ticked all of the boxes.

We parked at the top of the hill and had a wander down the pretty high street just generally mooching, with no real plan, just seeing what we could find ...

It was another glorious day and the high street was a real treat. Lots of little shops and plenty of bunting, giving a bit of a festival feel ...

We ended up on the promenade and thought we’d have a short wander, which turned into something just a little bit longer ... there were just so many interesting things to see ...

We ended up doing a spot of Geocaching, which was great for finding out a bit more information about some of the points of interest along the front ... starting with this ornate gift to West Cowes in 1864 from George Robert Stephenson, the nephew of the famed engineer ...

Our next stop was The Cabin on The Green, where we found what we were looking for and decided we would carry on a bit and then stop for an ice cream on the way back.

We carried on our way and found Rosetta Cottage ... where Churchill's parents met for the first time and got engaged ...

When we reached the lighthouse at Egypt Point, apparently getting its name from a colony of gypsies (known as Egyptians in 1897) that once lived in the area, we decided to head back ...

... stopping off for the first holiday ice cream at the Cabin on The Green, before having a wander back up the high street in the other direction.

It was then time for the slog back up the hill to the car and off to Aldi to get stocked up.

With the weather forecast looking to stay the same for the rest of the week we were really looking forward to making the most of it ... starting with exploring the nooks and crannies of West Wight, but I'll save that for my next post 😀

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