Sun, Sea and Bus Rides

Last week we went on holiday to the Isle of Wight and stayed at Heathfield Farm what a lovely clean and quite site, the wardens Bob and Gaye were very pleasant and so helpful. Bob even padded up the grip on my crutch midweek when I started to get a nasty blister on my hand, he wanted nothing in return, nothing was too much trouble for them and they were very helpful about bus routes and where to go.

We were so lucky with the weather and this was the sunset we were greeted with on arrival to site.

The showers were spotlessly clean, although the disabled one didn't have any handrails or a seat, so I ended out using the normal showers so I was able to lean on the walls to wash my feet.  

The grounds were spotless and well maintained and all the pitches

were level. We paid our £5 for unlimited WiFi, but as we were at the far side of the campsite the signal kept dropping in the camper van. We mentioned it to Bob and Gaye and they said they would look into it, by the last two nights we had fully functioning WiFi.

According to Himself the washing up and laundry areas were spotless, I have to confess that is his department when we are away so I never saw them.

The only downside of an otherwise fantastic campsite is that he showers are closed from 2200 to 0700. We've never come across this before, and it was a little inconvenient when you suddenly realised it was 2130 so had to dash down for a quick shower. I like to shower just before I go to bed which is usually quite late when I'm away.

Our first day was spend cycling down to Freshwater Bay it was lovely but crikey the Isle of Wight is hilly in that area, good job we are both keen cyclists but even my legs gave up on the hill back to the campsite so had to push the bike. We saw many lovely places but the one that stood out the most to me was this beautiful thatched church.

Our second day we went to The Needles and Alum Bay by bus. Sadly the chairlift wasn't working so I couldn't get down to the beach to see The Needles, it is a lot more commercial there since the last time we went about 15 years ago, but still a nice day out especially for children.

The shop where you fill glass shapes with the famous sands of Alum Bay was packed out with people having a good time. After a while we went over to the Glass Works, and spend so long watching he demonstrations we missed watching how they made the sweets in the Sweet Shop. It was amazing value and only £1 to get in.

Glass Blowing

We then took the open topped bus up to the Battery, would hate to have been the first person to see if a bus would fit up those narrow winding roads, the views were spectacular.

Looking down on Alum Bay

Our Third day was spent at the Isle of Wight Zoo as we had been there before and they have some spectacular Tigers, it has changed a lot since our last visit but it is amazing. We had a rather long bus journey on a very hot day to get there, so I had to use a packet of peas to cool down (which can be seen here) on the way back to the campsite as I started to feel most unwell. But the Tigers and Monkeys were worth it I took loads of pictures.

On our fourth day we went by bus to the Steam Railway yet another amazing day out, but I recommend you go early as there is so much to see and do. 

Oh the nostalgia of slam shut doors and open windows in the carriages, we opted to go First Class because we could and the detail inside of the carriages is amazing, each carriage has it's own history. I took some amazing video footage, now all I have to figure out is how to turn it round so you don't have to watch it with your head tilted to one side lol.

On our journey back to the campsite we did a very silly thing and caught the wrong bus at Yarmouth and started going back the way we has just come from. When we got off the bus it was a 30 minute wait for the next one so we decided to walk back to the ferry terminal along the sea front, I'm so glad we did it was beautiful.

Our last day was spent at Osborne House and we took the camper van as we were catching the 1930 ferry home.

What a treat we had in store, it was amazing inside the house although sadly you are not allowed to take pictures, and I would have liked to see a few more labels giving the description and history of items. 

The gardens are spectacular my poor camera was on overload, we caught the complementary mini bus to the Swiss Cottage which was the playhouse of the Royal children, and then took a walk down to the beach to see Queen Victoria's bathing machine. We were told it was an easy walk, but I was exhausted by the time we got there, it was a lot further than we were led to believe. Thankfully we were able to catch the mini bus back to the house to go and explore the wonderful walled garden. 

We stayed until it closed at 1800 and were able to catch the 1830 ferry back home again as it was just leaving when we arrived and not fully loaded, BONUS.

The Isle of Wight is amazing and I thoroughly recommend it. There is so much to see and do, and we hardly scratched the surface.

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