Holiday Day 7

The Thursday and last day of our holiday was the worst weather that we had. It was cloudy in the morning and it rained a little bit, but not much. We decided to go to the Garlic Farm, which wasn't too far from where we were staying, and which I visited in 2017 when I went to the Isle of Wight with my friend Von. We had a little walk round there and hads a hot drink. Then we drove down towards Ventnor and ended up driving round most of the island. We didn't stop in Ventnor but we stopped overlooking the other side of the Needles, where we had lunch in the car. We stopped in Yarmouth - which was much smaller than I thought. We went past an inn where Von and I stayed five years ago which was cute!

We stopped in Shanklin on the way back and went in a cafe for ice cream. You can't see cos of the lighting in the photo but mine was vanilla and strawberry ice cream mixed together, which was nice. We got back to the caravan just before 4pm and went to Landguard for an hour's swim. The weather had come out beautifully by this point and the pool water was so warm, like bath water. I'm glad we managed to get an outdoor swim on our last day. 

In the evening we went to Sandown to have food. We had a walk on the esplanade and the pier to begin with, then went to a very unlovely pub which was a bit of a disappointment. We struggled to find somewhere to eat though because not everywhere was open and there didn't seem to be anywhere that did good vegetarian options. But it was fine, I won't worry about it.

After we'd eaten we drove through Shanklin Old Town which we had missed before now. It's lovely - all thatched cottages and with a few quirky shops that I wish we'd been able to go it. There's a Christmas shop! However there were a few food stalls open so we bought fresh donuts and shared them. 

It was a lovely few days away and I'm glad we got to go, and I'm glad we got such good weather. It was nice to just sit around the pool and swim when we wanted. The following morning I was awake early and we were nearly packed, so we changed our ferry booking to an earlier one. That meant we got off the ferry at 11.45, but it took us over five hours to get home and we only stopped for about 15 minutes in that! It's just as well we did change the booking because we only just managed to get back in time to pick the kittens up! They were glad to be home like we were. 

The Garlic Farm. I bought some garlic and some cherry brandy as well as presents for my mum and stepdad

The Garlic Farm has tons of wildflowers which I love, especially the poppies, since one of my cats is called Poppy!

There's lots of info inside 

A bit later looking over Chale

The view of the above map

The other side of the Needles from Alum Bay. This is where we had lunch

Yarmouth looking towards the mainland

Back in Shanklin...

...to eat ice cream

Lee had a chocolate sundae

I liked this sign which was in the ice cream parlour

This was the indoor pool at Landguard, although we didn't actually go in it all week. Still, I would recommend the pools there!

This was our park, Lower Hyde, which was very quiet and which I'd also recommend

Sandown beach

The sea

The pier again

And finally here's Lee, just before we went to get something to eat

Holiday Day 6

On the Wednesday of our holiday we had fresh pastries from Lidl for breakfast, which were delicious, and then we went to Sandown. I went there when I went to the Isle of Wight with my friend Von, so remembered the pier very well. We played bowling in the amusements and some other games, before we left and drove through some of the countryside, looking down on the Roman villa for one thing. Then we drove through Shanklin trying to see if we could see the chine. Unfortunately we couldn't, but it was worth trying. 

I was wearing my favourite yellow dress, which is so cool for the summer so ideal given how hot it was, and my Snag chub rub shorts which are a blue/green colour. I've had them ages and they seem to have changed the colour now, but still. I couldn't bear anything on my legs so decided everyone else would just have to deal with them!

We went down on to Shanklin beach and parked, and went into a cafe for some lunch. We still had to play the other mini golf course, so we did that, and then I went swimming! I managed to get changed under my dress, haha. Lee paddled but I got my entire self in - he doesn't like swimming in the sea. I don't often, but I really wanted to. I have to say that the water was really warm, way warmer than other times I've swum in the sea off Britain. It was lovely!

We went to the cafe at the end of Shanklin beach and had an ice cream each. Then we went back to the holiday park and - you guessed it - went swimming. It was later on this time when we went, but still lovely. Afterwards we showered and had tea, as usual. My last photo is late at night when it was getting dark and you could see the rabbits that lived on the site! Too cute! 

Pains au chocolat for breakfast

Bowling on Sandown pier

I won!

Standing on Sandown pier - it's really long and has loads of stuff on it

Looking down on the Roman villa

We drove up to it but didn't go in

Up there somewhere, me and Lee

Near the chine (which means gorge)

Looking towards the sea from the top of the gorge

In the cafe for lunch. Lee had bought this t-shirt in Asda before our holiday and we both found it hilarious, because when you think Pride, you definitely think Darth Vader... 

Here's me swimming in the actual sea! It wasn't that deep here so I was floating on the top of the water more or less

Ice cream on the beach

Waiting to go swimming, I think 

The pool on the Wednesday. Look at that sky!

And here's the rabbits last thing at night

Holiday Day 5

On the Tuesday of our holiday we went to Shanklin beach first of all. It was another very sunny and hot day so we went on to the beach and paddled for a bit. The water was lovely and clear. We then played mini golf on the esplanade - there was a deal to pay both courses for a lower price over 7 days so we did that and decided we'd come back the next day to play the other course. We played the pirate one first which was kind of fun.

We then went to a nearby cafe on the clifftop but it was busy outside so we ended up having to sit inside. I had cheese scones with cream cheese and chutney, which were really nice. By this time it was around 2pm so we went back to the caravan to get changed to go to the pool.

Normally on holiday we would do other things, but the weather was just so nice and we were both in such need of a rest that we just did need to sit by the pool and swim and stuff. It was different for us, but still fun! 

Our caravan - there were others to either side but they were very quiet

Rainbow umbrellas on Shanklin beach

The sea! 

Looking up towards Sandown

We took this pop up tent thing to sit in on the beach as Lee doesn't like too much sun, it was ideal

Lee paddling. We bought a pair of beach shoes each in 2018 when we were in Cornwall, and they are ideal for paddling and make sure your feet don't get hurt or covered in sand

Me paddling

See how clear the water was?

There were people swimming and I desperately wanted to join them - on which more later

More pretty umbrellas and deckchairs

Playing on the pirate course

No I'm not sure why the water was running red either

I really caught the sun here as I didn't realise it was so strong

Cheese scones for lunch!

From the clifftop

I didn't mean to take this picture at the pool, but I like it. This is what the sky looked like

Another pool selfie

And another pool ice cream!