The Longest Summer Holiday Ever? 5:Holiday Time (Take 2) - Get away - 4 nights on the IoW

Monday 10 August 2020

The travel was relatively uneventful, just a few slowdowns on the M25. We arrived at the port with an hour to spare and had to find somewhere to park and explore for a bit. 

The grounds of Portsmouth Cathedral provided the only crumb of comfort for Brody, who watered a small part of the grass - it needed it.
The ferry has a pet friendly zone, and because we are inside masks are required. There weren't that many people about anyway.
Passing the Spinaker Tower as we left Portsmouth.
We arrived with plenty of time to spare, so we visited Shanklin Chine. The chine entrance ticket gives a weekly access so you can return for another visit, we didn't, because there wasn't time. The chine is all nicely socially distanced, with restrictions on exits, good markings and plenty of space. Somewhere walking up the chine Brody did a poo, we think, while no one was looking. Luckily I had the full dog survival kit ready to hand.
Thomas wasn't sure about the stocks, so Granddad had to be the subject for the demonstration.

On arrival there is no booking in, you just go to the caravan and, if there is a green sign on the door, you occupy it. The caravans are distributed to give each one a little space, here we are walking from the car park down the steep hill to the caravan. TV reception down here is very poor, we are in a steep dip BBC1 & 2 - OK.  ITV patchy, chan4 and 5 non-existant, our ariel points in a different direction to all the surrounding ones, because if it pointed the same way there would be no reception at all. Caravan issues: Lights in the bedroom not working, one of three lights in kitchen blew.  Nothing really major. We visited the on site pub in the evening - 'a dive', was one of the (more accurate) ways of describing it. Social distancing being practices by the guests was not too good, and while some rules were in place, some tables were too close together, and walk ways not separated properly.  We did at least manage to get an outside table.

Tuesday 11 August 2020

 We visited Blackgang Chine.  It's more a theme park than a chine.  The day was very hot so I spent most of the visit in the shade with Brody.  We did walk around one area with him, and he enjoyed the dinosaurs, as you can hear in the video.

In the evening we returned to Shanklin, and headed to the Steamer Inn for dinner.  We arrived early, about 5 o'clock, and were glad we did as the queue soon built up.  The food was very good, the service was excellent and we had a lovely time - all sufficiently distanced and all outside.

Wednesday 12 August 2020

Today, we visited the IoW Steam Railway.  It was even better than normal, instead of being packed in to a third class compartment, we had one to ourselves and could spread out.  I have never been to a steam railway that I didn't enjoy - they are such good day's out.  We didn't spend as long there as I would have liked, and I won't paste too many pictures.

Some of the refurbishment work in progress:

Our Engine:

Brody and Thomas enjoying the ride:

Then we were planning to go to "The Garlic Farm" for lunch, but couldn't get in, we tried the Fox & Hounds, but they too were fully booked.  We ended up, quite late, in the Pencil Cottage Tea rooms, in Shanklin.That had the advantage of being able to buy Brody a Dog ice cream, which he needed and really enjoyed on aanother hot day.

We came back to the caravan for tea and enjoyed sitting outside for the evening.

Thursday 13 August 2020

In the morning we went to the beach.  We dropped Liz, Ray and Thomas off at the sea front.  Jo and I drove on to Yaverland beach with Brody, it is dog friendly and he loved it.  We met various dogs on the beach, some who stole the poor boy's ball - he made his point in the water with one of them and the thief dropped it and swam away.  After playing with Brody for quite a while we made our way back to the car park, and enjoyed a cup of tea from the cafe while we waited for the others.

Thomas & Liz & Ray, walked from the town centre to our spot at a cafe on the front.  Thomas had a fall and reopened his knee wound. Liz had a migrane.At that point we needed some rest, so we returned to the caravan for lunch.

In the afternoon we visited the Model Village at Godsill - very good social distancing has been set up here too, except the family that pushed past us and then family in front of us too.  There's always one!

The Godsill Giant

 

Godsill Church, which we visited for real later. 

The model village, in the model village.

Is it the BFG, or Gulliver at Lilliput?

It's quite a climb to the church, we went up the steps and down the path, mainly to protect Brody as much as possible.  In the evening we had Fish and Chips takeaway from Chubby's in Shanklin.

Friday 14 August 2020

We packed up and departed comfortably before the 10 am deadline, leaving the key where we found it.  With a while to go before the ferry, we managed a visit to "The Garlic shop", and then onto The Sloop for a drink.  Lunch was eaten in the queue for boarding. The travel was again uneventful until we reached junction 4 on the M25, before reaching junction 3 we arrived at the back of a 1 hour 20 minute traffic jam - which mostly seemed to be caused by attempts to manage the traffic flow. Once released into the tunnel by the traffic lights the run through and the roads out the other side were very clear.

4300 feet

On Saturday morning we were picked up and chauffeured to Southend Airport. We helped uncover the aeroplane. It appeared very small - it is only a four seater. Our pilot explained the procedures. We will have headphones so we can chat, but must be quiet when he's on the radio. There is only one exit, and because I'm sitting next to it I will have to open it in an emergency. We are going over water for a bit, and need to know how quickly the plane will sink. I will also have to get Jo out of the back, and must learn how to move the seat. If the engine should fail, the plane will glide easily, until be can find somewhere to land. Then the good news - there has never been an engine problem on the plane. John goes and fills the plane up with fuel. We get in - and make our selves comfortable. Then down the runway and into the air.

We cruised across the Thames and over Kent, spotting motorways, railways, and particular roundabouts. It is a very comfortable flight. We are enjoying ourselves, and getting an introduction to flying. We can see forts of various ages in the Solent and along the south coast. Most of them have never been used. We took a curcuit of the island and passed over the Needles. We landed at Bembridge and were guided to a parking place by the tower.

It was a relief to get out of the plane, on a day like Saturday, when its hot, the inside of the plane heats up very quickly when we stop moving. It had been a perfect day for a flight, and a very comfortable and enjoyable ride.

A short walk (2 miles?) along the coastal path was the "Crab & Lobster", where we were booked to eat lunch - and a very nice lunch it was too. Suitable fed, we walked back to the areodrome and got back in the plane.

We flew back along the south coast, and higher than we had on the way out. The ships and yatchs were just spots on the sea, and southern England can be seen for miles - it is a beautiful country. France though we did not see - it was too hazy for that. I was allowed to take the controls briefly and found out how sensitive the plane is to the slightest movement. With the pilot back in control we turned inland, and passed over some important landmarks for our pilot, and were still 'town' spotting as we travelled. Despite a little rain on the way home, we had a good flight and a very enjoyable day.

The point of the day was to mark the start of our 25 year of marriage (a little early, but my redundancy meant that the plans we had have changed). Jo would like to do 25 things that we have never done before, and this was the first. If the others are half as good as this we're in for a stunning year.