Saturday 5th July
Sandra:
Today was a take it easy day – we had been on the move for 2.5 days and the heat was still very hot indeed. One good thing the site had, apart from us being able to park under trees and back on the hedge was the site had a breeze – it was heavenly as it was still in the low 30C.
However, what we had not expected when we took a short 3 mile trip south to the coast at Ventnor was rain and mist!! Well it lasted all of 5 minutes and did offer some respite. We sat it out in the car and then opted to take a stroll down the front. It was very pleasant but clear that some places had still not opened up for the summer holiday season which was still some 2 weeks or so away. We found a lovely little café called Toni’s, ordered our usual coffee, and toasted teacakes. A further stroll back to the car and a look at the children’s paddling pool and restaurant surrounding it saw us heading back to the car – the heat was rising again.
Sunday, 6th July
Well this is a day I will not forget in a hurry, neither will Richard! It all started off just fine and later that evening we decided a short run out to a pub was in order – the Griffin in Godshill - was about 10 minutes away by car – so we loaded up and off we went. A very nice, dog friendly pub, and a couple of drinks were partaken. Mine were an apple juice and a latte – please note this, it is important!!
We returned to the site and it was starting to get dusk and under the trees vision was not as good as it could have been. Anyway, I dropped the girls and Richard off to give them a final short walk of the day back to the pitch from the entrance and I drove on to park the car. Now earlier in the day, we had done a huge load of washing and it had baked dry on the rotary dryer apart from a pair of Richard’s joggers which I had left to finish off. So I parked up the car, made my way round the front of Patsy and then noticed we had inadvertently left one of the side locker doors open. I unpegged the joggers and turned round to close the locker door. Somehow, to this day I don’t know how, I must have caught my right foot in the side guy rope – I flew forward and in the process cracked my head open with a very deep 7” gash on my forehead and across the top of my head.
Anyone with any medical knowledge will know head wounds bleed horrifically badly. I never lost consciousness which I am forever grateful as I fought to keep myself from the craziness that was going on. Fortunately, the next door pitch had a midwife and she helped a great deal. Not a view Richard wanted to see as he came round the corner to see me going head first into the van. A swift 999 call saw an ambulance with blue flashing lights appear very quickly. The paramedic team and subsequently the Emergency Department team were absolutely amazing and in no time at all I was in the IOW General Hospital. They stitched me up and I now have the scar to show for my adventure. At the time you go onto automatic pilot but it is safe to say that the shock didn’t really hit for a couple of days but we rested up, took the painkillers – it was really too hot to do much, irrespective of my injury. I had my stitches out the day before we left the Island. Thank you to Richard for taking care of the girls that night – it was all very confusing for them and equally for looking after me in the following days.
Monday, 7th July
Well, this was a day to be quiet and rest up. It was still very hot and I had not had much sleep – neither Richard, coming to pick me up in the wee hours was not good either. We enjoyed the site, sitting in the shade of the pitches and watching the world go by.
The rest of the week
Sandra:
One of the to do items whilst on the island was to visit the world famous Needles. I was keen to see them in real life and hopefully take some photos. Well, we arrived at the car park, needless to say it was packed, over 30C and I was still recovering from my accident. We asked to be directed to the Blue Badge parking area – yes go that way they pointed. Hmm, we made our way down and, lo and behold, it was full. Richard made an entirely reasonable judgement to effectively start a third line in the middle of the two existing ones; such was the great distance between them. Cue a young person came trotting down and said, you can’t park there! Logic and common sense out of the window. So we offloaded both pushchairs and girls straight into them, there was precious little brown grass around and the tarmac was scorching hot. Richard then took Hetty off into the wide blue yonder, eventually having found a spot about as far away from where I was standing in the blue badge section as possible. I was so cross and felt for Richard and the girls.
So we decided to walk into the, very surprisingly to me, smallish amusement park at the top where you could get a cable car down to the beach. Well at £16 pp return, that idea was quickly abandoned, plus you could not take dogs understandably. Richard had done the ride before, so that was that decided. There were stalls and activities – at cost if you wished. There were a few picnic benches with small umbrellas to provide a modicum of shade. We parked ourselves and ate our usual packed lunch. Toilets there were but the accessible one was a building site, full of tins of paint, bricks etc.
I did manage a quick look at the Needles by a viewing point through a chain link fence. I was disappointed, they looked dirty and much smaller than the photos you see. Still I had seen them – I would not be returning to this part of the island.
Yes I had been to the Needles before so knew what to expect but the parking organisation – or lack of – was certainly disappointing. The whole set up just felt like a money grab.
However the drive along the coast road along the south made up for it. Fabulous bays, one of which we stopped at for some gorgeous and filling ice creams. It was warm but there was a breeze which made it very pleasant indeed. I was actually enjoying driving Hetty unencumbered by Patsy even though she corners like an oil tanker!
Sandra :
Another day …
We perused Google Maps and decided on a tour from Ventnor round the opposite way towards Shanklin and Sandown. This elicited some great views of the sea and the coast. It was still very hot indeed and we appreciated the air conditioning in the car very much. We found a great café on the beach in Shanklin, the side towards the sea was opened up with a great awning keeping the area cool. It took dogs too and we had a most lovely coffee and toasted teacake whilst enjoying the views and looking at the ships on the Marine Traffic app. I managed to find an independent newsagents in Sandown and was able to purchase the requisite postcards and also stamps.
We drove further on, hoping to find some shade under which we might have lunch. The IOW does not appear to do many laybys and those that there are usually in full sun. We eventually arrived at St Helen’s and found a small bay with parking right behind it. It was partially shady and that would have to do, lunch was partaken and as we drove out, we saw the remains of what a mariner’s church and information about its founding had been etc. There was also a nice little café and public toilets at one end of the road.
I mentioned earlier in the blog that I was surprised by the number of houses for sale on the island – almost every other one, it seemed, in places. We were to find out that the introduction of changes to second home Council Tax rules was making the properties unaffordable. The second element to this is the cost of housing. I had expected, along with my experience of living on other islands, that they would be very expensive. Notwithstanding the recent change to Council Tax rules, house prices were lower than the average of where I live in North West England. So yes, lots of similarities but some significant changes – more of which to come.
Those people who are on X (formerly Twitter) will know that there are several people in the ‘caravan group’ who actually live on the Island. Unfortunately, due to my injury, it was not possible to meet up with everyone but we did manage a quick run out to The Blacksmiths pub. IOW Elsie – as she is known on Twitter had suggested it for the fabulous views over the Solent and it did lovely food and real ales. We had a very pleasurable catch up, having met each other at the NEC in the past, albeit briefly. They were correct, the views were lovely and the sunset made for a very pleasant end to the evening.
If the IOW is famous for many things, probably one of the most famous is the Cowes Regatta Week – that was due to take place at the beginning of August. Undoubtedly had we been there that week, we would not have got near the place! Thankfully, it was quiet and parking was readily available. We drove to the front and had a little stroll down the front, admiring the plethora of yachts, small up to ocean going; motorised craft – again tiny to huge. The Southampton to IOW Red Funnel Ferry docking port in East Cowes – there was certainly plenty to watch. We did our usual window shopping in the boat department, picking our favourites – the larger the better of course! We were really spoilt for choice. We found a café/bar who managed to rustle up a cup of coffee, nothing more sadly. Richard then suggested that we might take a stroll down the pedestrianised High Street in Cowes. It was a lovely place, with lots of independent shops, some very high end, expensive art galleries. It also had a very quaint ice cream bar and I managed to, in my opinion, to cajole Richard into having an ice cream each, very delicious. Given we had not had a teacake, we felt justified in splashing out. One side of the High Street was completely in the shade, so it made it even more enjoyable for us all.
To be honest I didn’t take a lot of persuading! I feel it necessary to protect my rock hard abs with a decent layer of fat……
Following this we returned to the car and made towards another first for me, well in the UK that is. We were going to use the chain-link ferry between Cowes and East Cowes. It was a fun experience and very interesting to see how it operates. 5 minutes from start to finish but cuts out a long detour as a result. We then made our way down to the sea side trying to find somewhere to park. There were plenty of family friendly parks, swings and a sizeable paddling pool – interestingly there were plenty of Dad’s partaking in that too! 😊 Nowhere really for us, so we made for a quieter area but not before we had another look at the Solent – which was so very busy that day.
All too soon our time on the island had come to an end. It had been eventful in one way but very relaxing indeed. I felt I was finally starting to unwind and was as happy sitting around the ‘van as I was getting out and about. Of course I had been before and Sandra hadn’t so it was important that we hit the road too.
On the Monday pack up was pretty swift and we got away in good time. The run to the ferry terminal at East Cowes took about 30 minutes, as expected and we had a vague notion of getting an earlier ferry. As it turned out we were about 5 minutes too late. Needless to say coffee was procured while we waited to board.
Once back on the mainland it was a straightforward if tiresome run back to Cambridge, the M25 doing it’s best to exercise my clutch leg – I really should have held on and got an automatic. So many of my trips involve this damn road.
Once on the M11 though we could get going and arrived at the site at a decent time. Bounds Campsite sits in the village of Fulbourn, only a few miles from Cherry Hinton – location of the CAMC site – my usual haunt. I wanted to try somewhere different though and with two of us it worked out about eight quid a night cheaper. In addition I’d stayed here before – with Trev in our first year of caravanning in 2012. A number of improvements had been made – a secure entrance and smart clean and tidy facilities to name just a couple. The host was very friendly and soon came over to say hello.
Patsy is always keen to keep me on my toes, throwing up the occasional issue – she’s eighteen bless her – and this time it was the turn of the water system. The pump wasn’t pumping. I got the multi-meter out, prodded and poked here and there, muttered dark thoughts then threw in the towel – and a couple of pizzas in the oven. I left a message for a local engineer to call me back.
Belly full and in a slightly better mood I approached the issue a bit more logically, checking fuses and so on. All seemed in order, though the loo flush had joined in the fun too. I’d no idea what the problem was but a few minutes later both started working. Phew, I accepted the good fortune and resolved not to worry about what might have caused it or whether it will happen again.
And that’s it for Part 2- plenty more to come though, sorry!