Morgan and Jane's EXCELLENT Adventure: 27/4

After our sojourn in Cornwall we went over to the Isle of Wight to meet up with David and Justine for the May Day/Royal Wedding long weekend combo holiday.

Before we made it to The Island we stayed just out of Bridport, which was our first experience of a English 'Holiday Camp' - it had two pools, a pub, restaurant and had 'entertainment' in the summer (save us!). Not quite our cup of tea, but they are set up for folks who want to go to a campground and just stay in one spot for the holiday. Bit weird, to be honest but did have an incredible view.

Very large, very odd pub at the campground. Jane is not impressed. World's worst Corona advert ever.

Something else we have noticed - the Poms love their awnings. This one is bigger than the caravan, also note the bonus fence things. They set those up at the beach too

We caught up with David and Justine at the lovely sea/river side cottage they were staying at in Yarmouth, it was a very, very picturesque spot. We settled into a fun routine over the next few days of going out sight seeing by ourselves and then catching up with them for dinner. We had a traditional BBQ on the first night (and the next), with a few drinks, then some trivial pursuit, and a few drinks, then we went to the pub to order a taxi....and had a few drinks........

Hudson is slightly concerned that his right knee is on fire.

Bath time al-fresco

This is what you need after a night at the pub - a 4 litre plastic container of cider and spaghetti hoops on toast. Being hoop shaped makes them tastier that normal spaghetti.

The next day we left the campground at the crack of one in the afternoon, and headed off to the Needles. This is the western most point of the island, and has a lighthouse, old gun battery and a new gun battery (which was established in early 1900's, so still pretty old). Amazing scenery, and a fairly stiff walk up the hill to make it before they shut at 4:30pm. We are getting quite good at high speed sight seeing.

The chairlift back up from the beach - I thought it went up to the Needles, but it actually goes in the opposite direction.

The Needles, with the light house to the far right.

Looking down at the Needles - the light house was manned until 1994

They moved the old gun battery because the vibration from firing the guns was making the cliffs collapse - as you can see here. Half that building has gone over the edge.

Over the next couple of days we toured around the island - I particularly liked the drive along the southern coast and the small villages they have dotted along the shore.

We stopped in at Carisbrooke Castle, which served as Charles II prison before he was executed, and Osbourne House. This was built as a summer retreat by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and was used for 55 years until her death - and never used again. It had the most amazing room (The Durbar Room) we have seen so far - no photos allowed inside unfortunately.

Overall, we enjoyed the Isle of Wight a great deal - it was lovely to catch up with David, Justine and Hudson again, and the Island is very easy place to be a tourist. I also bought pickled eggs (delicious) and a can of game soup which has a warning that it may contain lead shot. Yum.

Oh yeah, there was a wedding...

Bembridge Windmill, the whole top can rotate to face into the wind.

Osbourne House - another attraction we made it to half an hour before closing. It is amazing, I recommend leaving more than half an hour to view it.

Yay - got the 10 second delay on the camera to work!

All very familiar to anyone who watching BBC period dramas

Carisbrooke Castle - another castle that was slighted when the owner fell out of favour with King Henry the 8th. He must have been a grumpy sod.

They used this reluctant donkey to demonstrate how this wheel raised and lowered the bucket out of the well. That lady is busy explaining that sometimes they have to get on the wheel while the donkey watches.

See the cannons on the bottom left - and see where they are pointed? Carisbrooke Castle's main role was for defence against the threat of zombies.

I have spotted a small flaw in their helmet design.

We loved this fireplace - one of the owners wanted to make it wider so built over half the window on the right. The next guy lower the floor by half a metre - hence the brick at the back.