Isle of Wight - Part Two
A good night's sleep was both a blessing and a curse as I woke up refreshed but stiffer than ever. I hobbled to the toilet then realised I couldn't bend my knees to sit on the loo, so had to do a weird shimmying action onto the loo seat. I was slightly concerned at this point as we had planned to drive round the island today, then had the long drive back to London - which would be very difficult without functioning knees!
Luckily they loosened up with movement, so after a shower and breakfast (we ate LOADS in an attempt to get our £5 worth) we jumped into the car to go see The Needles. I love geography so this was a dream come true. (And I wonder why I don't have a boyfriend...)
On the way we drove through Godshill and decided to stop and explore - the village was beautiful, filled with little thatched cottages - but it was the chocolate shop sign we saw that made us stop! We parked right outside the model village, saw that it only cost £4.50 to get in and spent a good hour wandering up and down the mini high street and lanes, getting excited at the mini fully functional train set, and taking endless photos of the whole thing. I think every town should have a mini model village of itself!!
We continued our explorations of Godshill, spending an inordinate amount of time in the chocolate shop - they had a workhop at the back where you could see the chocolate being made. Well - melted, and moulded and decorated. There was also a weird art gallery thing that featured dead hippy images (think swirls of pastel colours, bits of glitter and spooky faces).
We hopped back into the car on our way to the Needles, stopping on Military Road for a photo of the beautiful view before us.
The Needles were a disappointment!!! I wish I had done more research. It's a huge tourist trap - you pay £4.50 to park the car, and that gets you entry to the little theme park thing they have there - which is very tacky and a bit of a joke. Too late did I realise that you can actually do a nice walk to an abandoned Victorian fort and look down on the Needles, rather than spend time wandering about the tourist atrocity at the top of the cliff. You live and you learn!
It wasn't all bad, we got given a voucher for money off the rides (a carousel!). We decided for novelty's sake to get the rusting, ancient chair lift down to the sea - though it takes all of 4 minutes and isn't the most life changing experience ever. We chilled on the beach for a bit with Sepha busying herself by taking selfie after selfie for the Specsavers Competition. Bless.
All too soon it was time to leave the Isle of Wight, so we went on a hunt for fish and chips before catching our ferry back to the mainland. We couldn't find any authentic fish and chip shop fish and chips, so settled for a posh one in a pub by the ferry harbour.
The weather was beautiful so we both fell asleep on the top deck and pretended we were in Thailand rather than Blighty, then made the uneventful drive back to London Town.
It was lovely to escape London for the weekend - so much so that I did the same this weekend. The weather was stunning so I headed down to Whitstable (Tankerton to be precise), found some free parking, and sat by the sea for a few hours just chilling out solo. It was lovely! The beach was dead and it was some very good quality alone time after a busy week at work. I am enjoying my own company more and more - so much so that I am concerned I will end up a hermit!!!
Luckily they loosened up with movement, so after a shower and breakfast (we ate LOADS in an attempt to get our £5 worth) we jumped into the car to go see The Needles. I love geography so this was a dream come true. (And I wonder why I don't have a boyfriend...)
On the way we drove through Godshill and decided to stop and explore - the village was beautiful, filled with little thatched cottages - but it was the chocolate shop sign we saw that made us stop! We parked right outside the model village, saw that it only cost £4.50 to get in and spent a good hour wandering up and down the mini high street and lanes, getting excited at the mini fully functional train set, and taking endless photos of the whole thing. I think every town should have a mini model village of itself!!
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| a model of the model village of the model village!! |
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| Doris the pigeon |
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| Funny way of doing things - caging the lions but not the dinosaurs, haven't they seen Jurassic Park? |
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| amazing detailing! |
We continued our explorations of Godshill, spending an inordinate amount of time in the chocolate shop - they had a workhop at the back where you could see the chocolate being made. Well - melted, and moulded and decorated. There was also a weird art gallery thing that featured dead hippy images (think swirls of pastel colours, bits of glitter and spooky faces).
We hopped back into the car on our way to the Needles, stopping on Military Road for a photo of the beautiful view before us.
The Needles were a disappointment!!! I wish I had done more research. It's a huge tourist trap - you pay £4.50 to park the car, and that gets you entry to the little theme park thing they have there - which is very tacky and a bit of a joke. Too late did I realise that you can actually do a nice walk to an abandoned Victorian fort and look down on the Needles, rather than spend time wandering about the tourist atrocity at the top of the cliff. You live and you learn!
It wasn't all bad, we got given a voucher for money off the rides (a carousel!). We decided for novelty's sake to get the rusting, ancient chair lift down to the sea - though it takes all of 4 minutes and isn't the most life changing experience ever. We chilled on the beach for a bit with Sepha busying herself by taking selfie after selfie for the Specsavers Competition. Bless.
All too soon it was time to leave the Isle of Wight, so we went on a hunt for fish and chips before catching our ferry back to the mainland. We couldn't find any authentic fish and chip shop fish and chips, so settled for a posh one in a pub by the ferry harbour.
The weather was beautiful so we both fell asleep on the top deck and pretended we were in Thailand rather than Blighty, then made the uneventful drive back to London Town.
It was lovely to escape London for the weekend - so much so that I did the same this weekend. The weather was stunning so I headed down to Whitstable (Tankerton to be precise), found some free parking, and sat by the sea for a few hours just chilling out solo. It was lovely! The beach was dead and it was some very good quality alone time after a busy week at work. I am enjoying my own company more and more - so much so that I am concerned I will end up a hermit!!!
This all sounds lovely!!! Apart from the long bike ride :) I want to go to the model village!xxxxxx
ReplyDeleteYou would love it!!! xxx
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