I have so much I want to write about and several unfinished posts from both our Cornwall holiday and Isle of Wight holiday in October that I don't know quite where to start. Not to mention the fact that I really dislike what blogger have done to the opening layout now! So instead I will start with the recent holiday my husband and I took, again on the Isle of Wight, but this time on our own. This is the first holiday we have had as a couple on our own in this country since June 1995. We have only ever had one other holiday on our own and that was for a week in New Zealand back in 1997 I believe it was - we had about a week in the South Island.
Why did we visit the Isle of Wight again in such a short space of time after our October trip with our son and his Fiancee? Well, we wanted to explore more, and do some of the many walks with the dogs that are available on the island, plus we wanted to view it with a possibility of moving there next year. It has been a toss up as to whether we move to Cornwall or IOW and it seems that IOW is the main contender. I of course still wish we could move to NZ, but sadly I just don't think that is going to happen. DH just can not do it.
As usual I have taken an abundance of photos - that is one thing I need to learn - to be more discerning about what I post, but hey small steps.
We took the Ferry over on a Sunday morning so had time before we could get into the cottage to do some exploring. We drove into Godshill and took a walk around.
So many pretty thatched cottages.
A very pretty village.
We were going to have lunch in the Smithy Coffee shop there, although we would have had to eat outside as we had the dogs with us, but after asking if we could 'take away' and then waiting 15 minutes to be served, we were told that there would be another 30 odd minutes to actually receive any food. It would have been considerate to have been told when we first asked the question - that there was a long wait for food, even to be taken away. So instead we drove to where we were staying and had a very lovely roast dinner lunch in the pub down the road from our cottage. Plus dogs were welcome so we didn't have to sit out in the cold!
After that delicious lunch we were then able to get into our cottage and unpack and settle in. We spent a relaxing evening tucked up in the warm.
The following day, Monday was absolutely stunning. We drove to the pretty village of Brighstone and had an enjoyable walk round. Again I shamelessly took photos of all the pretty thatched cottages.
The street with the library and the museum.
We walked up here on our way to one of the many walks over the downs behind the village.
The dogs enjoyed their walk and we admired the wonderful views.
We came back down through the village.
This little place was so cute.
Stanley & Percy.
Walking back down the road with the Museum and library.
Lots of work going on here.
A little note of interest.
Very pretty indeed.
The village church.
Some of the beautiful poppy memorial wreaths still looking great almost three weeks later!
Just loved all these wonderful houses.
After our time in Brighstone we drove to Compton Bay.
We had stopped here briefly in October, but never got the chance to walk down to the beach.
What an absolute delight it was.
Being mid to late afternoon, it was pretty much deserted.
We had the beach pretty much to ourselves.
The sun really highlighted how orange the banks were.
The dogs enjoyed playing and running loose.
Just stunning!
We walked up the beach watching the sun set.
An old wreck in the sea.
Stanley was puzzled as to why the water tasted salty and kept trying!
Percy enjoyed lots of sniffs.
Playing, or wrestling!
Long shadows.
The setting of the sun.
A ship in the distance.
It was absolutely stunning watching the sun set. It was cold, but we were wrapped up warm and it was so peaceful.
No words needed really.
It literally sank as we were watching...one minute it was there,
then it was gone.
A perfect ending to our first full day on the island.
