Isle of Wight - Sunday morning, our last day.

Sunday morning and our holiday was coming to an end...we had to be out of our cottage by 10am so decided to head over to Ventnor Gardens to have a breakfast knowing that we could also take the dogs in.  Lovely fresh produce and a yummy breakfast later we went for a walk before we had to catch the Ferry.

Not a sign you would necessarily expect to see in England!

It was lovely to see the garden with the sunlight reflecting off the leaves.

We wanted to walk down to Steephill Cove to also see that on a bright and sunny day.

We of course were not disappointed.

I think Percy was reluctant to go on the sand!

The wind was blowing

Stanley seemed to like the effect the wind was having of blowing his coat back.

For me there is something about the sea and sand and cliffs.

I am not a 'sit on the beach and sunbathe' type of person, but I love being near the sea, walking along beaches and feel most alive when near the water.

Yet I don't like swimming - mostly because I hate getting cold!

But the sea, waves, and all that goes with it feels right somehow.

I could watch it for hours.

But of course we couldn't as we had a ferry to catch

So I took quite a few photos to see me through the coming months

Time to say goodbye to the Isle of Wight for now and sincerely hoping that by this time next year we will be living there (if not in NZ! Okay so I can still have wishful thinking)

Isle of Wight - Ventnor Botanical Gardens & Steephill Cove

Friday was the only overcast day we had while on the Isle of Wight.

We decided to visit Ventnor Botanical Gardens.

Again rather a lot of photographs - next year my maxim will have to be 'less is more'!

Fortunately this was another place where dogs were welcome (both in the gardens and the cafe) and they enjoyed their walk.

This was amazing the way the tree vine  had grown curled around like a snake.

I was delighted to spot a red squirrel.

There is a tunnel in Ventnor Gardens that you can walk through at certain times of the day to the cliffs above the bay.

It is pitch black inside and little Percy was a reluctant walker through there, but Stanley had no qualms at all.

You an see Steephill Cove from the exit of the tunnel.

We enjoyed walking round the rest of the gardens and then walked along the coastal path to Steephill Cove.

A pretty little cove with some lovely quaint cottages and houses.

This property fascinated me - I bet it has some history to tell.

I looked it up on line and discovered it is called 'Cliff Dene' and was built in 1908 and sold this year for around the £1.5 million mark.  It is going to be going through some restoration and changes - I hope the new owners are sympathetic to its style and look, it would be a shame to change it.  There seems to be some plans for a kind of steeple which in my opinion looks a bit out of character and odd...but time will tell and we will look on in interest next time we visit this area.

It certainly commands an amazing view.

I think with work the gardens could look amazing again with the right planting and attention .  Many years ago they used to be terraced apparently, but over time land instability and other things means they have been lost and to a certain extent neglected.  

Looking over towards Ventnor, we enjoyed a short walk along here, up the hill and then back to Steephill Cove.