Laura's Life!

Half Term in IOW

What a fantastic time Jaimie and I had during half term. We would like to thank Robin and Geri at The Courtlands Hotel for making us so welcome. The photos were taken on a disposable camera due to my camera problem! So you will have to wait for them to be developed.

The hotel was not actually opened to the public so we were the only ones there apart from another colleague Steve who goes for a walking holiday and to write his reports.

Day 1
We left home bright and early and made our way down to Portsmouth. Considering it was Bank Holiday Monday the roads were very empty. We thought we were going to be very early but then it took us an our to get through Portsmouth to the ferry!

We arrived in Fishbourne and took the road through to Shanklin (surprisingly I knew my way!) and arrived at the hotel by 2.15p.m. The weather was a bit drizzly so we decided to take a drive into Sandown and visit the Dinosaur Isle. This was a museum that told you where dinosaurs were found in the Isle of Wight. After that, we walked up the road and played our first game of crazy golf.

The weather had brightened up and we went back to the hotel for a rest. In the evening we walked to Shanklin Village (which was on our doorstep) and went to the Crab Inn for dinner. Then we decided to walk to the beach and back up the cliff path before spending the rest of the evening chatting to Robin, Geri and Steve.

Day 2
We got up bright and early and very excited for our full English breakfast! We took a drive along the coast and went to Blackgang Chine (The nearest you will get to a theme park in the IOW). The place was very quiet so we were able to go on the rides as many times as we wanted. After we had finished there we went to Ventnor Botanic Gardens for a walk and tea and then back to the hotel. In the evening we went to a local Italian restaurant called Pavarotti’s and then on our beach walk.

Day 3
We drove to Amazon World which took us through the rainforest and then we drove back to Blackgang as we had a free entry. We went on the two big rides and then back to the fossil shop where we bought bracelets for the girls. We drove back to the hotel and then walked down to the beach and stayed there for a while. We took along walk back and went to the Crab Inn again for dinner.

Day 4
As the weather was good we decided to change the ferry to 4’clock, go to the beach and have another game of crazy golf. We then drove into Ryde for lunch and made our way to the ferry.

Thanks Jai for making the week fun and boy can you eat!!!!