Isle of Wight with Derek & Pat

We all met up in a lovely country pub for lunch before getting onto the ferry. Once at the resort we made the most of the sunshine and sat out on the decking with views over the Solent before unpacking and getting ready for dinner.

As with every night after dinner we positioned ourselves for the evening’s entertainment. We watched the fabulous singing and dancing spectaculars, comedy shows and also danced to the resident band. As usual we danced late into the night to the disco. We were also entertained by one of the original members of the Tornados and even got our photograph with him.

Our days were spent having trips out and seeing much of the Island. We visited Osborne House and toured the house before walking through the grounds to the “Swiss Cottage” that the royal children played in. The gardens are beautiful and the weather was so warm and sunny that we decided to have our picnic there.

We visited the “Needles” at Alum Bay. Sand shapes were bought and filled with the coloured sand that is found in the bay. Afterwards we went on to the glass making factory and watched a demonstration of glass blowing. From there we drove to our lunch stop for a delicious cream tea!

We made another trip to Ventnor where some of us went for a paddle in the sea. It is a lovely bay and we took lunch overlooking the beach in the “Spyglass”. Another ice cream was called for (after all, we were on holiday!). Next it was off to the donkey sanctuary. It is always one of our favourites! After that we went on to Afferton village and looked around the craft shops before heading back to our resort. 

Our last day, once back on the mainland, we drove steadily through the beautiful New Forest where we saw many of the ponies basking in the sun. We stopped off for lunch in a very nice pub in the heart of the forest. After lunch we said our farewells and headed for home.


Cyprus with Derek & Wendy

We had a wonderful holiday on the Island. Our favourite hotel was just as friendly as always and the lovely large pool was very inviting on the beautiful sunny days with temperatures in the mid 20’s.

We also went down to the beach on a couple of days, once in Protaras and once at Konnoss Bay, which was absolutely gorgeous.

During our stay we decided to take a day trip to the Troodos Mountains and enjoyed the scenery with magnificent views. We visited the village of Pera with their mud block houses and when we were close to the highest point we stopped off to visit the Botanical gardens.

One day we took a boat excursion onto the Mediterranean waters. The glass-bottom allowed us to have spectacular views not only of the Cyprus coast-line, but also the marine world under the water.

Evenings were spent at the hotel with our regular game of bingo before the entertainment which consisted of parrot shows, dancing troupes and a fire show. We even had a night of karaoke which we took part in. One evening we went into town and went to see an Elvis tribute!

Butlins with Adrian & Jen

We all met up at a restaurant just outside Skegness and got to know each other over lunch. We then headed to Skegness to settle into our spacious Butlins accommodation.

We ate well all week, with a bountiful breakfast getting us started each morning. We enjoyed eating out at pubs and one night treated ourselves to a fish ‘n’ chip supper. Especially nice was eating lunch at Gibraltar Point where we also got to do a spot of bird watching.

Our evenings were spent making the most of the entertainment. We went to Reds club, where everyone enjoyed the band “Twice Nightly”, with some of us buying their CD and having our photos taken with the band leader. At ‘Centre Stage’ we also enjoyed the evening shows and dancing.

We all enjoyed visiting the Seal Sanctuary, where we saw seals and penguins being fed and we fed the Koi Carp. We walked through the butterfly house which was very pretty and looked around the shop where some people bought goodies.

We saw even more animals when we visited Rushmore Country Park. We got to feed many of the animals, including 2-week old lambs. We held and stroked rabbits, chicks and a rat! Also at the park were goats, pigs and ponies.

 We even found time to fit in 10-pin bowling on our last day before journeying home.