Out & About on the Isle of Wight with Phil, Andy & Melanie

Excitedly we all met up and had a delicious lunch in Lymington. We all chatted and got to know each other and were all looking forward to the week ahead!  We took the short ferry ride over to Yarmouth and arrived at our lovely resort.  After we unpacked we had a lovely filling dinner and then watched a fantastic welcome show put on by the entertainment team.  We all sang along to the songs we knew, and danced in our seats!  We all got up on the dance floor and had a boogie, too!

 We did so many brilliant things during our week away.  We visited the famous Needles at Allum Bay.  It was a beautifully sunny day and it was lovely looking out over the ocean with a refreshing breeze on our faces.  We watched some incredible glass blowing and watched them create the most beautiful glass vases. We really felt the heat of the furnace on our faces!  We also went into the sweet factory and saw the process of how sweets are actually made.  The best bit was that we got to try them afterwards!  We then made our own sand shapes by filling up a transparent ornament with different coloured sands.  Everyone loved it and there were some smashing results!  

We visited a delightful, picturesque little town called Godshill.  It was a small but buzzing place and we had the most delicious lunch in a lovely cafe garden.  We took advantage and dipped into a shop called 'Chocolate Island' which was full of very tempting things.  We then went into the Model Village where everything was miniature - it was truly an excellent experience.

One morning we all decided that we'd like to visit Osborne House - the stunning summer home of Queen Victoria. It was wonderful walking around the lush and beautifully presented grounds.  The house itself was spectacular with a lot of the original items still in their places.  After this we drove to the Donkey Sanctuary where we saw lots of beautiful rescued donkeys.  It was great to see them being so well looked after.  We enjoyed an ice cream in the sunshine out in a pretty courtyard.  

Another morning we set off to the Roman Villa at Brading.  What a mind blowing place this was!  We were able to see the 2000 year old remains of a Roman Villa!  Most of the stone works and mosaics were so well preserved.  It was a great interactive experience as were were able to play games on the way round and do little quizzes!  We were also able to touch the ancient artifacts.  We learnt a lot by reading the information boards, too.  We were all in awe of what we saw!  After this we went to Ryde to have a game of ten pin bowling.  Lots of strikes were scored and we all had great fun competing!  Afterwards we took a leisurely stroll along Ryde seafront, where we enjoyed some dripping 99's with flakes!  Bliss! 

As always, the resident entertainment team kept us thoroughly entertained in the evenings!  We saw lots of wonderful shows and we even saw a comedy magician one night. He really was very funny and he performed the most wonderful tricks!  We had our photo taken with him after!  One night we did karaoke in the lounge bar and everyone clapped and cheered us on!  

As always, the end of the holiday had come round too quickly!  However we enjoyed a lovely lunch together before we all went our separate ways.  What a fabulous week!