Saturday 23rd July

We loaded ourselves on the ferry from Portsmouth and everyone enjoyed the crossing, watching the passing boats out of the windows. After arriving at our hotel, we unpacked then sat down to dinner, before putting on our dancing shoes and dancing the night away.

Sunday 24th July

After a leisurely breakfast on our first full day, we held our welcome meeting and took a stroll along the promenade before exploring the local area. We walked all the way along the pier and had some great photos taken at the life-sized funny postcards. We took a short drive to Shanklin and the clifftop Blueberry’s Café where we had a delicious alfresco lunch, looking out to sea. Such a gorgeous setting. Later, back at the hotel, we joined in the dancing again and the ladies played bingo.

Monday 25th July

Today it was a visit to the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum in Arreton. We saw some fascinating relics from shipwrecks and posed for photos by their huge and impressive anchor. Everyone bought something in the gift shop, and we came back with a good haul of tea towels, books and colouring pens. We also got to watch two craftsmen make a beautiful vase by heating the glass in a furnace and shaping it with a lot of skill. Linda said her favourite part was when one of the craftsmen jokingly said, “Now it’s your turn!” We headed for a super pub lunch at the Dairyman’s Daughter and did a bit more shopping before heading back to rest before another night of dancing and bingo. All the ladies got a flower from the entertainer.

Tuesday 26th July

We took a trip to the famous Needles today, in a day of beautiful sunshine and full of beautiful views. Linda got splashed with water by a little girl in a Zorb ball...she said it was very refreshing! We had a good mooch around the shops for souvenirs and presents and admired the beautiful creations in the sand shop. And guess what? More boogie and bingo! 

Wednesday 27th July

Carisbrooke Castle was today’s destination, near the village of Newport. Some of the group walked up the impressive 80 steps to see the view whilst others took in the ambience of the chapel. We had our photos taken in the stunning Princess Beatrice Garden and had enjoyed outside in the castle grounds. Linda’s favourite part of the visit was a DVD with a donkey as narrator. It was ice creams all round before heading to the gift shop, then back to the hotel. Everyone got up to dance this evening and made friends with some of the other hotel guests.

Thursday 28th July

Today we went to the main high street for shopping and found an amazing bric-a-brac/curiosity shop where Peter and Jenny bought some music CDs. Then we found ourselves and awesome fish and chip lunch at the beach shack overlooking the shore, where we loved watching the waves breaking on the shore. We then got our swimming suits on and spent a few glorious hours at the beach, paddling in the sea. After our dinner at the hotel, we walked across the road to the pier to have a go at bowling: Peter won against the boys and Janet won against the girls. Well done guys! The luck didn’t end there, with Mikey and Jenni winning prizes on the penny arcade, but Linda took the crown with an £8 jackpot on the fruit machine!

Friday 29th July

We were lucky to have a perfect hot summer’s day which was the ideal backdrop to Peter’s favourite part of the holiday: a steam engine ride. The group loved the experience, and some of us screamed when we went through the dark tunnel! Linda loved the train so much she wrote a poem about it, entertaining us with her penmanship over an ice cream at the Brading Down viewpoint. The vista across the chalk downs towards Sandown Bay was gorgeous. After our final dinner together, we had a night of dancing and, of course, bingo.

Saturday 30th July

We set off home today, but not before we had a delicious lunch in Ryde and enjoyed the ferry ride back to Portsmouth, then home.