Second week of July Shaun and I with Archie tribbyed (not sure that's a word but who cares) over to the Isle of Wight. We were a bit worried about Archie on the boat (disgracing himself) but he was fine. We were instructed to take a bag on board with everything we might in case of accidents - it was worse than taking a baby on board as we trundled to the "dog deck" with a bag filled with bottles of water, kitchen towel, dog poo bags and disinfectant.
We managed to get onto a slightly earlier sailing which meant we arrived at Adgestone Campsite early, but the staff were lovely and allowed us to pitch on arrival.
Because it wasn't busy we had a choice of pitches and so plumped for one under a silver birch tree for some lovely shade.
The site is lovely and very "Isle of Wight" in that it hasn't been updated for a while. It has great facilities though, including a swimming pool and I think if we hadn't had the dog we would have used it to cool down.
We also took the road bikes with us - although it did mean going out separately it worked quite well. Shaun would go out first thing in the morning and he found me a lovely trail to follow which meant I was away from the roads and no chance of getting lost. I went for a recce ride that night along the Red Squirrel Trail to see what it was like - got to 5 miles when I had to turn back as the trail turned into gravel. I'd love to get up into Newport and see what the rest of the trail is like.
On Sunday Shaun headed out on his bike for an hour and when he got back we had brunch of smoked salmon & eggs! In the afternoon we got a bit fidgety so walked the other half of the Red Squirrel Trail into Sandown - it was a bit warm for Archie but we did check the pavements and made sure we had water for him. We walked along the esplanade to Browns Golf and had a knickerbocker glory!
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| Archie was desperate to get on the beach - but no dogs allowed |
when he got back we went to the onsite cafe - Ginger Tom's - for a full English breakfast and proper coffee. It was a very nice breakfast and set us up properly for the rest of the day. A bit later we walked down the Red Squirrel Trail to Pedallers, a local tea room and had some cake.
When we got back I got changed and re-rode the Trail on Doris.
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| Pedallers was closed |
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| bottom of the waterfall |
We walked on the beachfront to see if there was anything decent for lunch but couldn't find anything - we needed somewhere with shade for Archie. Having given up we took the lift from the beach to the town and then walked along the cliff top and found the Hideaway - perfect, hidden gem!
Wednesday we woke up to grey skies so Shaun headed out on the bike and Archie and I snuggled up in bed. When Shaun got back we went for another breakfast at Ginger Tom's.
At lunchtime we walked up to the Adgestone Vineyard - just a mile from the campsite. We were going to do the Tour but it was getting a bit warm so we sat on the veranda and had wine and a cream tea.
Quick bike ride after while Shaun prepared dinner.
On Thursday we were up early to pack and relocate to the New Forest. We took the ferry from Yarmouth to Lymington for a change.
We arrived at Rushcroft Farm, Sway and were lead to our pitch. We stayed at Rushcroft a few years ago but it's changed quite a bit. Not sure if it's for the better with an extra 50 or so pitches. It certainly made for some decent people watching.
It's at this point we realised we should have stayed on the IOW for the whole week!
We didn't do much on Friday - a short walk on the Forest as it was so hot and humid and on Saturday we took the train from Sway to Brockenhurst.
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| dog waiting for a train |
We bought some food for dinner and some cake!
After dinner we started packing up - Shaun wanted to be on the road before it got too hot. So, not only did we wish we'd stayed on the IOW for longer, we also wish we'd had two weeks away instead of one. The island is definitely well set up for touring by bike - there's lots of trails and routes to follow so we'll definitely be back, maybe without Archie.
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