Wandering Stars: 28th December 2011

We have spent a few weekends away now and have always chosen a site in Norfolk, fairly near home. As it was going to be yet another new year we thought we would do something a little more adventurous. I spotted an ad in MMM (a motorhome magazine) by Red Funnel ferries offering 5 nights pitch on a site on the Isle of Wight plus ferry for £111 which I thought was not bad. Even though we ended up paying quite a bit more than that due our our van being 'overheight' and a £5 fee for booking over the phone we still thought it very reasonable.

We were booked on the 1330 ferry on the way out and left home far too early at 5.00am, aiming to avoid any problems with traffic on the M25. In the end we arrived at the ferry kiosk at 9.50 - over two and a half hours early! Luckily we were able to change our booking to the 10.30 sailing meaning we only had a shortish wait before departure, just enough time for yours truly to take Lucy for a bit of a walk.

I should mention at this point that this was the first time we had used the sat nav the kids bought us for Christmas. Its the first time I have used one of these and I thought it was great, will be really useful on our travels. Also worth mentioning is that on the way down I found out how cruise control works on the van. I explained this to Lynda and she came out with the unbelievable comment - 'does that mean you don't have to steer'!!!

Soon it was time for us to board our ship. These ferries don't have far to go and don't have to venture into any rough seas so they are quite small as ferries go and the car decks are open to the elements to a certain extent. Rather than leave Lucy in the van (sensible), it was decreed by HRH that we must take her with us so it was up some very steep steps to the 'pet area' - basically a sort of conservatory on the deck of the ship where you can sit with your dog. Even more fun going back down those steps - Lucy really enjoyed the experience (not).

The trip on the ferry is only about 55 minutes so we had only just finished our hot drinks when it was time to make our way back down to the car deck ready to disembark.

Time for a break from reading to look at a few photos....

In pole position waiting to board the ferry

on the way out.

'Our ship is coming in' as the song says

Ferry like ours

High speed ferry for foot passengers

Ah, an old sea dog. Lucy is in the picture too

In the blurb the ferry company gave us they said the camp site is only 5 minutes from the ferry port on East Cowes - I would say it is even quicker to get to than that. We had to stop at the new Waitrose on route to get some supplies but were soon pulling in to Waverley Park

( www.waverley-park.co.uk ). I parked up in the holding area and walked up to check in at reception. The lady there was very polite and took a few details before telling me about our pitch and where to find disposal points etc.

Having had a bit of practice now we were set up with the kettle on in about 5 minutes. Our pitch was hardstanding and had electricity, water and grey water disposal. Suitably refreshed I took Lucy out to stretch her legs - yes, I know it always seems to be me doing the dog walking.

I took quite a lot of pics of the site, there is a very good view of the Solent from the pitch. There were a lot of static holiday caravans but most of them were empty at this time of year. We think the site would be a lot different in the summer - and much noisier! There was a new bar / games room being built while we were there which would make the site much more attractive.

Entrance to the site

Swimming pool area looked a bit tatty

Kids playground

The showers / toilets were quite modern and

very clean

Pitches are a decent size and with a good view.

We don't tend to expend too much energy doing things like sightseeing when we go away but we did make an effort to explore some of the island. We took the van out for a run first of all to Arretton old village which is billed as a sort of 'village that time forgot'. In fact of course it is just a random collection of buildings selling the usual craft stuff, its all owned by one person apparently ( http://www.arretonbarns.co.uk/ ). There is a very nice old church next door though (St George's) which we had a look round. We had a snack in the pleasant pub - toasted teacake for me and large cream tea for Lynda.

St George's Church. Probably looks quite pretty when

the weather is better

Yes I did ask where I could buy one of these

Making glass ornaments - on sale for a

bargain £110 some of them

There is what is billed as a 'shipwreck museum' but it seemed

to be closed. I didn't notice the magic phrase

'free admission' so I wasn't bothered.

This photo is obviously faked!

Addicted to cream teas and fruit machines

- some people have all the bad luck

As we were out and about in the van we thought we might as well see a bit more of the island. Next stop was Sandown, about 7 miles from Arretton.

View of Sandown promenade, all I

can say is 'wow'

As time was getting on we started to head back towards the site. Rather than just retrace our steps I programmed the satnav to take us back via Ryde. This looked like quite a nice town, seemed very busy. Unfortunately it was raining hard by now so we didn't stop.

That was our main excursion during our 5 day trip. We got the chain ferry across the river to West Cowes which is quite a lot bigger than its western neighbour, lots more shops, pubs and restaurants.

I am ashamed to say I was sound asleep by 10.30pm on New Years Eve! I must be getting old. Lynda did manage to prize her eyelids open at about midnight to watch the fireworks display from a ship in the harbour - I was blissfully unaware. On New Years Day we walked in the rain to nearest decent eatery I could find using the internet on my trusty Kindle. We had a very nice sunday lunch at The Lifeboat, a nice modern pub (part of a chain I think) that has a fantastic location overlooking the marina. Once again the weather was bad but you can imagine how busy this place is when the sun is out. Meal was pretty good (roast beef for each of us) but I was not keen on having to go to the bar to order everything. Two main courses, one desert, 2 coffees and a bottle of wine was £37 - not bad.