“Walking and Sightseeing” on the Isle of Wight – Part 2

Day 4, Wednesday, was a day off so I had a slow start and then followed a walk I had picked up at the “Discovery Point” in the hotel.  It was an easy one and about three and a half miles.  From the hotel it went along the road for a short way and then took a path that went along the side of Tennyson Down and round to the back and the……

......mock beacon.
……mock beacon.

This is a scaled down version of the signal/warning beacon that used to stand where the Tennyson Monument now stands.  From the beacon I walked up towards…….

......Tennyson Monument......
……Tennyson Monument……

getting views……..

......across the Solent to the mainland.
……across the Solent to the mainland.

There were quite a few wildflowers on the downs including……

.....Early Gentian.
…..Early Gentian.

It was then a gentle walk down towards…….

.......Freshwater Bay .......
…….Freshwater Bay…….

……and the hotel.   I made a slight detour to the back of the hotel to look at……

......the fortifications which had been built.
……the fortifications which had been built.

Part of them have been turned into……

.....a private dwelling.
…..a private dwelling.

From there, I went to have my lunch on the sea front.  It was bit windy so after that I went back to the hotel and wrote postcards in a sheltered corner by the swimming pool and then wandered into the village to post them and have a look round.  It was then back to the hotel for a cup of tea and then get ready for dinner.

Day 5, Thursday, was Godshill, Appuldurcombe House and Ventnor Botanic Gardens.  The coach left us at……

.....Godshill......
…..Godshill……

……which was a pretty village, now spoilt with far too many tourist shops.  We had a look at the church and then started our walk to Appuldurcombe House which we approached by…….

......the main gate.....
……the main gate…..

……and had lunch outside…..

.....the house.....
…..the house…..

……looking over the park and the fountain.  The house was apparently one of the largest and grandest on the island and was supposed to have 365 windows, 52 rooms and 7 staircases – not sure I believe that – the windows anyway.  From the picture above it looks very good but it is in fact….

.....a ruin....
…..a ruin….

…..with a restored roof and glass in the widows only of the rooms overlooking the fountain.  These are not decorated or furnished but do have interpretation boards – including describing the scandal associated with the owners of the house at one stage!

After lunch we continued our walk, including up a long and fairly steep hill.  We then made our way to Ventnor and the…….

.....Botanic Gardens.
…..Botanic Gardens.

I liked the tropical house best, all hot and steamy with…..

......banana trees....
……banana trees….
......and bird-of-paradise flowers.
……and bird-of-paradise flowers.

All the walks finished at the Botanic Gardens that day so the coach picked us all up from there.

Day 6, Friday, was supposed to be Alum Bay and The Needles, but I have been there before and was not impressed so I went to Amazon World instead.  This involved getting the bus from Freshwater Bay to Newport and then another bus from Newport to Amazon World.  When I went in I was in a tropical area so hot and humid.  There was bird song and when I stopped I could see small birds flying around.  This was one of……

......the larger birds.
……the larger birds.

There was a pond with fish in and a plank over it with what looked like a line of model turtles – and then…..

.....one of then moved!
…..one of then moved!

In an enclosed cage there were caiman – I think – crocodile like animals.  Glad they were well enclosed!  After enjoying the birds I moved on to the following rooms which I think had much larger birds, possibly monkeys and in one room, in tanks, snakes and other reptiles.  Some of them were very well camouflaged and hard to see.  Then it was outside, where there were various enclosures.  One had rhea and…..

.....a capybara......
…..a capybara……

……another had wallabies, including an…..

......albino one......
……albino one……

…….and one could buy food to feed to them.  Some people had done so but the wallabies weren’t interested so I didn’t bother.  There were also…….

.......meerkats....
…….meerkats….

…….which sme people had paid extra to go into the enclosure and feed.   Round the corner were….

......lemurs all in a family bundle.......
……lemurs all in a family bundle…….

……and a notice on their enclosure said if we wanted to go into the enclosure and there was no-one there to find a keeper – so I did.  I had to wait, but was talking to another young man there who said he was a keeper at London Zoo and in charge of lemurs, spider monkeys and something else I can’t remember.  The keeper arrived and let us in – we had to leave bags in the outer enclosure as they had food in and the lemurs would have found it.  When we got in some of…….

.....the lemurs immediately went to the keeper.....
…..the lemurs immediately went to the keeper…..

……and soon after one went to the London keeper (he says his don’t do that!) and then one…….

......came to see me!
……came to see me!

It is looking out of the bars because……

......the parrots.....
……the parrots…..

……..next door started making a lot of noise – they were jealous of the fuss the lemurs were getting, maybe?

We were told there were a male, a female and 5 daughter lemurs.  The sons have been sent to other places.  One of the daughters was born in May last year and the keeper thinks…..

......mum might be pregnant again and produce another baby this May.
……mum might be pregnant again……

……and produce another baby this May.   After leaving the lemurs, it was time to go and get the bus back to ensure that I got the connection to Freshwater Bay – which I did.

That was the final day, so on the Saturday it was minibus, then ferry, then 3 trains to get home.

So was it a good holiday?   YES!  One of the best I can remember.  The good weather helped (notice the blue skies in the photos), but also the walks were fairly short, so I didn’t get too tired and were combined with some sightseeing.  The group of people on the holiday were also (mostly) very pleasant and were not too noisy so we had some quite walks and could hear the birds and sometimes just the silence, which was wonderful.  The trouble is that one can’t go again as it couldn’t be as good!

 

 

 

 

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