The final day of our holiday Up early again to pack everything up and load it into the car. We had planned on doing a few things today before we headed home, but the weather wasn’t particularly good. Instead, we drove to Ryde and boarded the train and went back to Shanklin. It had stopped raining, but it was still wet and cold. All we could really do was wonder around the shops. We needed to anyway really, wanted to get some presents for people Matthew wanted to play one last game of crazy golf, so we wondered around to find one. Eventually found one but it was too wet to play on. Walked back though some gardens and decided to get a few shots of some of the flowers that they had there..

     
Quite impressed with how they came out!

Headed back towards the shops and get our train. Stopped by a few estate agents to look at all the houses in the window.. we’ve decided we want to live on the Isle of Wight Found quite a few we might be able to afford in a little while, but I doubt the houses will wait for us

Got the train back to Ryde and wondered around the shops there for a little while. We found some more MINI stuff Salt and Pepper pots in the shape of the new MINI, they look exactly like the money box we got, just smaller had to buy those of course

When there was no more to look at, we got into the car and headed for the ferry. We were really early but were able to get on the earlier crossing. It was terrible on the way back, very choppy. Made me feel quite ill! Back in Portsmouth the traffic was terrible mainly due to the bad weather and we didn’t manage to get home until after 8! Have to say that as nice as it was to get home, I didn’t really want to be there. I still wanted to be on holiday! Bet it won’t be long before we head back there for another holiday!

Another early start of 8am again. Wanted to have a quick wonder around the shops in Newport first as we hadn’t done that yet even though that was where we were staying. Didn’t shop long as there were other places we wanted to go again. Found some really nice sandles in the first shop we went into. I still didn’t have any for our non-existent summer but needed to get them so I did! Wondered round some more, but soon decided to leave and head to Sainsburys to get some food for our picnic.

Our first stop was back at the Isle of Wight Pearl. Over night, both myself and Matt decided that we would get the pearls we got yesterday made into jewelery for me. I had a ring made from one of the pearls. The other one I couldn’t decide if I wanted something made out of it or not so left it as it is. We then went back into the shop to have yet another look round. Found this really pretty bracelet which Matt decided to buy for me. I’m not allowed it yet though I have to wait until Christmas

It was nearing lunch time, so we headed 5 minutes down the road to the car park that was disappearing. Parked the car and walked along the cliff top to find somewhere nice we could sit and have our lunch. Found a really good spot. We could see the sea, the beach, the cliffs… the view was just stunning. While we ate, we watch people walk their dogs, play in the sea and even people flying around in parachutes!

Some pics from our lunch stop

After lunch we headed to the Isle of Wight zoo. It’s not that big, but they mainly deal with tigers. That didn’t matter to me. The tigers were the reason for going there! I loved seeing them all! If I was allowed, I’d get one They had a white tiger there called Xina. She was my favorite! It’s not very often you see a white tiger. She’s quite tame. If you call her name she’ll come over to you!

Pics from the zoo!

                                      

Our next stop was Sandown again. we parked the car and went for a nice walk by the sea. We walked from Sandown to Shanklin. When we eventually got to Shankin we got an ice cream to reward ourselves for walking such a long way. Matt wanted to play crazy golf where he had when he was a kid. I started out really well, and thought at one point I’d win and beat Matt for the first time ever. But this wasn’t the case. He beat me by 5 points I was so close this time! After Matt had gloated about it, we headed off to play in the amusements. I stupidly went on one of their dance games which completely wore me out and hurt my feet.

It was only after that I realised I still had to walk back all that long way to get to the car! oops Matt was determined to win me something on the crane games, so spent a lot of his money trying to get me something. eventually he won me a cute cuddly monkey. Decided he didn’t want to play any more now that he had won me something. It was dinner time, so we grabbed some chips to eat on our way back to Sandown. The walk didn’t actually take that long, although it might have done, I just didn’t notice as I was too busy chatting and admiring the views.

Once back at the car, I decided I wanted to sit by the sea and watch the sunset. So we drove to the other side of the island to see it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see it as some dark clouds rolled in and spoilt it! Still think these came out ok though

  

So instead we gradually made our way back to our hotel, stopping for more food When we got back, I realised how badly I had caught the sun that day! I was very red! Because of the top I was wearing, I’ve now got funny burn/tan lines in weird places. I get laughed at if I wear strappy tops at the moment!

You would have thought that with being on holiday you’d get a nice long lie in, seeing as you are on holiday after all, but no, we had to get up at 8am to get ready to go out. Now this may seem like a lie in to some people but when it’s me, I need a little bit more

Matthew gave MINI assistance a call to see if someone would come out and have a look at his MINI. We waited around for almost an hour for someone to turn up. The guy that eventually turned up had a look under the bonnet and a look in the fuse box. He discovered that the fuse for the engine fan had blown and needed replacing. He said that the fuse he had taken out was a 30 amp fuse. He took out the blown one and we assumed he had replaced it with the new one. He then drove off and me and Matthew got into the car, ready to go out for the day. We had only moved slightly further down the car park when we realised the problem was still thee, the noise was still there and the fan still wasn’t coming on. Decided to take the car to Snows BMW dealer in Newport which didn’t take us long to find. When we got there, we had a quick look in the fuse box under the bonnet and realised that the stupid guy from MINI Assistance hadn’t actually replaced the fuse, he’d just taken out the blown fuse and not put in a new one!!! We went into BMW to explain what had happened and we then discovered that the fuse that should have gone in at the recall should have been a 40 amp fuse and not a replacement 30 amp fuse that was in Matts car which Robert Stern had done!! So they hadn’t done their job properly!! I then started to worry that mine might be the same, as my car had the same recall and was supposedly done at the same time as Matts. BMW fitted Matts car with the correct fuse and we were ready to go. As soon as we left we knew the problem had been fixed as the horrible noise had gone and the engine fan was now coming on as it should. So, with half a day almost gone, we were now able to start our holiday properly. We left Newport and headed to Ryde. We didn’t stop there but drove along the coast to look at the views. From there we drove to Bembridge. There was a stunning view of the coast from the road we were on so Matt stopped the car and I got out to get a picture..

Matt then had to drive off as a car came up behind him and he needed to move. He disappeared for ages He eventually turned up again to pick me up and we carried on driving. We stopped again a little further down the road to have a nose around Bembridge windmill.

Didn’t go in as you had to pay a lot to get in. And from what we could see from the outside, it wasn’t worth paying quite a lot of money to see. We decided to head back to the car and carry on our tour. We soon arrived at White Cliff Bay where we found a nice spot to stop and get some pics.

We then drove down to Sandown and then Shanklin where we stopped really shortly to grab a few more pics

  

Our next stop was Ventnor. This was quite a cute little town, which had a really cool zig zag road down to the beach. We stopped there to have a little wonder round, take more pics and have a little picnic in the car

We then carried on for a brief stop at Blackgang chine which is a little theme park which is gradually being relocated to Robin Hill Country Park further inland as Blackgang Chine is very slowly calling into the sea. Matthew wanted to get a shot of his MINI in front of the giant pirate they have there so had to take a pic for him

We then made our way to Brook. Here they have a place called the Isle of Wight Pearl. We stopped here for quite a while. It’s basically a big jewelery shop with all the jewelery made out of pearls. Had a look round at it all, wishing I had enough money to be able to afford some of the really nice jewelery they had there. Before you leave the shop, you have the chance to pick your own shell with a pearl in it if you pay £14.99 for it and then you can have it valued. We both picked a shell and had our pearls valued. Mine was the bigger one and was worth £43.50 and Matthews was worth £35.50. Felt quite pleased with what we got!

Drove another 5 minutes down the road and stopped in this car park to get some more pics. we noticed that at one point, the car park used to be a lot bigger than it was as there were parking bays marked out with half of the spaces missing. They had obviously fallen down the cliff and into the sea!

  

From there we drove through Freshwater Bay and up towards Alum Bay and the Needles. we spent quite a while here, wondering around what they had to offer. We walked down the cliff face to see the Needles from the beach.

  

Had a look in the shops there and found this real cool MINI money box Not seen anything like that before so we decided to buy it

It started to get towards dinner time so we decided to head back to the hotel and drop our things off then head out to find somewhere to eat. On the way back we came across this really cool ford which we had to drive through, took the opportunity to get out and get a pic of Matt driving through it had to run away as he came closer as the water started rushing towards me and I almost got very wet

  

After dinner, Matt decided to take me back to Shanklin so we could have a wonder around some of the shops that were still open. Found this really cool naughts and crosses game, but with cats and mice

We then had a nice walk through Shanklin Chine Valley down towards the beach. It had been all lit up so make it look pretty as the sun was going down.

  

For a while now, my self and Matthew have been wanting to go away on holiday. Friday 20 July was the perfect time to go away. Not only did we have a completely free weekend, but it was also out 2 year anniversary Matthew had wanted to take me to the Isle of Wight for ages as he had been there many times when he was younger but also because I have never been there before. So after talking it through, we had deiced that this was where we were going. Ferry Tickets were then booked and so was the hotel.

On Friday at 2pm, Matthew came and picked me up from work and we headed off straight there. We couldn’t have picked a worse day to go! The heavens had opened over night and quite a few places across the UK had experienced flash floods. It carried on raining throughout the day and we even had some thunderstorms.

We had quite an adventure getting to Portsmouth from Oxford. We were heading down the A34 when we suddenly hit a wall of traffic that wasn’t moving very fast at all. We turned on the traffic reports to hear that the pumping station at Newbury had broken down so the roads where flooded and nothing was moving. It became obvious that if we stayed on the A34 we would miss our ferry to the Isle of Wight. After moving about 2 miles in 30 minutes, we finally reached a junction we could get off and try and avoid all the traffic on the A34. This was a good idea and a bad idea. Shortly after leaving the A34, we then got stuck in even more traffic. The road we had joined was flooding and not everyone could get through. We eventually got through but soon encountered more disturbances on the road. The flash floods that had hit earlier that morning had left many cars stranded and we came across many abandoned cars left in the middle of roads. After getting around the obstical of cars, we reached another village that had been affected by the floods. The entire road was flooded and was deeper on our side, so we had to try and force our way out onto the middle of the road so we could get to the other side of the flood without wrecking the car. We made it out OK and carried on our journey. Many of the places we went through had been badly affected by the floods, roads had been washed away along with many peoples walls lining their gardens/property. We got round the problem with the A34 and were able to join it again to carry on with our journey to Portsmouth. We did think that we may miss our ferry crossing but we had just made it in time. Here’s few pics of our journey to Portsmouth and leaving Portsmouth…

Here’s one of the abandoned cars in the middle of the road we came across..

Floods along the way…

Pic of Portsmouth from the Ferry…

As we got into Portsmouth, Matts car had a warning noise and symbol appear on the dash. We had a quick look int he handbook and discovered it was to do with the engine over heating. We had also noticed by then that the car was making a really odd noise as we were driving along. Decided that we would leave it for a while as we were just about to board the ferry and the car would have a good chance to cool down for half an hour. The ferry crossing didn’t take long so we were soon back in the car and onto the Isle of Wight. We then headed into Newport to try and find our hotel. Sat Nav was being very unhelpful and wasn’t taking us to where we needed to go so we ignored it and tried to find it ourselves which we did. Took all our luggage to our room and then headed back out to find some food for dinner.

After dinner, Matt decided to take me for quick tour around some of the island while it was still light out. It was then that I really felt like I was on holiday. As it got later and darker, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. We stopped off at a petrol station on the way back to get some munch and also to check Matts car again as it still wasn’t sounding right. It was also when we stopped that I realised that the engine fan wasn’t coming on when it should. Decided again not to do anything that night, but instead to give MINI assistance a call in the morning.

Last night I did something I never thought I’d do.. I went along to Gala Bingo in Oxford Sure I’ve played it in the past at various village events but this is a little different. There are Bingo halls all over the UK where people go every day to play bingo and at certain times in the day, each bingo hall links up to the rest and everyone there plays against each other to win thousands of pounds!!!  I had always seen ads on the telly about it and always thought it would be something that I’d never do.. but yesterday after Becky and myself had gone swimming, she suggested we go along to one. She had been the week before and said it was good fun, so I agreed and we went. You have to be a memeber to play so I signed up and now have a nice little memebership card We went into the main hall and found a seat. The games we chose to play in started at 7:30, so as we got there for just after 7, we went and found some food and took it back to our seats. The hall wasn’t full of people,I’m thinking becuase it was in the middle of the week. I’m guessing if you were to go at the weekend you’d be struggling to find a seat!! So, 7:30 arrived and our game started. The numbers were being called out so quick it was hard to keep up, but that just made it more fun I can very close a couple of times to winning £70 and £100 but always lost out because someone called out before my last number was!! grrrrrr! I have to say that after that, even though I didn’t win anything, I would go again It was good fun and you never know, next time, I could win lots of money!!!

On Saturday, myself and Matt went to his works summer party. We got there nice and early and went straight in to get our free drinks. It was a really good evening, lots of entertainment and good company. I’d already met some of Matts work people from his works Christmas do, so already knew some of the people who would be there. We spent most of the evening though with this guy Chris - who works with Matt - and his wive Kimberley. Myself and Kimberley spent a lot of time at the chocolate fountain which they had hired we ate marshmallows, perfitor roles and fudge, all covered in melted chocolate! Yum! we made a right mess all over ourselves and some of the food that was there for other people to eat

As another part of the entertainment, someone was hired to do peoples charactures for free I had mine done, thought it would be funny. It does look funny, but I can’t really see me in it What do you think? Can you see a likeness?

Matt had his done too but I don’t think he’d want me to post it as he doesn’t like his very much After we had those done, we went and spent some fake money in the casino. That was good fun! I spent all my money on the roulette wheel, that was the only thing I could really play, seemed easy enough. My luck didn’t seem to be with me though as it didn’t take me long to lose all my chips! Kimberley though on the other hand, won loads! She was addicted! There was a prize for someone at the end of the evening for who ever won the most chips, and at one point it looked like it would be Kimberley. But on the last game, someone beat her to it, shame! Good fun though Was a pretty good evening, but like most things it had to come to an end. Wish there were things like that more often to go to.

well thought it was about time I finally posted about my new room, seeing as it has practically been finished for over a week now it’s still not quite done, I mean, the painting’s done, the wallerpapering and everythings back in, but I still need to get my sheets for my bed and duvet, pillow cases and two bedside lamps. oh and also some pics for the walls! ok so really it’s not much to sort out but it seems to be taking me a while!

So.. here’s what my room used to look like before I redecorated..

  
And here’s what it looks like now!

        

I’m really pleased with it it looks a little plain at the moment I think, but like I said, I need some pics for the walls, a duvet cover and sheets that match or go with my room and then the bedside lamps! after that, then I think it will look really good! Really impressed with my new bed too! It’s so comfy, I like having space to spread out

Wasn’t too impressed with my wallpaper to start with, it went up on the wall and looked good but then I started to notice that it wasn’t sticking to the wall very well Decided to leave it as it still looked pretty good. But then one evening, whist on M2 chatting away and I hear a noise like paper falling. Look up and the wall paper had actually fallen off the wall!!!

Self adhesive wallpaper is naff!!! couldn’t really do anything about it as it was really late, so left it like that. Woke up in the morning and more had fallen off!! Had to go and buy some wallpaper paste to stick it back up with had to use it on other parts of the wallpaper too as more was coming up!! Stupid thing!! All better now though!

Shouldn’t be too long until I get the rest of my room sorted, so when it’s done I’ll post some more pics!