October 10th Truro

Truro Cathedral

Trafalgar Roundabout

It has been quite a long time since we last stayed around Truro to do some shopping.  We were back to square one with our hunt for a new three piece suite and so we hoped to sort something out today.  We are staying in the middle of the city and after breakfast decided to walk to our favourite furniture shop here.  We looked at alternatives and with some helpful advice now have a setup which might work and we shall make some careful measurements when we get home.  We came back to Truro centre passing the tribute to the Battle of Britain which is on Trafalgar roundabout.  We carried on into the centre which is dominated by the Cathedral and looked at another couple of furniture shops without finding anything suitable.  The rest of the day was spent general shopping and making wish lists.  It had stayed dry but overcast which was ideal for us, we now have to sort out about this furniture!

October 9th Shanklin to Truro

Old underground train on the IOWight

Sunrise in Shanklin

Today we left Shanklin and made our way by various means of transport to Truro.  It began a beautiful day and we dropped the hire car off and went to the station to join the local train.  It was then the ferry to Portsmouth (very smooth) and then to Westbury, changed for Exeter and then changed to go to Truro.  All the travelling went very well and by the end of the afternoon we had settled into our hotel and actually managed to do some shopping.  I think there will be more of that activity tomorrow!

October 8th Arreton, Carisbrooke Castle, Cowes etc

The Castle Gatehouse

The main castle hall

The weather today was the best of our days on the Isle of Wight.  It was clear blue sky and sunshine and we decided the main activity would be to visit Carisbrooke Castle which is mainly an outside venue.  So after breakfast we got on our way but first stopped at the craft workshops at Arreton. To be honest these were hardly worth the bother as there was not a lot of local produce on offer and what there was seemed overpriced.  We quickly moved on to Carisbrooke.  We parked, visited the coffee shop and then viewed the very good introductory film.  We made a plan of action: visiting the chapel, Princess Beatrice's garden and walking the castle walls before lunch.  The castle was very much a classic with a rich history including the jailing of King Charles after the royalists were defeated, and being occupied by Queen Victoria's youngest daughter Princess Beatrice after her husband had died.  We enjoyed learning about this as we toured round and then partook of some lunch at the café.  We then visited the motte keep and the wellhouse where donkeys (in our case Jack) are used to pump water from the well with a treadmill.  That part was very entertaining. 

Jack the donkey
 

Warhorse in Princess Beatrice's garden

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The motte keep

 

The main hall

We visited the main hall which is now a museum and then walked round the ramparts with their cannon stations much like Garrison walls on St. Mary's.  This concluded an excellent visit.
 
We then drove north to Cowes, had a look round this small "character" coastal town and then went across the chain ferry to East Cowes.  We then slowly made our way along the east coast until we arrived at Shanklin again.  It had been our best day on the island!
 
 
 
 






  

October 7th Needles and Yarmouth

The Needles

Alum Bay with coloured snds

Rocket testing poster

The forecast for today was dry and overcast.  We decided to head for the Needles, the iconic landmark of the Isle of Wight. We started off fairly early and Christine noticed that there was a pearl centre alongside the road on the way.  We duly stopped and while Christine browsed, I joined other men who were looking fairly forlorn.  Eventually a ring was chosen, approved and purchased so one half of us was happy!  The centre had a coffee shop and we had a coffee before carrying on.  We arrived and parked at the Needles visitor centre which did not look too inspiring.  We made our way along path to the Needles viewing platform which gave good views of the rocks and lighthouse. It was very breezy and quite cold on the exposed path and cliffs.  On the way we also had good views of the cliffs of Alum Bay with the different coloured sands.  We also visited the nearby rocket testing station which was highly secretive when used in the cold war.  We then made our way back to the visitor centre and had a snack in a café.  Most of the other stalls & shops were very touristy and the only ones we enjoyed were the coloured sand shop and the glass blowing centre.

The Gossips Cafe

Yarmouth castle

Having finished here we decided to visit nearby Yarmouth, particularly the castle.  We parked and spent some time looking at the exhibits of the small castle and then quickly had a look round the interesting "yachty" town.  It had a very applicably named coffee shop.

We then drove the 1/2 hour journey back to Shanklin, settled back in the hotel  and then had a quick walk around Shanklin's town which I must say seemed full of gift shops and restaurants/pubs.  It had stayed dry and proved to be a very satisfactory part of the holiday.  Where to tomorrow?

October 6th Shanklin & Osborne House

The Swiss Cottage

Today the weather forecast was such that the better weather was likely to be in the morning and then coming to rain.  We decided to go to Osborne House to view the grounds in the better weather and house when it rained.  After breakfast we picked up a hire car and made our way across the island to the House (the holiday residence of Queen Victoria and her family).  The grounds are extensive and we walked round the walled garden, down to the beach and along to the Swiss cottage built for the 9 children by Prince Albert.





Osborne House

Viewing shelter

Luckily after viewing the Swiss Cottage there was a courtesy bus to take us back to the main house and by this time it was beginning to rain.  We had a snack at the restaurant and then started on the journey round the house.  It was very interesting with many artefacts from the period and as usual it was difficult to retain it all.  We saw the room where Queen Victoria died in 1901.  On reflection, we both agreed the house was well worth visiting.  It was still pouring as we made our way back to the hotel for a freshen up before a good dinner.





Victoria's and Christine's bathing machine

October 5th London to Shanklin

This holiday was arranged as a 2 centre vacation.  We were off on the 1030 train from Waterloo to Shanklin in the Isle of Wight, where neither of us had been before.  The weather was pretty miserable but it did not affect us as we sped towards the south coast.  We arrived at Portsmouth Harbour station and then transferred to the ferry to Ryde.  The cataraman only took about 1/2 an hour and then we caught another train to Shanklin.  It was raining and so I did not get any train pics but the shuttle trains on the IOW are ancient London underground trains.  We duly arrived at Shanklin station and then got a taxi to our hotel.  We settled in very comfortably, had a good meal and went to bed happy.

October 4th London

Sunday turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes for us.  We had planned to go to Ruislip to view a new 3 piece suite which the brochure details said would fit perfectly in our small lounge (our existing set up has served us well but is definitely coming to the end of its days).  I had topped up our Oyster cards and off we set in time to arrive before the store opening.  We arrived in good time, found our destination and decided to look at a few more shops before the opening.  Unfortunately when we got back to the shop, there was notice saying they would not be open today because of staff illness.  We had wasted our time & money making the journey.  We returned on the tube and got off at Green Park to walk through the parks on the way back to Waterloo, so all was not wasted.


In the afternoon we had arranged to meet our friends Ruth and Ian, who duly arrived off the clipper ferry from Greenwich.  A nice reunion and then a walk along the south bank to St. Katherine's dock where we saw the Gloriana, had some refreshment, a good chinwag and the lift bridge rise to allow boats into 

The Gloriana

Christine,Ian & Ruth

the dock.

The dock bridge opening



A real treat was to follow for us.  Ian and Ruth had arranged that all of us would take the river boat to Greenwich to meet their son, Matthew, his wife Ursula and their two week old son Elijah.  It was really good for us to meet them and catch up with all the news.  We had a meal together and eventually we took the river boat back to the Eye and Waterloo where we were staying.  The ending of the day was much better than the beginning.  We packed most of our belongings ready for moving on in the morning. 



 

October 3rd Villasimius to London

The beautiful weather and beach at Pula

Christine swimming at Pula

First of all I will add some more photos from our splendid day on Friday.








small fishing boats at Pula

On the Saturday our stay on Sardinia was coming to an end.  We breakfasted al fresco, finished our packing and checked out of the hotel.  We were soon on our way in the car for our final journey.  As we approached the airport we topped up with petrol and all was successful in handing the car over.  We checked in for the flight and could relax for a little time.  Conclusions on Sardinia:

• Climate at this time of year was almost perfect apart from the occasional torrential downpour but it was good to swim comfortably in the sea
• Our accommodation and food were good - we paid a little extra but the quality was there to a large extent
• It is a far bigger island than we thought and we were only able to access some of the quarter where we stayed
• As was predictable the Italian driving techniques and heir road markings etc took a bit of getting used to
• Would we go again?  Probably but to a different area of the island
  
  Our flight home went to plan and we were soon established in our Premier Inn at Waterloo, London and we had their meal deal before finishing for the day. 

October 2nd Villasimius and Pula

The weather gradually improved last evening, from gusty rain showers to some sort of sunset which most of us appreciated.  It had certainly been a turbulent day.

Last night's sunset from our verandah

Today the forecast was much better and so we decided to go on another expedition to Pula, which I had read as one of the must see places of Sardinia.  It was quite some distance -  the other side of Cagliari - but we went for it and eventually arrived after a more than 2 hour drive.  The town certainly seemed much better than Villasimius and the beach was very nice.  We sunbathed for some time, Christine decided to go for a swim (I only paddled).  Pula is famous for its ruins and we had a walk where we found the excavations of the pre-Roman, Phoenician town.  The coast also had a couple of Spanish towers similar to the one near our hotel, so quite an interesting history.  It was now time for the drive home which went better than the outward journey and we were back within 2 hours after stopping again at Capo Boi.  A good day to finish the Sardinian visit and I shall leave putting more pictures on here until tomorrow as the wifi is so slow. 

October 1st Villasimius & Solanas



Villasimius looking up the main street

Villasimius looking down the main street

Today was predicted to be stormy and wet and so it turned out with some good interludes of sunshine but always plenty of wind.  We had guessed that the town of Villasimius was not too special and so had avoided it thus far but we decided to walk in and possibly be pleasantly surprised this morning and catch the hotel shuttlebus back.  Unfortunately we did not find anything of interest, we were disappointed, had a drink and two hours were plenty long enough.

looking back from Solanas beach

 We returned to the hotel for our snack and then decided to drive along the coast to another bay Solanas which was much more attractive although the sea was in a pretty violent state.  When you turned round from the beach it was obvious that there was some pretty serious weather going on in the hills!



the wild sea at Solanas

the beach at Solanas

Having had some very fresh air at Solanas  we then stopped again on our way back.  It was a viewing point near Capo Boi and had another stroll with more pics.  Some of the roads are very twisty and we slowly made our way back to the hotel where we stayed in the car until some torrential rain had passed.










Capo Boi

At Capo Boi stop



Another picture behind Solanas



view of the hotel from the hill

The tower

September 30th Villasimius        Today started cloudy and after a good night's sleep and a good breakfast we decided to spend most of the day visiting the local area.  We could see an old tower from the hotel grounds and thought we would start there.  We drove in the car to the end of the metalled road and went first to the end of the peninsular before we climbed again and arrived at the 16th Century tower built as a lookout by the Spanish when they owned these parts.  On the way up we had a good view of the lagoon and the hotel.  We came back to the car by a different route, climbing down to a beach and seeing a now defunct granite quarry.

We had a quick snack and then drove to a beach further north, Punta Molentis, which was quite pretty and had some fishing boats and a little cafe run by a generator and sold ice creams.  This fortified us for the journey home and we arrived just in time before the start of a long-lasting, impressive thunderstorm.

Punta Molentis

September 29th Villasimius.      Sorry no blog yesterday but there were mitigating circumstances.  We had a lovely seafood orientated meal on Monday evening, but unfortunately something did not like me very much.  Was it the king prawns, the swordfish steak, the mussels, cuttlefish or something else?  Anyhow by the time I went to bed I was not feeling 100% and after sleeping for a couple of hours most of it reappeared!  Neither of us got much sleep that night and so the next morning we were in recovery mode.  We did manage to lie by the pool in the sun for a couple of hours in the afternoon and we were OK to have a light meal yesterday evening and so hopefully that episode is behind us.  Unfortunately no pictures taken during the day - hopefully the next post will make up for it. 

Villasimius September 28th

Part of Arbatax harbour

Having had a recovery day yesterday we decided today we could be a bit more adventurous and take a car journey.  We looked on the map and plumped for Arbatax - a small harbour town about 50 miles up the coast.  The car travel went largely trouble free - there seems to be very little traffic at this time of the year.  We stopped at Tortoli as we approached our destination and had a look round a typical Sardinian town.  We bought some provisions (gin and tonic), had a bathroom break and then proceeded to where we were aiming for.  It seems quite a nice little port town and we are glad we paid a visit.  After taking some photos and having another natural break we decided to make our way back where we belong.



our dining scenario

It took nearly 2 hours each way (some of the roads are not great and their speed limits are all over the place).  We arrived at the hotel and set up to partake of some of the recently purchased provisions as we sat on our patio.  We noticed there were some parrots roosting in the date palms outside our room

parrots in the date palms

The light was now fading and so we went to the restaurant for a very atmospheric meal al fresco style.  We shall see what the weather brings tomorrow and make a decision on the activities.

Our hotel from the path to the beach

 

September 27th Villasimius.  Today was destined to be a quieter, settling in day.  On reflection, the trouble we experienced in making it here has made our journeys to and from Scilly seem quite straightforward.  Anyhow we made it and have had a good day so far.  After breakfast we thought that a visit to the beach was the right course of action and so we walked the five minute path and then enjoyed some time relaxing on loungers.  Our first impressions of the hotel and its environment are favourable and the weather has certainly been better today.  After a time we decided to go for a swim as other people were and we thought it should be quite warm.  It certainly was a lot warmer than at St. Martin's and we stayed in for quite some time.

We had a snack lunch and went for a walk around the large lagoon which is between the hotel and the beach.  The lagoon is home to pink flamingos and some parrots live in the bushes/trees around the edges.  We did some further relaxing/reading and have now had a lovely dinner.  A good evening has followed a dry and largely sunny, warm day - a big improvement on yesterday!



September 25th & 26th - two travelling days

We left Penzance on the train at 1000 on the 25th and spent almost the whole day travelling.  We had bought some refreshment and reading material to take with us and so the day was not wasted.  The train eventually arrived at Reading about 15 minutes late and we transferred to the bus which goes to Heathrow.  We had travelled by car, tripper boat, Scillonian, taxi, train and bus to get to Heathrow in about 27 hours.  We stayed at the Premier Inn (very comfortable!) and had a good view of planes taking off.

By now I expect you may be wondering (or probably not) where on earth we are going.  Anyhow we had to be up very early the next morning to check in for a flight to Sardinia.  It was different seeing the sunrise over large aircraft.

We have never been to Sardinia but had heard good reports and so we have come seeking the sun and warmth.  The flight was good but the BA food was awful - when will the flight meals improve?  We landed and safely negotiated customs etc.  We had arranged to hire a car and then went to pick it up at the airport.  Sorting the car out took a very long time, there was along queue and they did not seem very active behind the desk.  In the meantime Christine realised she had left her reading glasses on the plane and spent some of the time I was waiting in retrieving her specs.  We eventually got going but the car being right hand drive added complications to a low mileage driver!  Christine had thought hiring a car in the circumstances was not a good idea and I soon came to agree with her.  As we went on the 90 minute drive to the hotel it started to rain and for time it was like a monsoon and as we got further away from Cagliari the road became very bendy and hilly.  The rain did abate and by the time we arrived (thank goodness for satnav) it had almost stopped.  One good thing is that the hotel and our room seem OK although as we walked round everywhere was damp.  The weather looks better in Scilly and so we shall have to see how we get on.

 

The Daymark from the Scillonian

September 24th We left St. Martin's on the Thursday 2:30 tripper boat - the Seaking driven by Fraser Hicks - and the trip to St. Mary's was not without interest.  He stopped us off at Guthers Island to look at the seabirds on the rocks, there were shags and cormorants with the seagulls, plus four herons perched on their own rocks with a peregrin falcon.  A first for us to see all that on Guthers.




A good view of the Wolf Rock


 



Fraser on the Seaking




We left on the Scillonian, having a good view of St. Martin's as we passed the Eastern Islands.  We carried on a good voyage, passing the Wolf Rock and arrived in Penzance on time.  We cheated and had a taxi to Heather & Alan's flat before having a quick pub meal.  Where are we off to next? You will have to read tomorrow's blog for more clues!