Without wanting to suggest that our hotel is anything other than lovely, our day didn't get off to the very best of starts. When we woke up we could hear a dripping in the bathroom. Thinking that it was a tap, I went to investigate, but it turned out to be coming from the ceiling above the bath. I called reception and they came to investigate and called a plumber. We were given the key to another room where we could use the shower.
Drama over we went down for breakfast, and had the dining room to ourselves. As per yesterday Jake nabbed a chocolate muffin for later on, before tucking into his sausage, bacon and beans.
Ready to face the world, we set off for the Needles, and as expected our first stop when we arrived was the crazy golf. Jake is keeping a cumulative score of all of the rounds that we've played, and suffice it to say, he extended his lead.
Next up we made our way over to the chairlift, and descended to the beach, where we boarded the boat for the trip out to the Needles, taking loads of photos, of the Needles, the colored cliffs, and a rather nice Sunseeker that was moored in the bay.
Piece of trivia that the crew shared with us that I didn't know - why the Needles are called the Needles. Today there are three chalk rocks that head out in a row to the lighthouse. But there used to be four. The fourth one was much taller and thinner than the others and was known as Needle rock. However, during a particularly bad storm a couple of hundred years ago, it fell into the sea. The rock disappeared under the waves, but the name has survived.
Back at the top of the cliffs, we made the obligatory sand-filled souvenir (a guitar this time), had a quick stop in the arcade to add a key ring to our collection, and then departed.
We were going to stop in at Calbourne Mill, but decided against it, so carried on back towards Ryde. With promises of a tea room, I persuaded Jake that we should stop off at Quarr Abbey, a place that I have walked past many times (on our way to the Fishbourne Inn) but had never been to. A new tea room is being built at the moment, and so they are currently housed in a portacabin. However, that didn't stop the cheesy scones and the chocolate brownies from being scrummy.
We had a quick look in the shop and even popped our heads around the door of the abbey, before getting back on the road. Next stop Puckpool Park, but that proved to be a bit of a disappointment as we were looking for beach and the tide was in. So, back to the hotel for a little while and onto the beach at Ryde for a game of beach football.
After our half time ice cream break I suffered a minor sporting injury, so we retired back to the hotel, and again had tea here. Jake chose from the children's menu, and whilst he enjoyed his sausage and mash, he did look a little disappointed by the portion size. Still, left him with room for applie pie for pudding.
We had our after dinner stroll along the promenade and came back here to settle in to watch Britain's Got Talent.
Looking forward to seeing Poppa tomorrow.