Autumn Holiday Part One - Heading to the Isle of Wight & a glorious ruin

 Autumn was well and truly here, and James had booked two weeks off. (I had also originally, but as I wasnt working anymore, I could go away for as long as I liked!) I had been applying for jobs, I'd been having a good scour about. Would I go back into retail, or would I do something else?I'd applied for a few retail jobs, a couple of admin/call centre jobs, and a couple with the local council. So many applications I couldn't remember where I'd sent them for and where I hadn't. I'd be keeping a close eye on my emails for any responses while we were away!

The view of the other ferry & the Southampton skyline.

We caught the ferry across to the island, Me, James and Rob, who also lives with us and was coming along for the holiday. We had the car with us so we could explore the island more easily. Living in Southampton means it's super easy to cross over to the Island, just a shame it's so expensive to do so. There's frequent ferries, and it only takes an hour or so for the crossing. There's also a cafe onboard, so you can grab yourself a hearty breakfast, lunch or dinner depending on the time of day.

We also saw this warship coming up the Solent, which was unusual as usually the navy goes to Portsmouth when they come in. We usually get the freight & passenger ships come in.

We then headed across into the Isle of Wight, and checked in at the lodge where we were staying. We stayed at the Vineyard Holiday Lodges (travelogian.com/the-vineyard), they were basic but nice, and we made good use of the hot tub there when we arrived! It was lovely to sit and relax in the warm waters, especially as for the past couple of days I'd had a bit of a back ache again. I'd been busy and done a lot of stuff, so I thought it was just that and I needed a bit of a break. Anyway, the lodges were in a great location not far from Ryde, and were beautifully quiet in the evenings, even though we were quite close to the main road. They are also a short walk from the Mermaid Gin Distillery, where on our first night we stopped off for dinner & drinks. I don't like Gin, but James enjoyed sampling one of them, as well as me getting a bottle for my friend Mel who loves her Gin! They also do tasty food there as well!

Our first full day on the Island was started with a visit to Appuldurcombe House. I'd been as a child, as was fascinated by the building, which is currently just a shell. Originally a priory, it was torn down and replaced by a Tudor mansion, before again being demolished and with this Classical & Palladium styled mansion house built in it's place.

The landscape around the house is beautiful, with the house halfway up the side of the hill, giving you great views over the village of Wroxall. The gardens were initially designed by the renowned Capability Brown. The house was lived in for many years, before becoming a hotel in the 1850's, and then become a school for gentlemen. It then became a home for Monks while Quarr Abbey was being built, and then was a training ground for troops in the world wars.

The house was greatly damaged in the Second World War, when German bombers dropped a mine on the house, and ever since it has been left in it's ruinous state. The front of the house has had windows and roof re-installed, and there are often events on inside the building. It is looked after by English Heritage, and is free for everyone to enter and look around.

I left James and Rob at the car, and went for a little stroll about the field next door on my way to find the Freemantle Gate. I couldn't resist a picture of the low lying clouds on the hills opposite!

The Freemantle gate would have originally been one of the main entrances to the estate, but now it's just us visiting peasants and livestock that can use it if approaching on the side road, rather than the main road with the car park. It's a little overgrown and in need of a bit of a uplift, but you can see some of the gorgeous details in the stone.

Walking back to the car park, look how green the grass is! If you want to know more about Appuldurcombe house, check out EH's website @english-heritage.org.uk/appuldurcombe-house

We then headed only a few minutes drive up the road to the Donkey Sanctuary. It's a charitable organisation, that rescues and rehomes donkeys & horses/ponies from across the world, giving them medical attention and lovely new safe home. They have over a hundred animals there, and it was lovely to be able to see them, some of them even letting you pet them at the fence.

It's free to visit, but I urge you to give a donation if you're able to. They run solely on donations, and anything you can give will help them with their fantastic work that they are doing. If you'd like to know more about them & what they do, check out their website @iowdonkeysanctuary.org. They also have a little cafe on-site serving hot drinks, cakes & more. It would be rude not to enjoy a brownie with a cup of tea! 

Our final stop of the day was to the Garlic Farm, a world renowned family owned business specialising in, yes you guess it, Garlic! They've got a little farm area you can walk around and explore, where I got friendly with the chickens, as well as a farm shop with everything you can think of, all with a garlic twist. But the highlight is the restaurant. We each ordered the roast dinners, which also came with a giant plate of green veg too. It was sublime. Everything had garlic flavour to it, some punchy, some subtle. It was one of the best roast dinners I'd had for a long long time, and well worth paying a visit to in the area. They do get very busy, especially on weekends, so it may be worth booking a table in advance. I think we waited about a quarter of an hour which I didn't think was too bad. Any wait is worth it to try the food there! Find out more on their website @thegarlicfarm.co.uk

It was then a case of spending the evening chilling in the hot tub and enjoying a glass of wine. Can a holiday get any better than that?