Ladies backpacking trip round Isle of Wight

 A couple of years ago, I started an annual ladies backpacking trip with 3 of my girlfriends here in the UK. We went up to the Knoydart peninsula in Scotland as our first trip in 2019, then had booked to go to Germany last June for a lower Alpine trek. But of course, that got canceled due to Covid, so we had simply postponed to this June. But then that got canceled too, with all the restrictions now on traveling across borders. Booo... We decided to not be defeated by this, so we found a route within England itself that would allow us to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight, which is just off the south coast of England a mere 2 hours drive from our village. So while Chris couldn't join us (since she is in Germany for a few years), we invited Naomi to come along as a 4th party member.

We left on Wed June 16th and got back home Sunday June 20th, in time for Father's Day dinnertime. Here are Anne-Marie, Heather, Naomi and me as we were setting out Thursday morning on our way to breakfast in a lovely cafe in Wootton Bridge.

We had quite a bit of rain over the 4 days, including every single night, including every single night as we were setting up the tents (which makes setting up tents extra difficult!). The first half of the journey from Ryde through Cowes over to Yarmouth, i.e. the north coast, was very residential and the "Coastal Path" ended up being really just the main road in some sections. Not very fun in pouring rain with cars going fast and splashing us! I don't have any photos from those moments...

But then the walking got better as the coastal path really turned into a proper coastal path along the clifftops.

For our final night, we camped at the Ventnor Botanical Garden, and they were having a special evening of live music and dinner at a very reasonable price! It was wonderful.

My feet were not very happy the whole walk, unfortunately. By Sunday midday, I really was having a hard time walking. I managed to get into the sea for a fabulous swim that seriously rejuvenated me, and after that my boots were not going to go back on. 

Anyway, it was a great trip and I'm so happy we made it happen!

A surprising Wednesday

Today was a beautiful clear day and Rhodri made the surprising and lovely suggestion that the two of us head out after work to go for a walk at Devil's Dyke and then out to dinner somewhere. 

It was really fun to be just us two out in the world, and the kids were happy to have a chance to be on their own for dinner, looking after themselves. Rhods and I chose the Half Moon Pub near Plumpton for our dinner, and it was lovely.

We should do this more often....

Cool morning by the sea

 Today was great, and it started with an indulgent long swim with a lot of the Larks at the beach. It was Sally's birthday today and she brought her cousin in law along, who is a free diver and shark-swimming expert. It was pretty cool to just lay on the beach and listen to her stories, enjoying the company and the sunshine. 

Prin friend in Brighton

 This morning I drove Rhiannon and her friend to Brighton, and then I met up with my long lost friend Amy! I went to high school with Amy, and she has been living in England even longer than me. I have been meaning to find a way to get together with her, and today was the day. We had a gorgeous brunch at a little cafe in Hove, and it was really cool to catch up in person after all these (30!) years.

Halfway to Cardiff in Hinton Parva

 Today we drove to a spot halfway to Cardiff and collected our girl. I took the day off work and we made a full day of it in the end.  It all went according to plan and we met in Hinton Parva to let Annie and Winnie meet each other and we could all go for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day and felt lovely to be out in the sunshine with family.