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Back in Oxford now, after my third annual May weekend on the Isle of Wight. It was fantastic!
Friday evening,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshcat and I left Oxford around 5pm with the illustrious C&M. The drive down was nice, as was the view from the ferry. After we arrived and checked in at the Heather Cottage -- the usual B&B that we use when staying on the Isle -- we had time to get some yummy Chinese food for dinner and then play a game of Settlers of Catan. I took an early lead, but then got quite stuck while others caught up. In the end, I managed to win, but it was quite close: Final scores were Nomad 10, C 9, M 8, Chesh 6. And had I not rolled a ten to give myself the cards I needed for my last point, C would have won immediately after, as he had the cards that he needed already in hand!
Saturday was a mellow day. We started with a nice big breakfast at the B&B -- full English for most of us. Then we drove to Arreton to visit the Amazon World Zoo Park. The park was very cool, with lots of wonderful animals that I wanted to take home: Giant anteaters, penguins, tamarins, speaking birds, and -- of course -- meercats! Sadly, Chesh would not let me snatch any of them. Then we drove to Ventnor where we had an incredible lunch at Rex's Piano Bar. I usually try to avoid advertising specific establishments but, in this case, I will make an exception. If you are ever on the Isle, do go eat there! The food was superb, the view of the water was outstanding. We were waited on by one of the owners, who was unbelievably friendly[*] and quite accommodating. C&M ordered chips, which weren't on the menu... so he had some hand cut to order for them. They were tasty enough to stand out from ordinary chips, so Chesh and I needed to place a second order! At the end of the meal, when we were just about to move on, he gave us complimentary teas and coffee. Definitely check this place out!
After lunch, we swung by the Ventnor Botanic Garden and spent a couple of hours wandering through the lush flora there. This seems to be my month for this sort of thing -- perhaps because everything is in bloom -- because I have now been to two botanic gardens and one arboretum, thus far, in May. When we left the gardens, it was time for dinner; we drove to Newport for some excellent pizza and then scoped out where we would need to go on Sunday morning. Back at the B&B, we played a game of Bohnanza, which went much the same as our Settlers game had the night before: I started with an early lead, then got stuck while others caught up, and narrowly won in the end. Final scores: Nomad 18, M 17, C 17, Chesh 14. It was only 10pm when we finished the game, but we all retired early, knowing that we would have to wake up before 5:30am on Sunday morning.
Sunday was..... intense. C&M and I woke up, ate a quick and simple breakfast, then left the B&B by 5:45am. We drove back to Newport, parked, and caught the first shuttle bus -- at 6:15am -- to Bembridge. We left Bembridge on foot at 6:46am, beginning the twenty-seven mile Walk the Wight challenge. Nearly eleven hours later, we arrived in Alum Bay, at the finish point -- sore, but happy and immensely satisfied. Success! This challenge is the reason I have been doing all these practice walks, including the seventeen mile walk to Blenheim Palace and the twenty-two mile London walk, in the past two months. I was a little nervous -- as I had never trained beyond twenty-two miles nor had I done serious hill training -- but we made it! Honestly, aside from a fairly miserable patch shortly after stopping for lunch at the halfway point[**], it was not all that bad! Yes, I am sore today and have a couple of [large] blisters on my feet, but I have felt far worse than this. Indeed, most of the walk was quite fun and we were in high spirits. The weather could not have been better -- last year, when C and I attempted this walk, we were hit with a torrential downpour and only made it halfway. This year it was dry and clear and warm... without being too hot. At the start of the day, I wore three layers to keep warm, but I quickly lost two of those... and even needed to hike shirtless for a bit to stay cool during the afternoon. Any warmer would have been unpleasant, but the weather that we had was perfect. Perhaps it was the Weather Gods way to apologise for last year? Also, the clear skies made for some breathtaking views of the island when we were on top of the various hills hiking along. Absolutely stunning! As an added bonus, when we were about four miles from the finish point, we passed less than a mile from the B&B... so Chesh came out to greet us! Twas very sweet of her, and very encouraging to see her smiling face, too!
Altogether, a great weekend! One day of mellowness and one of intensity -- a nice combination! Today, I am taking the day off from work. I have a few errands to tend to here in Oxford and then, in a couple of hours, I am off to London for the afternoon and evening!
[*] And, oddly enough, looks remarkably like my father! Not quite so much that I could mistake one for the other... but enough so that he could be my father's brother. Indeed, he looks more like my father than his actual brother does!
[**] I made the grievous mistake of sitting down for lunch. Bad move!
Friday evening,
cheshcat and I left Oxford around 5pm with the illustrious C&M. The drive down was nice, as was the view from the ferry. After we arrived and checked in at the Heather Cottage -- the usual B&B that we use when staying on the Isle -- we had time to get some yummy Chinese food for dinner and then play a game of Settlers of Catan. I took an early lead, but then got quite stuck while others caught up. In the end, I managed to win, but it was quite close: Final scores were Nomad 10, C 9, M 8, Chesh 6. And had I not rolled a ten to give myself the cards I needed for my last point, C would have won immediately after, as he had the cards that he needed already in hand!Saturday was a mellow day. We started with a nice big breakfast at the B&B -- full English for most of us. Then we drove to Arreton to visit the Amazon World Zoo Park. The park was very cool, with lots of wonderful animals that I wanted to take home: Giant anteaters, penguins, tamarins, speaking birds, and -- of course -- meercats! Sadly, Chesh would not let me snatch any of them. Then we drove to Ventnor where we had an incredible lunch at Rex's Piano Bar. I usually try to avoid advertising specific establishments but, in this case, I will make an exception. If you are ever on the Isle, do go eat there! The food was superb, the view of the water was outstanding. We were waited on by one of the owners, who was unbelievably friendly[*] and quite accommodating. C&M ordered chips, which weren't on the menu... so he had some hand cut to order for them. They were tasty enough to stand out from ordinary chips, so Chesh and I needed to place a second order! At the end of the meal, when we were just about to move on, he gave us complimentary teas and coffee. Definitely check this place out!
After lunch, we swung by the Ventnor Botanic Garden and spent a couple of hours wandering through the lush flora there. This seems to be my month for this sort of thing -- perhaps because everything is in bloom -- because I have now been to two botanic gardens and one arboretum, thus far, in May. When we left the gardens, it was time for dinner; we drove to Newport for some excellent pizza and then scoped out where we would need to go on Sunday morning. Back at the B&B, we played a game of Bohnanza, which went much the same as our Settlers game had the night before: I started with an early lead, then got stuck while others caught up, and narrowly won in the end. Final scores: Nomad 18, M 17, C 17, Chesh 14. It was only 10pm when we finished the game, but we all retired early, knowing that we would have to wake up before 5:30am on Sunday morning.
Sunday was..... intense. C&M and I woke up, ate a quick and simple breakfast, then left the B&B by 5:45am. We drove back to Newport, parked, and caught the first shuttle bus -- at 6:15am -- to Bembridge. We left Bembridge on foot at 6:46am, beginning the twenty-seven mile Walk the Wight challenge. Nearly eleven hours later, we arrived in Alum Bay, at the finish point -- sore, but happy and immensely satisfied. Success! This challenge is the reason I have been doing all these practice walks, including the seventeen mile walk to Blenheim Palace and the twenty-two mile London walk, in the past two months. I was a little nervous -- as I had never trained beyond twenty-two miles nor had I done serious hill training -- but we made it! Honestly, aside from a fairly miserable patch shortly after stopping for lunch at the halfway point[**], it was not all that bad! Yes, I am sore today and have a couple of [large] blisters on my feet, but I have felt far worse than this. Indeed, most of the walk was quite fun and we were in high spirits. The weather could not have been better -- last year, when C and I attempted this walk, we were hit with a torrential downpour and only made it halfway. This year it was dry and clear and warm... without being too hot. At the start of the day, I wore three layers to keep warm, but I quickly lost two of those... and even needed to hike shirtless for a bit to stay cool during the afternoon. Any warmer would have been unpleasant, but the weather that we had was perfect. Perhaps it was the Weather Gods way to apologise for last year? Also, the clear skies made for some breathtaking views of the island when we were on top of the various hills hiking along. Absolutely stunning! As an added bonus, when we were about four miles from the finish point, we passed less than a mile from the B&B... so Chesh came out to greet us! Twas very sweet of her, and very encouraging to see her smiling face, too!
Altogether, a great weekend! One day of mellowness and one of intensity -- a nice combination! Today, I am taking the day off from work. I have a few errands to tend to here in Oxford and then, in a couple of hours, I am off to London for the afternoon and evening!
[*] And, oddly enough, looks remarkably like my father! Not quite so much that I could mistake one for the other... but enough so that he could be my father's brother. Indeed, he looks more like my father than his actual brother does!
[**] I made the grievous mistake of sitting down for lunch. Bad move!
