Saturday was a lovely sunny day (and my birthday to boot) so we set out early for the Isle of Wight. We crossed to Cowes and then bombed down the cycle path to Newport in the centre of the island. We had a leisurely cruise around that town, taking in a cream tea and a pint by the river and then shot back up to Cowes which we also explored. Taking the chain ferry back across to the main docks in East Cowes we then returned to the main land, passing the Queen Mary 2 and three other ocean liners setting out from Southampton. Saturday evening is clearly the time for cruises to set out.
Cowes Harbour
Cream tea in Newport centre
Beer by the river in Newport
On the chain ferry in Cowes
Queen Mary 2 goes past
Sunday was a more leisurely day spent biking down to and exploring the nearby Netley Abbey, an old 13th century ruin which was huge and most impressive. It was disolved by Henry VIII and turned into a tudor manor house before falling into ruin.
Netley Abbey
Monday dawned another lovely sunny day so we broke camp, drove around to the New Forest and parked up in a layby near Brockenhurst. From there we whizzed around the cycle paths down to Beaulieu and from there up to East Boldre were we had lunch in the lovely pub garden. From there we headed back to Brockenhurst, stopping off to watch some model aeroplanes being flown. Some of them were really rather impressive.
Handy layby in the New Forest
Quick break in Beaulieu
Pub lunch in East Boldre
Mini aerodrome in the forest
This weekend was our last chance to trial our camping set up before we set off for our European Tour in a few weeks. It was also the first time the kitchen pod had been used since it has been bolted into the van (meaning it's always available and I don't need to unbungee it to use it). We found a few bits and pieces we felt we didn't need to take with us for our Tour, and we came up with some efficient ways of storing stuff in the van such that we can easily access it, but so it's also easy to put it away when we want to drive on.
The kitchen pod worked a dream. It was great getting back from a long day out on the bikes, opening up the van and simply popping up the lid of the hob, grabbing the kettle and putting it on. Absolutely zero effort and the kettle had boiled by the time we'd got the biking stuff put away.
The kitchen pod, ready for action
We also used it as a stand for the laptop, which made for an excellent entertainment centre so we could watch a couple of DVDs. We'll no doubt be using this a bit when away.
An evening glass of wine and a movie
One thing we did decide on is that we really need a bike rack. The bikes spent all weekend chained to a fence where we camped up but when we came to move on we had to bring them into the van and bungee them up. This was all very do-able but the inside of the van was then mostly unusable, and it would be much better when travelling to be able to use the space inside the van without having to throw the bikes out. Lunch stops would work much better like this for example. So I'm now on the hunt for a T5 barn door bike rack.
All in all this was a cracking weekend and really helped us making last minute decisions on what we need and what is superfluous for our tour. Can't wait to get going now!
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