200 years ago a very big ship ran into an iceberg and we’ve been talking about it ever since. Today, in unconscious memorial, we caught a boat across to the Isle of Wight to visit with Sophie and Tom. We weren’t that concerned about icebergs during our 15 minutes crossing.
As usual, all of the connections linked up perfectly (a little too perfectly, actually, as they didn’t give us time to visit Costas and South West Trains, clearly not caring about their customers, had a 450 on the Waterloo – Portsmouth run which means no catering on the train) and we arrived happy in Shanklin. Given we’d not had time for Mirinda to grab breakfast (I ate my toast in the car during the drive over to Haslemere) we stopped off at the station cafe for toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches which were delicious, before heading on to Sophie’s.
The day was grey but with little expectation of rain, so we sat and enjoyed a coffee and a chat on the terrace/porch/doorstep, depending on your socio-economic standing. It was here that Tom introduced us to Mr Gum. Mr Gum is a series of hilarious and surreal books for children and they are very, very funny. Actually, we discovered that they’re funnier for adult males than females. So, maybe they’re just silly. Anyway, Tom’s quotes made me laugh a lot.
After a sword fight, a bit of a read of Mr Gum and a lovely lunch prepared by Sophie (although the mystery of the spice packet almost denied us an extremely odoriferous meal) we wandered down to the seafront.
At one point, Mirinda, Sophie and Tom knelt down to smell something. They weren’t too sure about whatever it was.
It was Mirinda’s call for where we went so, after a brief diversion so Tom could go and buy some Jelly Tots (tiny Fruit Pastels), we settled down for a coffee on the terrace of the Ship Inn, where we watched the procession of coaches full of pensioners drive passed, go to the end of the Esplanade, turn around and then drive by again. Clearly it was too cold to get out of the coach so they could only see the sea from behind the safety glass of the windows.
There was a bit of a problem on the way back as Tom wanted to walk home by the cliff but Mirinda (who was in charge of navigation) decided she wanted to go the less direct way. We had some faux tears and an almost tantrum but eventually he calmed down. I rewarded him by letting him travel for the last bit on my shoulders.
And then, a great moment! Tom actually let me play X-Box with him! This has never happened before. He generally won’t even let me hold the controller, preferring to let me watch his skill through the games. I think the difference today was that Kung Fu Panda has dual game play so we could beat each other up, try and defeat the evil ninja and shoot targets. Amazingly, I actually beat him a few times.
Still, all good things (as indeed must bad things) come to an end and we left for the train and ferry home. Again, it all went smoothly although there was a minor concern at Shanklin due to the huge crowd of celebrating men singing, drinking and being generally boisterous. Not that we were that concerned as they were wearing jackets and ties and looked like rugby fans.
The men all crammed into one of the Tube train carriages, while everyone else had the other, and sang all the way to Ryde. It was more funny than frightening and made the trip back to the ferry rather enjoyable in an odd way.
Once more we survived the rigours of the ferry crossing, ignored by any huge blocks of ice and grabbed the next train back to Haslemere.
A lovely day, as usual, on the Isle of Wight.
A lovely day had by all even if the sky is grey.
love mum