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Something Jon has wanted to do for ages … take the Hovercraft over to the Isle of Wight. I left the arrangements in Jon’s capable hands and are a little investigating, they were running special offers in the Summer Holidays. £25 return trip for 2 adults and up to 3 children on Mondays to Wednesdays.
I spoke to a friend and asked if we could borrow their two boys for the day (well, it turned out to be two days!) and told her what we were doing. The boys were not told what the plans were.
The boys arrived just after 8am and spent the entire morning, including the journey down trying to guess where we were going. Even as we approached Southsea and saw signs saying Hovercraft, they still didn’t twig!
We eventually parked the car, crossed the road and then they twigged … “Are we going on the Hovercraft? Cool!!”
The Hovercraft holds about 100 passengers and takes just 10 minutes to reach Ryde on the Isle of Wight. It was really fast and very cool. The company that runs the Hovercraft had just purchased two new craft – the Solent Flyer and the Island Flyer. The old hovercraft was just sat on the concrete quayside.
We had arrived in Ryde all too quickly and then waited to watch the Hovercraft make its return journey. Doors closed then the skirt was inflated and very quickly, the Hovercraft span around and headed by towards Southsea.
After watching the Hovercraft disappear into the distance, we started to walk around the coastal patch with a slight detour into the Arcades. No seaside town is complete without machines allowing you to waste your money! We’d come prepared – a bag of 2p and 10p pieces that the kids could put into the machines! The Tipping Point style machines were the biggest hit … although the kids did have their eyes on trying to get something out of the grabber machines – the ones that rarely pay out!
After here, we continued to walk along the seafront. There were long sandy beaches that were proving popular as we’d chosen a pretty good day to visit (well, it was dry!!).
The boys had spotted a cafe in the distance, so we decided this might be a good spot for lunch. On the way, we passed Appley Tower …
It took about 30 minutes to reach the cafe – The Dell Cafe. The queues were lengthy and they tried to cram as many tables as possible inside (including one immediately in front of the serving counter which was not very practical). Food ordered (crab sandwich for Jon and a seafood baguette for me). Two of the boys had milkshakes and gave these a big thumbs up.
The boys had found a table outside and the cafe quickly filled up and the food came out pretty quickly. It was pretty good and clean plates all round.
The walk back seemed quicker than going … and the boys were ready for some Crazy Golf. Armed (and as it turned out dangerous!) … just one incident when someone tried to wrap his club around his brothers head! Luckily, he didn’t try too hard and the boys learnt to give each other some space!
From here, the next stop was for ice cream, then we decided to tackle the pier – the second longest in England at 745 yards long.
Cars were allowed to drive down the Pier and had to stick to a strict 10mph. SID machines were in action, as was ANPR! For those that don’t want to walk, there is a train that runs down the Pier too. The old tramway pier runs along the pedestrian/vehicle pier and is rusted and falling into the sea. The pier is a great spot for watching the Hovercraft leave and arrive! The Wightlink Catamaran leaves from the end of the Pier and runs absolutely to schedule (as a couple of lads found out when then pulled up as the gangway was taken in)!
Legs were starting to get tired (“Why can’t we get the train back!”) but they did walk back and we stopped at the little cafe for a drink before making our way back to catch the Hovercraft home.
