Day 2: Monday

After a fairly awful nights sleep, I felt remarkedly ok this morning - I can never get comfortable in a sleeping bag (need to stretch out too much), but I can't fit a duvet on a bike! Adrian and Hannah popped to Waitrose in time for it to open for breakfast provisions and returned with decadent cereal and croissants/pastries. Two cups of tea, a play in the play area (the kids, not us!), sunscreen applied and we headed out on very light bikes to visit Osbourne house. A long steep hill up all the way but only 1.5 miles and safe in the knowledge it would be all down hill home! Whilst locking up the bikes Adrian realised he had left the keys back at the campsite, so while the kids and I chilled on a bench, he cycled the whole way there and back again - needless to say a lot quicker by himself!

Osbourne House was the family holiday home of Queen Victoria and is now owned by English Heritage. After looking carefully at the map of other sites owned by them and realising that this trip would cost almost half the yearly membership anyway we signed up for a 15 month special deal. So we are now fully paid up members of both English Heritage and the National trust!

The estate is over 250acres. We visited the main house first, followed by a minibus to the beach where we ate our 'Waitrose' picnic and splashed out on a cuppa from the cafe. The kids enjoyed a paddle and traditional Punch and Judy show and I enjoyed a sit on a deck chair! We then took a walk to Swiss Cottage - a house that Prince Albert built for his children to learn how to run a home. After a play in the play area, we headed back up to the main house and our bikes ready for the glide home which was very pleasant after all the walking.

We all had a quick dip in the pool and I did the usual hand wash of some clothes and we then headed out to dinner in West Cowes. This involves taking the chain-link ferry across the Medina river - also useful to check out as we will be taking the same route with our bikes tomorrow.

I was somewhat disappointed by West Cowes as I had been expecting a bustling seaside town with plenty of restaurants overlooking the sea. It didn't live up to expectations and although we ate in a nice pub with a sea view, the kids were disappointed not to be able to get fish and chips! It might be due to a natural lull after the Cowes regatta last week. 

The children are tired after a lovely day today so I hope they are OK in the morning for the longer ride south. We need to stop in Newport at Screwfix for some waterproofing as the tent is leaking and if we have time we may make a quick diversion to Carrisbrooke castle now we are English Heritage members! It will all depend on how much time it takes to pack up and load the bikes - we got quite good at it in France, but are now out of practice!