Last week we had our usual summer holiday caravan trip at Thorness Bay holiday park on Isle of Wight. It’s our third time there and we still love it. It was really nice to explore a different part of the island too. We had a day out in Shanklin which is a beautiful seaside place to visit and a day out at Blackgang Chine which is a small theme park on the southern part of the Island close to Ventnor.
Thorness Bay had everything you need really but it’s not a park I want to return to. It’s not that anything was bad as such it was just a park in the middle of nowhere. It felt a little bit too quiet for us as a family and I think we prefer the resorts on the eastern side of the Island. However, it was a nice break away and had what you would expect on site including an entertainment lounge, bar and resturant, swimming pool, play park and multisports court. There was also walking access to a private beach and bay.
Driving there from the east cowes ferry terminal was fairly straight forward and took around 30 minutes or so. We got to the park, checked in around 3.30pm and unloaded the car before heading back into Newport and going to morrisons for a quick food shop. We also had some dinner in the cafe there as we were all pretty peckish. We decided to skip the evening entertainment on the Monday night as Felix wanted to move around the caravan. We also had trouble fitting the travel cot in any room other than the living room so we had to co-sleep on the first night then we made a sort of makeshift bed on the floor for him. He actually slept pretty well, it’s just a shame Adam and I didn’t.
The surrounding countryside was beautiful to wake up to I have to say and the whole park was really quiet which was nice. We had an early drive down to Shanklin in the morning for a walk along the beach, had fish and chips for lunch and then spent the afternoon at the Sandown zoo. We got back for some time at the indoor swimming pool which Evie and I did alone as Felix wanted to move around again after lots of time in his car seat and then push chair. We went to the evening entertainment that evening after dinner and it was nice to have a little stroll around the park.
Wednesday was spent on site, we had a pretty chilled out morning and then a late morning swim. Felix had his first time in the pool which was really nice for him. He really enjoyed being in the water. I liked the fact that you could walk down into the pool using steps rather than trying to climb down a ladder with a baby in your arms. He had a lot of fun splashing about so we will be taking him swimming again.
We headed back to the caravan for lunch and some chill out time watching TV and giving Felix some time to crawl around on the floor. Holidaying with a baby requires a lot of chill out time really as they get overwhelmed quickly and where crawling and cruising is so new for him now he’s nine months being stuck in a pushchair is just the worst and I don’t blame him really. We then headed back to the resturant for dinner and a bit of the kids entertainment. Evie spent a lot of time in the park and a bit of time in the arcade too.
Evie struggled this holiday. Her behaviour was not perfect and there was a lot of slamming doors and stomping. It was the worst behaved she’s been on holiday and it sort of ruined it for us actually. We really try and put the most into giving her a good, fun summer holiday every year that’s within our budget and the lack of gratitude was really hard to deal with. I know kids don’t see the behind the scenes stuff like the cost and time and effort planning but she was incredibly vocal about how disappointing it was. I am sort of at my wits end with her extra challenging behaviour these days and I’m not quite sure where to turn.
The last day was spent at Blackgang Chine on the south side of the Island and it is a lovely, fun day out. We got there for 10am opening and started walking around. The backdrop is absolutely stunning views of the sea and there is loads to look at. Evie even braved a few of the rides and Felix had his first Mr Whippy ice cream (well, he finished off mine!) We also purchased Trevor the Sloth.
The holiday was fine but it wasn’t the break I was desperately hoping for if I’m honest. It was nice to get away but the holiday park was too quiet with not enough friends for Evie to make which frustrated her. Our caravan was too far from the park so we couldn’t really let her just go off and play to burn off some steam as it was too far for her to go on her own. The beach area was nice but not really ideal for babies. I think it just wasn’t the holiday park for us really. However, it is always nice to have a break and see a few new things and it was full of plenty of firsts for Felix as well as getting loads of lovely photos. We also got a little video of our time there.
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