Amazon World Zoo saw us first. Attached to a garden centre, it had (to me) a good childrens’ play area with a lost world tinge to it. Cute meerkats, laid-back wallabies, a real live red panda. Zoos have moved on since they started as displays of the exotic, now more focussed on endangered species and fast food chains destroying rainforests.

We then navigated our way to Haven Falconry which had various raptors tied to perches, or in cages. Not large, we didn’t pay to fly a kite or falcon, or walk a ferret.

Haven Falconry was in the grounds of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which was to me more involving. Volunteers tending the geriatric coaches and steam locomotives, seeing the iron dinosaurs of the past belching black smoke, sitting in ancient first class carriages. We arrived at the same time as coaches which disgorged large groups, but by the time we had seen the raptors the coach parties had all but vanished onto the trains which ran regularly.

We had too much to eat at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, the pasties and beans and chips were very generous. Then it was off to the Butterfly World IOW, nestling beside another garden centre. I hadn’t realised that butterfly farming was good business in some third world countries. Didn’t quite understand the Italianate and Oriental style gardens there but they were photogenic.

Hiccups at a roundabout, and inexact navigation in Godshill, soured our return journey via a Morrisons in Newport.

We dined at The Chequers in Rookley, not a bad place with real fires (glad we weren’t too close to them). We arrived to find a party of men, some in suits, and some in high spirits, but happily we didn’t have to sit near there. They served us well, and the gravy with my shortcrust pie was proper gravy. It started to rain towards the end of our meal just to remind us we hadn’t managed to leave the United Kingdom.

On the way back noticed that the school prefers to be called “Goodshill” not “Godshill”. Political correctness gets everywhere. GE’s spell checker didn’t like God either but was fine with Allah go reckon. The Cherry Lodge is only a year old Rob told us yesterday, it’s well appointed the deskside lamps in the bedrooms have USB sockets in them which is very good.