Jimmy does the Christmas Shopping

Hello, its been a while since we blogged.  When the people are working we don't do so much.  However, last week we were joined at Baboon HQ by an orangutan called Jimmy.  He is proud to be the Baboon HQ orangutan.  Every year somebody needs to go with the people to get the Christmas dinner.  Last year Harry Baboon went, this year Jimmy Orangutan offered to go.

Christmas dinner shopping day always starts with a treat, breakfast at the Bembridge Bakery.  Jimmy started by admiring their Christmas decorations.

They had done a good job as always.  But that wasn't the main point of going there, it was for breakfast.

Jimmy stuck to the Baboon HQ tradition, by having toast and marmalade with tea.  It was delicious, as always.

Next they had to go to Newport, to pick up the main part of the Christmas dinner.  Jimmy decided to check out what else was on offer.  Chocolates and wine seemed to attract his attention.

He had been told that sprouts were traditional Christmas food, although baboons don't eat them.  Jimmy checked them out, but decided he didn't fancy them.

He liked the Christmas crackers, they were quite pretty.

He found the things that he was looking for, bananas!!  Orangutans share the baboons' love of bananas.

They picked up the Christmas dinner, its not a turkey, as we are vegetarians at Baboon HQ, its a mushroom wellington, from Marks and Spencer.  The vegetables came from the fantastic Barrow Boys in Ryde.  Great vegetables and friendly service, with good advice.  They told Jimmy to get Maris Piper potatoes for roasting.  So we will be having mushroom wellington, roast potatoes and roasted root vegetables.  Jimmy did a good job, but that wasn't the end of his excitement.

Jimmy had fancied the strudel at the Bembridge Bakery, so he brought some home for all of us.  It was not the traditional apple strudel, it was a Christmas version, with mixed dried fruit.  It was delicious.

After a hard day's work, there was another treat, we had pizza.  It was Jimmy's first pizza at Baboon HQ.  He wanted to share with his friends who help to flavour our food, with salt and pepper.

Jimmy had a great day and did a good job, I think he will fit in well at Baboon HQ.  Thank you for reading about Jimmy's day.  Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and new year.

A trip away

During our holiday we have taken a couple of short trips.  You have seen our trip to Sandwich, in Kent.  This time we went for a bit longer, to Broadstairs, in Kent.  We were going to Buxton but we decided to stay a bit closer to home.  Mini-Kolo took our travelling bear Tom with him.  Tom is a Thompson's Holidays bear so travel is in his stuffing.

A road trip involves lunch on the road.  Tom is good at selecting places.  He chose the West Cornwall Food Company at Folkestone Services.  This vegetable pasty was very nice.

Broadstairs is a coastal town in Kent.  Charles Dickens had connections there and stayed there a lot.  He wrote part of Nicholas Nickelby there.  It also has a bay which, apparently, had Viking connections.

We booked into the fantastic Royal Albion Hotel in Broadstairs (highly recommended).  Mini-Kolo showed Tom how to climb on the bunk beds in the corner of the room.

After unpacking there has to be a stroll.  North Forelands lighthouse is always a good destination for an afternoon stroll.  It is automated now and the buildings are holiday cottages.

Nobody can ever go to Broadstairs without visiting the fantastic, awesome Morelli's ice cream parlour, which has been there since 1907.  Mini-Kolo is no exception to that and following the walk to and from North Forelands lighthouse, a raspberry ripple was just the thing.

We had dinner in the hotel bar, where Mini-Kolo had a view of the bay.

Some decisions are more difficult than others.  Cod and chips or scampi and chips, well hey!! Order both and have a bit of each.  These were the most awesome chips we have had in ages.

The next morning Tom was very impressed by the breakfast buffet.  What a choice!!

We went for a stroll and Mini-Kolo wasted no time in finding a fantastic bakery with nice bread and cakes.  He wrote down the address to go back later.

We walked to Ramsgate, there were no real photo opportunities on that walk, as it was a bit wet and windy.  However, Ramsgate is interesting and we had a good time and came back to the bakery for lunch.

Broadstairs is a great place for fish and Tom stopped for a chat with this very jolly fisherman.  The fish may have been a bit smelly.

After lunch we were a bit tired because of the long walk to Ramsgate and back, so we drove to Margate to have a look at Dreamland, it wasn't really operating, but Tom found that Morellis had a stall there with this giant ice cream to climb on.

In the evening Mini-Kolo got a bit excited about his pizza, the wine may have been responsible for his unstable stance.  This was at Posillipo Pizzeria in Albion Street, next to the hotel.  It was delicious.

The next day was much nicer weather and we went for a walk in the opposite direction, towards Margate.  Starting out at Viking Bay.

We walked to the next bay, Joss Bay, which was another nice sandy beach.

We carried on and soon came to this castle.  Mini-Kolo and Tom did some climbing and stopped for a rest in the sun.

We walked on further.  Mini-Kolo thought he had walked a long way, but he was quite surprised to see he had got to Botany Bay, he thought that was in Australia.  Well of course it is a different Botany Bay, and Mini-Kolo soon realised that.

We walked on to the next bay, which was called Palm Bay, the one noticeable thing about it was that there were no palms!!  We had coffee at a little beach cafe called Jet Ski World, where they hired out jet skis.  We did not get any photos there.

After lunch at the bakery it seemed necessary to go back to Morelli's for a banana split.  Mini-Kolo was amazed that it arrived in a gondola.  It was delicious and both Mini-Kolo and Tom enjoyed it very much.

After the very big ice cream they needed a stroll and they walked around the bay.  They found this boat and wondered whether they could borrow it.

Finally they were hungry again and enjoyed a very tasty Thai dinner at the Siam Kitchen in Albion Street.

Broadstairs is a lovely little town with more restaurants for its size than anywhere else we have ever been.  If you stay in the town you never have to walk far to get a nice lunch or dinner.  It is also a buzzing place with lots of exciting people from language schools.  We recommend a visit.  The Albion Hotel is lovely and there are also some great Bed and Breakfast hotels.  Some days you can even see France from the seafront.

George at Newtown

Today George was photographed on our walk.  This is a very different walk from previous ones.

We started in the village of Shalfleet, behind the very nice New Inn pub.  We walked over past Shalfleet Mill and into a wooded area and across two fields.

After turning towards Newtown we came across these apples, vegetables and flowers from sale.  We have often bought produce from this stall, but not today.

George is a friendly chap so he stopped to chat with these sheep.

Next we came to Newtown bridge.  One of the most beautiful and peaceful places on the island.

Just a few steps further on we came to this lovely little town hall.  It is Georgian and is probably the smallest town hall in England.  It is no longer used and is maintained by the National Trust.

Walking through the very pretty village of Newtown we came across the village pump.  George is interested in mechanical things so he wanted to see how it worked.

Over a gate George saw his first glimpse of Newtown Harbour, our destination.

After walking around two fields George came to the harbour wall, where he could see the creek clearly.

He stopped to read about the area and what goes on there.  I am not sure how much he could read from up there, but he assures me he read every word.

When you leave the harbour you walk along this boardwalk over the wetlands.  Whether it is actually wet under there depends on the tide.  Today the tide was low so the boardwalk was dry.

You can look back at the harbour, over the fields from there.

After walking back to the village and crossing two fields we entered another wooded area which took us out to another part of the creek.  Then it was time to turn around and go back the village, across another couple of fields.  We retraced our steps to Shalfleet and had lunch.

It is a pretty walk and quite unusual.  The village of Newtown is well worth visiting and if you are a bird watcher you would find lots to interest you in this area.

Harry in the valley

On Tuesday Harry did a challenging walk, where he looked down on a lovely valley.  Today he visited the valley.  He started at Shanklin railway station.

He walked down the disused railway.

He came to this side path which interested him, as it would have taken him up onto the downs that he walked on on Tuesday, but by an easier route.

It looks much easier, but he would have missed some of the best views.

Harry wanted to check which way to go.  He had come from Shanklin and needed to get to Wroxall next.

Harry saw these really ripe rose hips on the way.  They look a bit like Chinese lanterns.

When he got to Wroxall he came off the railway and crossed the road, where he found a signpost to his next destination.

This is the path he needed to follow towards Godshill.

Now that he was in the valley he looked at the surrounding downs to find where he had been on Tuesday.  The third picture shows the downs he walked on.

You don't really expect to see these ornate gates in a field.  They are the gates to the manor house at Wroxall, Appuldurcombe, the home of the Worsley family.  It has quite an interesting history.

You can find out more about it here.

Harry stopped to admire the countryside, before carrying on through the gates.

From here Harry could see the Brading downs to the east of the island.  He walked on in that direction towards Godshill.  He had coffee at Godshill, but Harry was not interested because they didn't give him any biscuits or chocolate to have with his coffee.

He had sandwiches for lunch and Harry ate them, back in the field, sitting on a tree stump and looking towards the south of the island.

He made his way back to Wroxall and up onto the railway line.

Getting on and off of the railway is quite a climb and Harry had to use these steps in both directions.  He is amazed at the number of steps he has needed to climb up or down this week.

Back on the railway Harry loved the colours of these berries.

Part of the way back he met these highland cattle.  We do love these chaps with their floppy fringes and kind faces.

He continued on back to Shanklin.  He had been going to do a different walk, along cliff paths, but it had rained heavily yesterday and was a bit breezy today, so it didn't seem the best idea.  We may well do it tomorrow if the paths are not too slippery.