[My Canon 600D was unfortunately out of action for this trip, but my flatmate kindly lent me his Nikon 3200, so all was not lost]

We recently had a wonderful trip to the Isle of Wight for a weekend away. Expecting rain, we were pleased and surprised to have hot, dry weather and beautiful blue sky for all three days. We visited beautiful, unspoilt beaches like this one and paddled (although the pebbles were painful!).

Walking down to another beach, we found a stream of little notes, taped to branches and fenceposts, and sometimes to the path itself. So romantic! [She gets excited about these things.] We decided it must be for a husband or boyfriend returning from the army.

Another day, we visited Osborne House, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s favourite home. It was surprisingly intimate and filled with their furniture and memories of their children’s upbringings. The gardens were stunning and stretched down to the sea.

We didn’t mind that the ferry was delayed on our way back because the harbour sunset was beautiful!

Speaking of ferries, we found this next to the Cowes Floating Bridge (a chain ferry) – we would indeed have had time, had we tried!

It was a great weekend and felt like such a holiday, even though it was just an extended weekend. We came back sunburnt [speak for yourself], sandy and happy!