Isle of Wight Tweetup

11-14 July 2014

Once again, we started our day with a hearty breakfast. We suggested to the Bobs that they should stay behind in the hotel so they didn't wander off again. They said that was fine, they were playing Spot-the-Bob in the mirror when we left.

BooBoo's mum wanted to go to church on Sunday morning so Martha agreed to pick her up from there, while we took BooBoo with us and headed south-west to The Needles Landmark Attraction. We wanted to ride the chairlift but the girls weren't keen. It looked like it was going to be another sunny day!

When we arrived we saw they were offering discounted tickets if we bought a book of twelve so we thought it would be worth it to split amongst our humans. As usual, bears go free! We made our way over to the Chairlift ticket barrier - as the place was only just opening there wasn't a queue. Di made sure Theo and BooBoo were safe in her backpack as they don't have harnesses. However, she put them to the front so they could see the view!

What a great view of The Needles themselves! Theo claims he was basking in the sun in the picture (below centre) and not that he had his eyes closed! Hmm. I'll admit going past the pylons when the car shakes is always a little unnerving.

We were soon at the bottom and got off to take a look around - there were a few people following us down to the beach.

It's a pebble beach but we made ourselves as comfy as we could to get a picture of us sitting in front of the Needles - the girls would surely be jealous of us when they saw this! There were a couple of boat trips being offered down here - a slower one, due to leave shortly and a faster speedboat type. However, as Di's not a great sailor - and we had to get back for the girls - we decided against it.

I think Theo was being a bit of a smart alec down here as he'd gathered a pile of stones up when he saw this sign. I left him to it before he got me into trouble. Then, look at this (below right), they had some caution tape across part of the beach where the cliffs presumably had some possibility of collapse. Once again, we knew where we'd find Theo. He's incorrigible!

Eventually, the slower boat got underway - that's it, below left. From down here we were quite surprised how high the top of the chairlift was.

We took a bit of a mosey along the beach the other way and got another photo or two.

There is a wooden staircase up to the top from the beach but - if you look closely - the bottom is missing! Presumably washed away in the storms. I liked the emergency sign up just above where the steps disappear!

Soon it was time to head back up to the top. Di tried to get pictures of Frank and I but her arms aren't long enough - maybe this is what those selfie sticks are for? She did her best and we were more concerned she didn't drop us - if I'm honest.

As we came back over land, we relaxed a little bit.

We all smiled our best smile as they take a photograph of you as you arrive. The final photo is not very good, probably because it has the humans on it.

As we came in to land the guys operating the chairs had a bit of a laugh that so many bears were riding. As if it doesn't happen every day of the week!

We went to the kiosk to pick up our photograph - an extra £5, but at least you could see all of us on it - wonder if we can photoshop out the humans! Then we were going to see the sweet-making, but it wasn't for a while so we decided to have a drink while we waited. We got a bottle of Coke with Marta on it - they didn't have a Martha, so it was the best we could do. At the appointed time, we all headed to the Sweet Manufactory to see how boiled sweets were made. Each of the humans had to hand over a token for this one.

We were able to shove ourselves to the front - we're only little - and had a great view through the window into the factory. They pour out the melted sugar onto a metal table.

In one corner they added something to part of the mix and mixed it in - this sugary mixture is split into dark and light to make a humbug! You can see the mix starts to set quite quickly on the cool metal table - helped by cool water they pump through it.

The light and dark brown sections of the sugar mix are split - one guy took each part - you should be able to see the two different colours below. They begin to manipulate the mixture to ensure it's thoroughly mixed and also helping to cool it down so they can move on to the next part.

It is really quite stiff when they pick up the sugar mix and place it on this stretching machine.

This machine pulls and twists the sugar mix, lightening the colour and changing the texture as it pulls and twists the mixture about itself. Once ready they cut and pull the mix into lengths, alternating light and dark brown mix, side by side.

The stripy ropes are put together to make a slab which they then roll up, so the colours are completely interlaced. This tube is then laid into a set of rollers which form a cone-like shape. As the sugar mix passes along the rollers, the shape encourages the mix into thinner and thinner strands.

Eventually, thin strands - about 1cm across - come out of the tiny end of the machine. With a bit of encouragement the guys then persuade this thin chain through another machine that cuts the humbug chain into individual humbugs - these are about an inch long. Okay, so I just mixed metric and imperial measurements - sue me - that's how long they are. 2.5cm long, okay? Happy now? You can see the individual sweets on this machine, below right, though the cutter doesn't always cut all the way through. By this time the mix is fairly brittle however, so when they fall out at the end into a metal pot, they will break apart.

These individual humbugs are then placed into a big metal pot with some very fine sugar to help reduce any stickness of the sweets, so they don't all stick back together again. Then, they poured this demonstration batch of sweets out into a tin dish and offered them to us! Woohoo! They were very pepperminty and nice.

After the demonstration we headed into the shop to see the finished product. They make a variety of flavours - we saw them making old-fashioned humbugs, but Theo liked the look of the rhubarb and custard flavour.

They have a number of celebrity coin-operated rides alongside the shop so we decided we all wanted to have a go on the Trumpton Fire Engine - which was a great idea as it was also the cheapest ride! Just 30p. Great value for money if you ask me, just check our movie below. There wasn't room for the whole crew but Captain Flack was a true professional!

We did, of course, take the time to pose with the other vehicles - Bob the Builder, the Pink Panther and the awesome Flintstones car!

Next we decided to ride the carousel. We had two goes! The first time BooBoo and Martha took turns riding on her horse with Assistant Di.

Then we decide for our second ride we all wanted to ride our own horse - it was a little snug but none of us fell off! Although Willow had to do a little side-saddle on the back as it was a little slippy.

There was a bit of a debate next whether we should do vintage cars or tea-cups but, when the guy operating the tea cups disappeared for five minutes, that decided for us.

We convinced the humans to go buy another ticket so we could ride in two cars. We decided to go girls versus boys. Our ride was clearly better. Probably.

Having used up all our tickets, we went to take a took at the monument which marks the site of the Needles Wireless Telegraph Station where Guglielmo Marconi carried out experiments in early wireless communication, from 1897 to 1900.

We all had our photos taken in front of the Needles too, but it was a bit windy!

Then we got some pictures of the Needles without us, as they were very hard to see in the distance.

On our way back to our B&B, we decided to stop off for a cream tea at a place recommended by our landlady. This was Warren Farm Farmhouse Cream Teas. As the name suggests, this is in a farm setting and you order your cream tea from a hatch to the kitchen. Amongst us we ordered cream teas and drinks to share.

While the setting was pretty and quiet, the service was a little lacking and the scones just ordinary, not exceptional. That said, we bears do love our cream teas - jam first of course (you get more cream on that way!)

Martha and her humans returned to their B&B for their included dinner, and we decided to go back to the Jasmine for another Indian meal. It is such a bear-friendly place and they do great Indian food. We even let Bob and 2Bob come with us - under close supervision - and they got back safely!

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