Another walk

We are really enjoying our week off work and yesterday we had another walk.  Diego Baboon got up to mischief.  This was rather a strange day because we started on one walk and then turned back and did another, we are not sure why and its not usual Baboon HQ behaviour unless there is too much mud or flooding, which there wasn't!  We started at Brightstone and Diego checked out the cliff path.

This is on the south of the island between Blackgang and Freshwater.  We walked for about half an hour and then about half way through the forest we turned back.  We will do that walk another day while person is still off work.

We drove to Freshwater and walked down our favourite disused railway next to the River Yar.  Diego climbed a tree to get a better look at the river.

The hedges are covered in blossom and Diego wanted to show you.  We walked a different way and found a disused railway station (not surprising on a disused railway line).

This is where Diego got up to a bit of mischief and climbed the signal.  Well he is a baboon.  This disused station is a cafe now, and a bike hire company.

Diego may be mischievous but he knows that the Baboon HQ budget is not for paying fines.  This railway gate threatens that anyone who does not shut and fasten the gate will be liable for a penalty not exceeding 40 shillings.  Well 40 shillings is not so much these days but Diego made sure nobody could accuse him of not shutting and fastening the gate.

We came out at the seafront just outside Yarmouth and Diego had a rest looking at the sea.

Finally we walked back along the river and Diego had a climb to prove he was a baboon.

Another lovely day out followed by tea and a nap.

Long sunny walk

Today was another lovely day and my person is off work this week so we went for another long walk.  We started from home and walked along the seafront at Ryde.

Harry loves the sandy beach here and he likes to look at the boats.

Still on the seafront, at Springvale, Harry could see Seaview which was our first destination.

Harry admired the shingle beach at Seaview.  A lot of people visit Seaview to go sailing.

Moving on we turned inland and walked through fields from Seaview to St Helen's (that is a little village on Baboon Island, not the big town in Lancashire).

We baboons always giggle here, can you see the crazy tree that is much taller than the others?  It is a mobile phone mast disguised as a tree.  Does it fool you?

We reached Bembridge and after stopping for coffee at our favourite cafe, the Toll Gate, we walked along to Bembridge Mill.  This is quite old and small, it belongs to the National Trust.  We will go in one day.

We were making for Brading, and there was still a way to go.

We walked down a few hills and along the sea wall.  This is the ancient sea wall.  I know it doesn't look much like a sea wall and it is quite a long way inland but Brading Harbour used to come up this far.  It has been silted up for centuries now and makes a lovely walk.

We crossed the airfield at Bembridge and into the countryside of Brading Marshes.  On top of the hill in the background you can see Bembridge Fort, it looks like trees from here.  It was a Roman fort but more recently I think it has been an IT company premises.

You can hardly see Harry in this one but ahead the white buildings are the village of Brading where we were going.

After crossing the fields we entered some woods, where we did some climbing.  There were lots of bluebells, you can see some of them in the background.

Before leaving the countryside to walk along the tarmac path into Brading we stopped to have a look around.  You can see for miles from here.  It is a beautiful walk.

We stopped to have a chat with some cattle who love to look at the same view and then walked into Brading.

In Brading we went for lunch at the Waxworks Cafe, in the building that used to be a wax work museum.  It was a very yummy lunch, cheese and appleslaw sandwich with fries and salad.  After a nine mile walk we deserved it.

The cafe has a chocolate shop attached with a lot of lovely looking chocolates.  Harry found these Isle of Wight chocolate bars.

After lunch we took the bus home for a cup of tea and a nap on the sofa.  It was a long hot walk but lovely!!

Russell goes out for May Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day and it was May Day so we decided to do a good long walk.  We drove over to Yarmouth to start walking the Freshwater Way.  Russell, who has just returned to Baboon HQ wanted to be in the pictures.  This was his first outing ever.

At Yarmouth Harbour Russell was fascinated by the boats.  He has never been on a boat but he thought they looked fun.

Boats look good but baboons and boats don't really mix, so we started off walking down the disused railway alongside the River Yar.  The Yar is tidal and the tide was low so we could see lots of plants that are often hidden by water and a little egret was there, you can just see him, the white bird in the water.  Russell stopped for a chat.

The chilly spring seems to have suited the bluebells.  There are lots of them everywhere.  Russell rather liked them.

There are also a lot of primroses still around and Russell like them as well.

At the church on the causeway at Freshwater, Russell stopped to pay his respects.  This is quite an old and beautiful cemetery.  The chilly spring seems to have stopped the trees, over on the west of the island, from getting as much blossom as over here in the east.

Further along Russell spotted some donkeys in a field and stopped for a chat.

The donkeys were very friendly and Russell stopped for a long talk with them.

Russell had a really great day out.  He enjoyed himself, and I think we will have trouble keeping him in in future.  Mini-Kolo better watch out.

Last weekend

It has been a long time coming, this year, but last weekend we had really nice weather.  Harry went on some adventures.  On Saturday Henry @henryandfriends was visiting the island, so we met for coffee.

The boys had coffee in Michelangelo's in Ryde. Well neither were really interested in the coffee but you can see they were enjoying the macaroon biscuits.

On Sunday we went for a walk,  We started by driving over to Freshwater.

The weather was lovely so it was a great drive.

The first thing to do was to climb this hill.  Harry checked it out before embarking on it.  It's quite a long and steep climb.

From the top Harry looked over Freshwater bay and Freshwater town.  It was a lovely clear day.

More climbing, not so steep but very long, up to the Tennyson monument, on the top of Tennyson Down. This is a memorial to Alfred Lord Tennyson who was the poet laureate in Victorian times and spent much of his time at his house in Freshwater, called  Farringford.  It is a hotel now.

There were views of the English Channel, Freshwater Bay, all the way to where Blackgang Chine is, where we went for a tweetup last summer, and over the Solent (the stretch of water between our island and the mainland), to the mainland and Hurst Castle, which was one of Henry VIII's fortresses to protect England from the Spanish who he thought might invade by coming down the Solent.

Then we walked down the other side of the hill, where Harry could see the Tennyson Memorial.  This is when we told him that it was not a circular walk and we would have to go back up that hill later.  He was brave about it.

Harry turned around to look at where we were still going to walk.  This is Needles Down and takes us to above the Needles, the chalk stacks that stand off the most westerly point on the island.  There is another fort there, called the Needles Battery.  That one was built to protect the Solent from the French when Napoleon was trying to take over Europe and it has been used more recently.  However, that is at a lower level so we didn't go in.

Harry found a signpost to make sure we were going the right way.

He also checked out the way back to Freshwater, just in case.

Of course, as always Harry decided to do what we baboons do and climb some trees on the way.

It was a very nice day out and we were happy to feel the sun on our fur!!

A rehoming and a return

Hello, I have been quite slow to blog about the latest re-homing.  It happened in January but I have only just got around to it.  Our dear friend @BiddyBT has already re-homed Brian, who has trained as a lumbar jack and keeps them in firewood.  Just before Christmas Brian asked whether we could find him an apprentice to help him in his work.  I put out a call and found a young relative of mine who was living in Kentucky.  Just after Christmas he came over to Baboon HQ, and we sent him off to join Brian.

Brian on the left has been with Biddy since May 2015, Jingle, in the white T-shirt, joined him in January and is learning to be be a lumbar jack.  I hear they are getting on very well and Jingle is fitting right in.

Brian and Jingle work hard but there is plenty of time for fun.  You know how baboons love to climb and Jingle wasted no time following Brian climbing up the tree trunk.

You can see that Jingle has joined a big family.  After a hard day's work its lovely to rest in the sun with friends and family.

Its not all about work by far, Jingle climbed on Brian and helped others up.  That's good, co-operation!!

Then a picnic in the sunshine.

We can see that Jingle has followed Brian in becoming a smart dresser and is fitting in well and having fun, as well as learning to be a lumbar jack.  Everyone does their bit at Biddy's house and they all dress really well!

Now, meet Russell baboon.  Here he is with me.  Russell was re-homed from Baboon HQ in 2012.  He had a good time but the time came when his re-homing had to end and he has been welcomed back at Baboon HQ.  Of course, now that he is a Baboon HQ baboon, he is supporting Arsenal, as we all do here, so we had an Arsenal shirt all ready for him.

Russell has already made friends with Ryan and Aboo so he is settling in well.