Isle of Wight
Reviewed by Lauren Gee
Chinese New Year is something the kids have been learning about at school.They’re fascinated by the idea of all the dragons, lions and dancing – and they wanted to see what happens for real. So this Sunday morning saw us sitting in the Ferryport at Lymington… not heading to China, but to the Isle of Wight!
Robin Hill Adventure Park, set right in the heart of the Isle, has a Spirit of the Orient event running as part of their Electric Woods series. It’s on all through this February half-term, and it promises lion dances, a dragon parade, hundreds of illuminated lanterns and some oriental food and adventuring.
First, we had to get there though.
We travelled to the Isle of Wight with Wightlink, and the ferry turned up right on time, much to the delight of the kids who were able to watch it making its way across the Solent and dock before we ran back to our car and then drove on board. Checking in and boarding was remarkably quick and easy – within a couple of minutes we were on board and climbing the stairs to the passenger deck. The ferry on the way out was pretty busy but we were still able to find some seats. The kids were kept entertained exploring the boat (we went up briefly to the sun deck, which has open air seating) and watching the multitude of yachts out of the windows during the brief journey. I was a little disappointed to find I was on baby duty, because the only baby-change was in the ladies toilets – but there were at least plenty of clean, spacious toilets to choose from!
We let the kids choose a treat each from the on-board shop, which had a variety of snacks, drinks, sweets, magazines and Isle of Wight mementoes; and the sweets that they chose were priced about the same as you’d expect to pay in the local convenience store. Better than I was expecting.
When the tannoy went off to tell us to head back to the car, there were enough stairs that there wasn’t mass overcrowding to make it back to the lower deck. The stairs are quite steep for little ones, but there is a lift available if you have a pushchair or mobility problems. Before long we were sat in car, the ferry was stopped and we were given the all clear to disembark – again a swift and painless process.
We spent a little time exploring the Isle of Wight before heading to Robin Hill Adventure Park – the Spirit of the Orient starts at 5pm and goes on until 9pm. That’s quite late if you have younger children, and I had a look at the website before we went to see if there was a timetable (and if it’s necessary to stay all the way through until 9). Although there is a fantastic video that got the kids really excited there wasn’t much in the way of detailed event information. Luckily, having made our way to the entrance after parking easily in the spacious and accessible car park, we were handed a detailed programme (after a couple of minutes of queuing to get in). We were also given some fortune cookies in shiny red wrappers, which the kids enthusiastically ripped into while we looked at what we could do.
It turns out that the Spirit of the Orient is geared towards younger as well as older children, with three different sessions of traditional southern lion dancing available to watch, and various family dragon processions on offer throughout the evening. This means if you have young children, you can let them have a play, watch the lion dance and take part in a procession, and still be home for a reasonable bedtime. The first lion dance was at 6pm, and so we had an hour before that which the kids made good use of, climbing around the treetop trail adventure playground in the dusk before we took a walk around all the brightly lit pathways towards the arena. There were so many fantastic illuminations – lanterns, stars, dragons, and Chinese symbols – that we were constantly exclaiming over something. Even our ten-month-old was intrigued and excited, despite it coming ever closer to her bedtime. We arrived at the lion dancing amphitheatre with plenty of time to spare… and then saw the squirrel tower – a tall wooden structure with a spiral netting to climb up to the top. The kids ran straight in and got going, with the eldest making it to the top with no trouble. I headed in myself to give the younger one (she’s only three) a confidence boost and it was definitely worth the climb as once we got there we could see all the lights winding through the now-dark woods.
There was plenty of seating available in the woodland amphitheatre, and pretty much right on time a yellow lion peeped around the wooden panels in the pagoda before coming out to play. From the moment they saw its head the kids were enraptured, and watched excitedly as it was joined by a second, red lion. The lions had so many amazing moves and cleverly acted out so many different scenarios (the kids loved the yellow lion playing hide and seek best!) that there were no cries of ‘I’m bored’ or ‘I want to go home’. The lions walk up and down the aisles so even if you aren’t sitting on the benches at the front you still get an excellent view and a lot of interaction. At the end, the yellow lion stayed for photos and was fantastic with the little ones, making sure they weren’t scared by ‘wagging’ it’s tail and batting it’s eyelids at them!
Following the lion dance, the kids were all invited to grab a pole and take part in the dragon procession. For those who weren’t able to get a pole, flashing light sticks were handed out to guide the dragon on his way, making sure no-one felt left out. As the dragon made its way through the woods, past all the wonderful illuminations, I did feel it was a bit quiet – it would have been even better with a drumbeat going on! But the kids enjoyed themselves anyway and the pace was about right, with the staff making sure that smaller children were looked after and not struggling. The procession finishes with the dragon making a loop around the lake, and ending up in front of the Woodland Wok and Bar which has plenty of picnic bench seating. By that point we were definitely ready for something to eat!
The food on offer includes a few oriental style dishes, prawn crackers and spring rolls, and chicken goujons and chips for those who aren’t so keen on rice. There was only one savoury food van, and the queue did get pretty big straight after the parade although at other times it moved quickly enough (and there is also the Noodle Hut available, further into the woods). Our three year old was getting cold and tired waiting, so we made our way to the sweet options first and got stuck in to some ‘glow floss’ while we waited – candy floss on a rainbow coloured glow stick! At £2.50 I was amazed how reasonably priced that was, especially as you got a reusable glow wand to keep once the candy floss was eaten. Other options included pineapple or banana fritters, freshly cooked, or three marshmallows on a stick to roast over the open fire (we got some of those too!).
Once we got the savoury food, that was very tasty, and lovely and hot which was definitely needed as it was becoming quite cold. If you’re heading along to the Spirit of the Orient yourself then definitely remember to take hats, scarves and gloves! We warmed everyone up for the walk around the rest of the woods with a hot chocolate complete with mini marshmallows, which went down nicely after a little sample of bubble tea (a fruit flavoured juice with little popping bubbles inside).
Despite saying that they were a bit cold (our fault for not bringing enough warm things) the kids insisted they wanted to take part in the dragon procession again in the opposite direction back up to the amphitheatre, and then stay and watch the lions dance one more time. By this point it was well past their bedtime and I was expecting grumpiness but they enjoyed it so much they were still completed enthralled. Our ten-month-old was squealing for more!
I did take the pushchair in with us in case she wanted a nap, and the whole wood is very pushchair friendly with nice wide flat pathways (they do get steep at points so make sure you wear grippy shoes). There were lots of people there but there was so much to see that it never felt crowded or busy. When we left, there were still a couple of things we hadn’t seen, and had we been staying on the Isle of Wight longer we would definitely have gone back for another night – the great thing about buying a ticket (which costs £9.95, and free for under 4’s) is that you can return as many times as you want all week! The kids are already asking when we can go back again, so next time we will plan to stay for a couple of days and make the most of it.
Getting out of the car park was easy, and we only had a short journey to Fishbourne where we were just in time for a ferry to Portsmouth (we were booked on the 10pm sailing but Wightlink allowed us to go on the earlier one which was lovely!). The return crossing was as smooth and efficient as going out was, with the kids kept occupied watching the lights of Portsmouth approaching and the baby fast asleep in her car seat.
For a family day out I can’t recommend it enough, even though we were just there for the day we really felt like we’d been transported off on holiday to a faraway magical world. Going by ferry, combined with all the incredibly well planned and carefully thought out goings-on at Robin Hill Adventure Park made it a really special day and a fantastic start to the half term.
We all agreed that it is excellent value for money – even with the cost of the ferry on top of tickets for the event, it still works out cheaper than a day at some theme parks, and if you stay on the Isle of Wight for longer then it’s better value still!
The whole family are agreed that it gets a resounding five out of five stars.
We can’t wait to visit again when we’re on the Isle of Wight in May.
Rating: 5/5 
For more information, event or to book tickets online for Robin Hill Adventure Park and Gardens visit www.robin-hill.com or call 01983 527352 (ext 2).
For ferry bookings with WightLink with fares for foot passengers from £13.60 or vehicles from £42.50 visit www.wightlink.co.uk or call 0333 999 7333.
Wightlink is the leading cross-Solent ferry operator. It carries almost five million holidaymakers and Islanders across the Solent every year. Nine ferries on three routes complete 48,000 sailings a year.
