By accident I found out that my favourite place, Ventnor Botanic Gardens, has a small campsite which I never knew about. I managed to book the pitch (there is only one pitch!) last month, so, no matter the weather, we had to go.

Unfortunately it rained a lot, but we still had a good time, and the place is amazing, like prehistoric tropical paradise (but with drizzle).

It was the first time squashing all the camping gear into my tiny car, just about made it!

Included in your pitch fee is entrance to the gardens, even during out of hours, so we had a few night time lantern walks which the kids loved.

We saw four glow worms, just a few metres from our tent! There are also a few lizards to be seen too (see the end of this post). The kids said this was the best bit of the whole trip.

The rocks at Steephill.

(that's not me)

You can also hire the teepee, for an extra £10 a night (I think) but you will have to share it with Mr & Mrs Lizard.