Drowned rats had nothing on us.

I and three fellow walkers have just returned from a long weekend walking round the coast of the Isle of Wight.

Now in June, on a weekend that is the longest one of the year you might assume that the weather would be good - wrong!! I have never been so wet in all my life.

Things started well and the journey was in glorious sunshine although a short walk along the front that evening did mean waterproof jackets. That was just drizzle though and I, in all my optimism awoke to shades of blue and grey in the sky and hopes of a sunny day. Unfortunately by the time we set off the rain was on again but only lasted for an hour and the rest of the day was great. We ate lunch outside in Cowes while we watched the place prepare for the following day’s 'Round the Island Race'.

Day two was beautiful and we walked in shorts and strappy tops, through woodland, along the coast, a bit of beach and into picturesque Yarmouth where we met up with Teresa. Clearly she thought we needed dampening down as we did have a shower then but again it was short and a little further along the coast we had lunch watching wind surfers and boarders as we ate, outside again, in the sunshine.

Day three, the rain never stopped and for miles there was nothing but long expanses of cliff top and walks around inlets – ‘chines’ in the Isle of Wight. On one, we all performed intricate ballet steps in the mud as we slid all over the place trying to negotiate the path. Finally at about 3.00 we stopped for lunch dripping water everywhere and soaked through. After a comforting lunch, no let up in the rain meant we were reluctant to continue so we called a taxi and moved on to our over night stay in Ventnor. So wet was it that once warm and dry, not one of us ventured out for a meal and I for one was in bed and asleep by 9.30.

'It cannot possibly be as bad as yesterday' we figured over breakfast as grey and blue fought in the sky for dominance and even as the rain started just as we set off, we really did think it was only a short shower ahead. The terrain was more varied, no endless cliffs and walking through woodland sheltered us. At one point the sun looked as if it was about to shine but no longevity. The rain set in again, harder than ever and after deciding in Sandown to push on, we reconsidered after another 5 minutes of torrential downpour.

It was madness so we caught a bus back to base, dripped into a trendy coffee bar and then headed back to the hotel for a shower and lunch and decided to head back to the mainland.

Did we have fun? Yes, it was great and we met some very interesting people. Would we do it again? Ask me again when I have thoroughly dried out.