Blogs from Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

Today was a day for a bit of exploring. Stuart dropped me off at 8:45 at the Red Funnel ferry terminal in Southampton so that I could make the 9 AM departure to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The island sits as a natural barrier/protector for the harbor at Southampton. The conventional ferry takes just about one hour . Upon arrival, I bought a day bus pass and set out for Newport, the largest town on the island. After taking a look at 1400s this and 1500s that, I took another bus to the southeast and the town of Sandown. This was a very scenic ride over hill and dale; down tree covered lanes that barely allowed the bus and a car to pass, thru housing estates and small towns that only seem possible ... read more

After suggesting to Hel that she might like to embark on a road trip with Alison and I (and provide the car) we set off on Friday, 19th to the Isle of Wight (thanks again Hel!). Popularly known as 'The Garden Isle', the Isle of Wight is a 147 sq mile island off the southcoast of England. It boasts a comprehensive range of scenery from rugged chalk rock faces to sandy bathing beaches (if you are inclined to swim in freezing untamed seas knowing there's a good chance it will be your last). A fabulous weekend of touring and eating. Even the near death experience of almost blowing off the cliff at Arun Bay (moments after taking photo 4) and becoming shark bait couldn't taint it. A big thanks to the proprietors of our B&B who ... read more

Well, what I thought was going to be a chilled day, meeting the skipper and crew for a look around the boat, followed by a pie and a pint, has turned into two days of sail training! Got to be at Cowes ready to set sail by 10am tomorrow, which meant a lot of running about for my dear old mum yesterday, collecting foul weather gear for me etc. Same again Sunday. Well, at least it'll show what I'm made of I guess. Fingers crossed I don't embarrass myself.... read more

A leisurely start to the day again. We were dropped at the Ventnor Botanical Gardens, which were built on the site of a former TB hospital. The gardens were arranged down a hill, giving graceful terraces and views. The first section I visited was medicinal plants, but they gave no information on the uses of some quite common plants, so it wasn’t as interesting as it might have been. My eye and my camera were drawn by some elegantly tall, showy flowers of red, yellow, and orange. After some searching for their name, I discovered them to be Canna Lilies , yet another plant I’ve now seen from books I have read. The “Black Knight” variety was splendid with very dark red/green leaves and brilliant orange/red flowers. They rose over my head. From here we walked ... read more

Rain all morning and mist all afternoon. At least the air isn’t as cold as in the Lake District, so my new jacket kept me warm and dry enough – also wore my new gaiters. Lots of mud, so they proved their worth. I did the short walk, as walking 9 miles rather than 6 ½ miles seemed daft. As usual, we were the last to be dropped off the bus. We had about 40 minutes to look around Brading , a small town with a short street of shops. There were several tourist attractions, such as a Doll Museum and Shop, Wax Museum, Old Town Hall Museum, and so on. I walked around St Mary's Church . It was built in the twelfth century but is reported to be the site of the first Christian ... read more