Isle of Wight

Well hello! Hope you're all enjoying my blog! My trip to Isle of Wight, like Stonehenge, came about last minute. The tickets were sold out until a few days before the trip when they added seats, in which I made sure to get one!

The bus picked us up outside of Regent's at 8 am and then a two hour bus ride to the ferry. I was ready to get off the bus when we arrived at the ferry dock in South Hampton, but we never did. I didn't realize the bus would go ON the ferry! That ain't no ferry to Martha's Vineyard! After the bus was parked, we were able to get out and go up to the top levels where there was food and a comfortable lounge area. The ferry was very slow moving, so it took about an hour to get to the Isle of Wight. 

P.S. The ferry left from South Hampton, a major port in England. It's like the Port of Miami for the United States: full of cruise ships and barges. A few days after my trip, I was just casually watching The Parent Trap when I realized that's where the Queen Elizabeth II docked! Loves it. 

The ferry pulled into East Cowes, and then we were off to see The Needles in Alum Bay, Yarmouth. The island has one fast road with a speed limit of 70, but the rest of the roads are small and winding - the fun roads for those not driving a big coach (bus). 

 The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that stand up straight out of the sea. The bus parked and let us out to go walk to where we could see The Needles from a nearby cliff. We had to walk through a deserted amusement park to get the good view. I'm sure this was because the island is a summer destination. Picture walking through Bowen's Wharf in Newport, but with literally no people. 

After The Needles, we got back on the bus and drove down the entire west coast of the island. The views and cliffs were awesome! I tried my best to get a good picture from the bus.

Next stop, Ventnor! We had forty minutes to explore the seaside village of Ventnor. The area was very hilly and the buildings were built into the hills with beautiful views of the English Channel. 

Next stop, Shanklin! Shanklin is a village with thatched roof houses and many stores and restaurants to explore. The problem is, nothing was open. The island lifestyle of slow moving without a care in the world is definitely in effect at Isle of Wight. Aka, it's where rich English chaps go to retire. We ate lunch at the only restaurant open, called Chubby's; health food galore. 

Next stop, Godshill! This was my favorite village we visited. It may be because of the view we had and the sunset was perfect timing. Godshill was named because of a story from when the village was being built. Many years ago, a group of men were laying the foundation of a church for the villagers. They would leave the construction site after a long day of hard work, but return in the morning to find the foundation moved to the top of a very steep hill. This happened three times when they finally decided it was an act of God and built the church on top of the hill. So we were running a little late on our tour, and only had twenty minutes to explore Godshill. My friends and I decided we really wanted to see the top of the hill so we told ourselves if we weren't almost there after 10 minutes of walking up the hill, we should turn back to catch the bus. Turns out, we may have overestimated the walk up the hill because we made it there in 2 minutes. Drama queens! To be fair, we bolted up the very steep steps. The church at the top of the hill was beautiful as well as the graves surrounding it. We also had an amazing view of the surrounding hills and homes.  

Next stop, home! After Godshill, we got back on the bus and onto the ferry. It got very cold on the ferry, especially with the doors open for people coming inside. Then it was a two hour bus ride home. A full day in the beautiful Isle of Wight came to a close with pizza and salad for dinner and a good nights sleep. Thanks for reading!