Isle of Wight

[Gingerbread Man]

I have childhood memories of Blackgang Chine, Robin Hill and the Needles.

Having aged a few years since my last visit, what is good for the adult in me?

I'd like to good visit the Needles again. Is the zoo a good visit?

We'll be driving over.

David

[Gareth79]

Gingerbread Man said:

We'll be driving over.

Don't forget to take the ferry. HTH.

[ironictwist]

Hey Dave,

Funny you post this...I did almost exactly the same when I went to the Isle of Wight festival at the start of June. Rather than spending my days in the campsite I went touring round the island & visiting sights of my youth & seeing whether theyre still there & whether theyre still as I remember.

They're better this time round! The island is far FAR more beautiful than when I last went (Was around 10). I was in awe of the beauty & adored the locals/pace of life/roads/weather/sights/sounds/food...Gorgeous!

Here's a link to my facebook album full of photos of the trip (I know you despise FB ) But it should still let you view it without registering...I hope!

What are you really after from the trip? Scenic sites? Adrenaline? Touristy stuff?

[Gingerbread Man]

ironictwist said:

Hey Dave,

Funny you post this...I did almost exactly the same when I went to the Isle of Wight festival at the start of June. Rather than spending my days in the campsite I went touring round the island & visiting sights of my youth & seeing whether theyre still there & whether theyre still as I remember.

They're better this time round! The island is far FAR more beautiful than when I last went (Was around 10). I was in awe of the beauty & adored the locals/pace of life/roads/weather/sights/sounds/food...Gorgeous!

Here's a link to my facebook album full of photos of the trip (I know you despise FB ) But it should still let you view it without registering...I hope!

What are you really after from the trip? Scenic sites? Adrenaline? Touristy stuff?

Hey Umair.

I received the email and logged in as my Girlfriend so all is not lost!

We're after scenic sites. The Needles is what I've got down so far and the Girlfriend has the zoo.

We were thinking of the possibility of staying the night over there and making a day trip turn into a weekend away...any recommendations on a place to kip?

[RichB]

ironictwist said:

They're better this time round!

Can't be better, I remember climbing up the sand cliff face as a lad scratching coloured sands off and filling a glass test tube shaped like a lighthouse, it was a great days entertainment and kept us occupied for hours, it was funny how the best coloured sand was always half way up the cliff and just out of reach, eventually you went away proudly clutching a trophy of you days efforts. Can't do that any more

[ironictwist]

Gingerbread Man said:

ironictwist said:

Hey Dave,

Funny you post this...I did almost exactly the same when I went to the Isle of Wight festival at the start of June. Rather than spending my days in the campsite I went touring round the island & visiting sights of my youth & seeing whether theyre still there & whether theyre still as I remember.

They're better this time round! The island is far FAR more beautiful than when I last went (Was around 10). I was in awe of the beauty & adored the locals/pace of life/roads/weather/sights/sounds/food...Gorgeous!

Here's a link to my facebook album full of photos of the trip (I know you despise FB ) But it should still let you view it without registering...I hope!

What are you really after from the trip? Scenic sites? Adrenaline? Touristy stuff?

Hey Umair.

I received the email and logged in as my Girlfriend so all is not lost!

We're after scenic sites. The Needles is what I've got down so far and the Girlfriend has the zoo.

We were thinking of the possibility of staying the night over there and making a day trip turn into a weekend away...any recommendations on a place to kip?

Hmm in terms of places to stay, it's a hard one to call as I camped there. However, I'd suggest somewhere in Ventnor. Reason being you're slap bang in front of the beach & it's not as busy & touristy as it's neighbour Sandown/Shanklin further along plus the roads in Ventnor make you think you're in the South of France or something, climbing up these steep mountain like roads with gorgeous sea views to compliment it, it's hard to keep your eyes on the road.

The amazing thing about the Isle if you can tour the whole place in one day if you really want...I had one day where I just wanted to keep driving all the way & just got lost half the time. Great fun & wherever you go there is a gorgeous view.

Cowes - Awesome marina where all the boats are moored up which you can see a bit in my pictures. Some good shops, what with Cowes being the hub of activity each year with Cowes week, most of the shops are boat orientated but persist because there are some gems there. In terms of a place to eat, I suggest the Bahar Tandoori, rather good Situated in the middle of Cowes marina side lane of shops

Totland Bay Cafe - If you take the Caterham for an early morning run round, take it down to this place for breakfast. Great couple that run the place, the bay there is beautiful & the food is stupidly well priced for how generous they are with portions. Then you're a 10min blast away from the Needles park.

Alum Bay, The Needles - Firstly, take the chair lift down, it's worth it! Then if you can, take the speedboat to the Needles I ran out of change to go on it so had to go on the other more leisurely boat moored up there.

In terms of souvenirs for folks back home they've got a rather funky gift shop with loads of car related stuff to my surprise Worth a visit! You should be able to find something for anyone there, I managed too

The rest of the stuff is much more kid orientated but you can be tied up there for a little while & at least can lay around on the beach there for a bit in order to take it all in.

I'd also suggest Osborne House - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_House - That place is absolutley majestic, get lost for a good few hours there for sure.

Now from Ventnor, follow the A3055 (The coast road pointing) to Sandown. Gorgeous cliff top roads, amazing views with your Caterham, you will LOVE that road. Bit bumpy though when you go through Shanklin!

I also definitely recommend strolling round Sandown as despite being largely touristy, it's a really nice place with lovely little shops & a great place to kill a few hours too.

To sum up, just driving around the island you're bombarded with scenic views. I hope that helps!

[Gingerbread Man]

Thanks for that, basicly planned it for us! Brilliant!

Where did you camp? We'll be roughing it too.

[ironictwist]

Gingerbread Man said:

Thanks for that, basicly planned it for us! Brilliant!

Where did you camp? We'll be roughing it too.

I was camping in the Festival campsite in Newport so don't think that's feasible. However on my travels I saw a few campsites. There is one all of 30 sec walk to left of this place. St.Helens, on the other side of Sandown to the East of the Island. I guess you could do a morning drive from there down to Totland if you wanted





This is the place - You can make out where the pics are taken from google maps. Awesome!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=facebook...

Edited by ironictwist on Sunday 19th July 16:30

[Moose.]

Just watch out for jellyfish:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[clive f]

have a look here, plenty of nice places http://www.isleofwightpictures.co.uk/index.html lots of places to stay, depending on budget ect, some of the best value places are farm houses if you don`t mind driving to a pub in the evening.

http://www.newnhamfarm.co.uk/

[Eric Mc]

There are two dinosaur exhibits on the island, Dinosaur Isle (which is big and kid orientated in Sandown) and Dinosaur Farm - which is much smaller but to me more interesting on the south side of the island.

Despite the island's relatively small size, it is a treasure trove of dinosaur fossils. In fact, the island is in two halves, geoligically speaking, one half is Jurrasic rock and the other is Cretaceous - so you can find two distinct eras of dinosaurs.

[sheps]

I live on the Isle of Wight, i must be the only one that thinks its very boring?
I suppose its because i've done the stuff thats been listed here, and now there is nothing left!
One word of warning, be careful if your even thinking of traveling even 1mph over the speed limit, there are coppers literally everywhere.

[ironictwist]

sheps said:

I live on the Isle of Wight, i must be the only one that thinks its very boring?
I suppose its because i've done the stuff thats been listed here, and now there is nothing left!
One word of warning, be careful if your even thinking of traveling even 1mph over the speed limit, there are coppers literally everywhere.

Really?! I must've got lucky. I don't think I saw any! It was heavenly, a nice lack of speed cameras, gorgeous roads (If a bit pot hole ridden). Awesome.

[clive f]

ironictwist said:

sheps said:

I live on the Isle of Wight, i must be the only one that thinks its very boring?
I suppose its because i've done the stuff thats been listed here, and now there is nothing left!
One word of warning, be careful if your even thinking of traveling even 1mph over the speed limit, there are coppers literally everywhere.

Really?! I must've got lucky. I don't think I saw any! It was heavenly, a nice lack of speed cameras, gorgeous roads (If a bit pot hole ridden). Awesome.

there are only 3 or 4 fixed gatso/truvello cameras, but the sneaky so and so`s randomly pop up all over the place usually a motorcycle cop and camera with the bike hidden in a hedge!! it is a case of zero tolerance over here if you are caught.
but don`t let this put you off, as during the day at this time of year you`d not stand a hope in hell of going over the limit because of all the traffic.

Edited by clive f on Wednesday 22 July 14:56

[97rsr]

We are moving there next month - can't wait!!! It's been about 3 years in the planning.

Must admit, when we have been there, haven't seen that many police in West Wight.

We went to the zoo last year - we enjoyed it - some lovely tigers there.

Edited by 97rsr on Wednesday 22 July 19:32

[OnTheOverrun]

ironictwist said:

sheps said:

I live on the Isle of Wight, i must be the only one that thinks its very boring?
I suppose its because i've done the stuff thats been listed here, and now there is nothing left!
One word of warning, be careful if your even thinking of traveling even 1mph over the speed limit, there are coppers literally everywhere.

Really?! I must've got lucky. I don't think I saw any! It was heavenly, a nice lack of speed cameras, gorgeous roads (If a bit pot hole ridden). Awesome.

I've lived here on the island for ten years and in all that time I think I've seen three speed traps and hardly ever seen police cars outside the towns. IMHO it must be the place you are least likely to get done for speeding in the south of England. On average the island police only have one Volvo XC70 active at any time covering 150sq miles and 130,000 people and four or five speed cameras all in built-up areas where you wouldn't speed anyway. There's a lot of grockles in the season of course, but they slavishly drive round the coast so just cut across country and the roads are much clearer. Compared to pretty much all the other parts of the country i work in during the week, the IOW is the last place I worry about a ticket!

[sheps]

OnTheOverrun said:

ironictwist said:

sheps said:

I live on the Isle of Wight, i must be the only one that thinks its very boring?
I suppose its because i've done the stuff thats been listed here, and now there is nothing left!
One word of warning, be careful if your even thinking of traveling even 1mph over the speed limit, there are coppers literally everywhere.

Really?! I must've got lucky. I don't think I saw any! It was heavenly, a nice lack of speed cameras, gorgeous roads (If a bit pot hole ridden). Awesome.

I've lived here on the island for ten years and in all that time I think I've seen three speed traps and hardly ever seen police cars outside the towns. IMHO it must be the place you are least likely to get done for speeding in the south of England. On average the island police only have one Volvo XC70 active at any time covering 150sq miles and 130,000 people and four or five speed cameras all in built-up areas where you wouldn't speed anyway. There's a lot of grockles in the season of course, but they slavishly drive round the coast so just cut across country and the roads are much clearer. Compared to pretty much all the other parts of the country i work in during the week, the IOW is the last place I worry about a ticket!

You must be very lucky, i seem to pass one most mornings on my way to work!
The coppers are about, and often, its just a case of where they are, and 9 times out of 10...its the same places day in day out.