A bite in the Island of Wight
As the last lights of summer 2023 were approaching, I decided to have a bite in the Island of Wight, and travel there without invite for a few days. Have to admit the whole journey was a delight, and without a doubt I polite advice to anybody to visit this Island either by flight or on a train by night haha. Yes, you can tell I'm officially a published poet!
How I planned by journey was as follows:
- Took a train at 9:35 from London Waterloo on Wednesday 6th September, arriving to Brockenhurst at 11:05
- Took a train at 11:12 from Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier, arriving there at 11:23
- Took the ferry at 12:00 from Lymington Pier heading for Yarmouth, where I arrived at 2:40
- From Yarmouth I took a 20/25' bus to Newport, from where I collected the car I had rented
The return journey was 2 days after (8 September) and I paid for these tickets £63.18. I stayed at the Waterfront Inn, prime location with a fantastic breakfast included in the price, I choose it that way, and paid for the 2 x nights i stayed in there £100.30. Just to go around the island, and why not? I booked a car from Enterprise Rental for my stay, total for 2 x days was £128.96
These are some of pictures I took on day 1😎
The trip was indeed short, but relaxing, while I was in the Island these were the things I visited:
Donkey Sanctuary, such delightful creatures, I heard then signing and calling one another while I was there, a truly beautiful site
Shanklin Chine, a unique very green gorge that was strategically use during World War 2, and now dinosaurs roam free in there!
Branding Roman Villa, it is amazingly preserved and love the fact that the wooden house covering the settlement can be expanded as and when more budget is allocated to further expand the excavation. They claim to have the best Roman mosaics in Europe....hmmmm....well preserved they are indeed, but from that to the best there is a long shot
Ventnor Botanic Garden; this is an absolute must-visit, it a very well looked after garden with different sections where trees and plant have been imported and grown on that area. If you visit it please do not pay for the parking (like I did), the minute you pay to visit garden the parking spot is included. If you are a biologist, you would love this place. This garden claims to be Britain's hottest garden and hosting 20,000 rare and subtropical plants. I have to admit that the views from the restaurant are lovely, makes you feel you are in a jungle, shame it was closed!
Carisbrooke Castle; the entry is £10.94 and you can get it through Expedia. It was on this castle where Charles I was imprisoned before he was beheaded in 1649 by the English Parliament under the order of Oliver Cromwell. This castle is currently looked after, like many other important landmarks in the UK, by the English Heritage
The Route
At a glance, these are the things I visited while in the island:
The only regret was the couple of parking tickets that I got! The first one was because I input incorrectly the planet number of the car in the online app "PayByPhone", I was far away from the car, in a rush, and entered the number that was on the label attached to the car keys, and read "N" instead of "W"....why did they wrote it by hand? I complained later on to Rent a Car, from where I book the car, and they kindly paid that fine for me. The one fine was that, when using the app "PayByPhone" I entered the code given to me by the Inn where I was staying, but it turns out I parked on a line that was on the wrong code, this app is a total scam!!! I recommend you to use just the parking machines
Here, a few more pictures of my trip:
Regardless of the parking issue that I had, a visit to the island I recommend! I do cycle a lot but please do not use cycling in the island unless you are on the beach side. The inner roads, for example those from Yarmouth to Newport and other resorts in the beach side, are very narrow. Next time I visit, thou, I'll definitely take my bike with me to cycle and visit bits only around the coast, maybe cycling around the island like someone that I know and love did one, and in one day!! 😍 She is so brave
If you have enjoyed the reading of Laos, a butterflies country, you might like these other adventures I've had! :)
- November 2021 - Berlin and a Solar Revolution https://www.nazaudy.com/berlin-and-an-astrology-solar-revolution
- October 2019 - Kathmandu, at the base of the mountains https://www.nazaudy.com/kathmandu-at-the-base-of-the-mountains
- December 2018 - Lanzarote, home of Aloe Vera https://www.nazaudy.com/lanzarote-home-of-aloe-vera
References
- https://www.iowdonkeysanctuary.org/
- https://shanklinchine.co.uk/
- https://bradingromanvilla.org.uk/
- https://www.botanic.co.uk/
- https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carisbrooke-castle/