For those of you trek-savvy people, let me give you a brief intro of one of the few places in UK that I simply enjoy… IoW is a tiny little island at the southern most part of UK and just about an hour away from the nearest Dock of Southampton via ferry.
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| Still |
I love visiting IoW every year as it is quite, pleasant, green and remarkably lovely. Best time of travel is between spring and fall when the weather is pleasant and calm, there are pretty flowers everywhere (watch out for the extremely delightful lavender farms!) and you can have a dip in the bright blue sea.
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| Isle of Wight |
Touring in IoW is quite cool as I find! Any part of the island can be reached via bus within an hour from the central region called Newport. It is very convenient to travel by bus to any and every accessible region for just £20 for the whole day for a group less than 6 people. There are more than just a few thing and it all takes a while so I definitely get the lovely excuse to return again and again. But if you are up to it, biking from coast to coast can be quite a great way of seeing the scenic island through interesting natural routes more personally, while burning all them calories ;) Hiking and walking through the woods, all the way up to the beach is another great way that I have had the lovely experience of doing.
There are natural wonders like The Needles, picturesque expertise on display at Model Village, hundreds of cute little donkeys at Donkey Sanctuary, Jurassic coasts and museums, innumerable cozy tea houses, and scenic beaches. The bus journey gives you a breathtaking view of the serene country side and if you are lucky you might even come by a farm of Alpacas, and a field full of wild bunnies (teletubbies field :p). As a matter of fact the Natural
History Museum has declared the Isle of Wight has the dinosaur capital of
Britain, beating the Jurassic Coast in Dorset as the richest area for dinosaur
fossil finds. What more can I ask for???
1. Far west coast: The Needles
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| View from the Park cliff |
The Needles Pleasure Park is a little amusement park equipped with shops, restaurants and game tills situated just at the top of the cliff which makes it an excellent tourist spot for families especially with little kids. The most famous attraction at the Park for the kids and adults alike though is the "Chairlift" just like in ski resorts meant for air lifting people from the park to Alum Bay, all the way to the bottom of the cliff, on the pebbly beach. From there, provisions are given for booking a pleasure cruise for about 30 minutes or so, provided you don't mind the waiting time especially during spring-summer when the rush is heavy...
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| Overhead chairlifts |
The view from the bottom of the cliff is as spectacular as from the top. Just off the end of the
Needles formation is the "Shingles", a shifting shoal of pebbles just
beneath the waves. The Shingles is approximately three miles in length. Many
ships have known to been wrecked on the Shingles.
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| Love the view and the weather… The Needles at its best during July. |
Coloured sand
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| Serenity never could encompass what I felt... |
2. Godshill - Model village
Built in 1950s, Godshill is famous for a miniature park with model replica of itself from olden times at the central part of the town, right next to the All Saints' Church, called "Model Village". It is one of the most adorable thing you'd see!!! With tiny little houses and tiny little clay people, surrounded by tiny little trees and succulents to complete the miniature set of an ENTIRE town. It is most impressive. I have already been here 3 times :p
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| I always get carried away… |
The models and tiny trees themselves made at a scale of 1:10 from the original. Such fine art and intricate craftsmanship that it even has its own model of the model village… And I think there's another tinie-tiny model of the model of the model village in there somewhere!
Pretty little things...
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| Perfect prototypes |
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| Choo-shooooooo! |
3. West Wight Alpacas
Riding along the country side to The Needles in a bus, we rode past an interesting place where I could see these curious little faces on a funny looking body. For a while I wondered, "dwarf white wooly camels?" But then it hit me, and I literally shouted out in the bus to everyone's amusement "ALPACAS!!" (Not to be confused with Llamas :p…)
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| Family portrait... |
Didn't know there was a place as such but apparently this place with Alpacas was a trekking and a little Alpaca zoo sort of farm in the village of Wellow called West Wight Alpacas. You can find a large herd of these Suri Alpacas in colours of whites, browns and blacks.
WWA are also award winning Alpaca breeders and, apparently, champions of some Alpaca competitions :p. Equipped with cafè, souvenir shops of teddies and other things made from Alpaca furs and also courses taught on knitting and other things, all in all, for hardcore animal lovers this is a place to go to :).
4. Donkey Sanctuary
Here are another flock of furry animals you wouldn't normally find in the wild. These adorable little donkeys are free to be visited in a sanctuary solely dedicated to them. One of the MANY "Donkey Sanctuaries" (as it is aptly named) in UK, this one was established in 1987, is located in Lower Winstone Farm, Worxall. A haven for Donkeys in need for love, care and a place to call home, the sanctuary is a non-profit attraction run by charities. The farm also puts up their donkeys for adoption.
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| "Eeh-oonnn!!" |
Although slightly smelly, the place seems quite well maintained, and you can enjoy watching there little critters grazing, chasing each other, pooping :p and sleeping cuddled up like a fuzzy pillow (awwww!!!). It even has a shop you can buy donkey endorsed things from (how cute!)
If you are keen on animals and love visiting zoos, either open or enclosed, you might enjoy this too :)
5. Seaview Wildlife encounter
An open wildlife park, this is situated at the Northeastern coast of IoW in the outskirts of the town called Seaview. If you'd like a first had experience regarding wild and roaming wallabies, meerkats, even Penguins and other cute little critters, this IS the place for you :)
Personally I prefer a wildlife park with free roaming animals over the encaged ones, of course it goes without saying I would NOT want to walk into a park with openly roaming feline predators or any such large carnivores, but, you get the point…
Multi award winning park, it offers excellent value for money costing just £9.75! it is one of the best ways to spend a summer day, feeding the fur balls, watching the penguin tricks and helping the park keepers maintain their goodwill.
"Amma love me some wallabies!!!"
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| Sooooo cuddly! |
6. Jurrasic Coasts
Isle of
Wight is also called Dinosaur Island for a reason… Here's are some of
the best beaches around Dinosaur Island to find fossils on the Isle of Wight:
Brighstone Bay - A good place for palaeontologists to study dinosaur and reptile remains. The famous Sauropod skeleton was found here.
Brook Bay - Another great place to find dinosaur fossils is the
shingle at Brook with many a large bones uncovered in the cliffs.
Gurnard Bay - For scientists crazy over fossilised insects as well as turtle and crocodile remains the base of the cliff at Gurnard Bay has been found to be quite rewarding.
Thorness
Bay - Over
200 species have been found in the bay.
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| Up, up and above... |
Need I say more!!!
7. Osbourne House
One of the biggest attractions at IoW has to be the famous English heritage site, Osbourne House. Built in the mid 1800s, the house was a private family home for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The house is built in the Italianate style that overlooks the Solent.
Equipped with a really (and I mean REALLY) fancy garden and some of the most priced possessions of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Osbourne house is a real historical treasure for both the island and the Country. The estate has major touristic attractions to offer, especially to history and art enthusiasts.
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| Peacock statue in the Durbar Room, made in Northern India style |
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| The drawing room |
The 19th-century gardens and estate eventually covered more than 2,000 acres (800 hectares). The current estate extends to 354 acres (143 hectares) and includes formal terraces with statuary, a walled garden and extensive parkland. Within the grounds are the Swiss Cottage, Swiss Cottage Museum, and a miniature fort with redoubts (detached earthworks), which were all built as educational tools for the royal children. The area around them was also reserved for the children’s education, and was used by them to grow fruit, flowers and vegetables.
8. IoW Festival
We all know UK has wa-zillion (not a real number!) festivals and concerts every year. After all it is the birthplace and home to some of the biggest mainstream music industry giants of all times such as Beatles, Queen, The Rolling stones, Rob Stewart, Tom Jones, Coldplay, The Muse, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Bastille, and many many more (full list here). So, every year there is a major Festival that takes place at the Isle of Wight. This year again, it will take place with a bang. Conveniently staged very close to Cowes (north coast, where ferries dock) the mega event will take place from 12th to 15th of June.
There will be one of my favourite bands "Red Hot Chilli Pepper" as the main event. Not only that, there will be Kings of Leon, Suede, Passenger, Calvin Harris, Cher Lloyd, Katy B, Fall Out Boys (boy I haven't listened to them since 2007).
Something you can do every year as a part of your holiday plan or a UK visit during the right time :)
I am so looking forward to it :D !!!
9. Garlic Farm
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| Garlic blossoms |
This one is as famous as the Osbourne house itself. What started as a small family business is now a major attraction for not just garlic, but general food enthusiasts. Over 40 years of garlic growing experience and perfecting the skills have indeed paid off for the famous farmers Colin and Jenny Boswell. The island and the business has worked so well in their favour that now they even cater to holiday seekers with 7 converted self-catering cottages that can be booked here to get the ultimate country, island and garlic experience.
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| One of the holiday cottages |
Fun fact: IoW is so famous for its garlic farm and the crop produced that it in fact exports its produce to France!
10. Gardens, vineyards and orchards
Isle of Wight has many a lovely botanical gardens and farms, some even protected and maintianed by the national trust. Due to the island climate, the isle is especially favoured by a mediteranean environment, providing a perfect abode for some exotic and subtropical plants to flourish here in abundance, especially succulants and cactii.
The island also boasts of two very famous vineyards: Rosemary and Adgestone. The award winning vineyards are favoured by the island climate and make some of the best wines of UK with great quality of grapes that are aclimated to the isle.
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There are 100s of others things to do, either see or experience... I still have tons to do myself. Anyway, here are a few pics of mine from my many visits to the island... Truely, this place is worth poetry...
So much yet for me to discover... I still have to explore the jurassic coasts and excavate fossils, visit the Osbourne house, dine at the garlic farm, pet the alpacas, and wander through all the botanical gardens and vineyards... Please do give this wonderful place a go when in Southern side of the country. The place is beautiful all year round, in sun and rain. There is just so much to do and it's all worth every second...
Until next post,
Love always,
JB
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