Last weekend, we had family come to visit and the weather was glorious so we decided to take a little day trip to the Isle of Wight.
We arrived at our ferry crossing at Lymington at 8.30am and got the Wightlink ferry across to the Island. There's just something about getting on a boat that makes me think about being on holiday. I know we only crossed a small stretch of water but I instantly felt excited to be exploring a new place and that I was leaving the stresses of work over on the mainland!
We didn't know before we planned the trip but the race around the island was taking place that day, which is when thousands of little sailing boats sail all the way round the island in a little race. The scene was fantastic, although I felt a little nervous when our giant ferry had to work its way past all the little boats. I thought several times that someone was going to crash into us!
We made it safely across and our first stop was Alum Bay to see the Needles which are a group of chalk stack rocks with a little lighthouse at the end. The view from the hill down to the Needles was spectacular with all the little sailing boats. There is a little chairlift down to the bottom of the bay so we took it down and had a wander on the beach. There are also little attractions at The Needles Park, including glass blowing and sweet making demonstrations which I was completely mesmerised by!
Once we were finished at Alum Bay, we took the coastal road to our favourite pub for lunch. It's called the Wight Mouse and the pub garden overlooks the stunning landscape of the Isle of Wight. We always come back here every time we visit. If you're ever over there, make sure you pay it a visit! Even in the depths of winter when we have visited, the views are amazing!
After lunch we visited a few farms. Bradley loves Chilli's so we took a trip to the House of Chilli where they sell hundreds of products containing chilli - a word of warning - just because they sell sweets like Gummy Bears, does not mean that they do not contain chilli! We bought ourselves a little Jalapeno chilli plant which we are currently growing on our windowsill. It's just flowered and we have pollinated it, so fingers crossed we will have a few chilli's growing soon.
We then visited my favourite place on the island, The Garlic Farm. We are quite lucky to have local markets in our area quite regularly and whenever I go I always pick up products from them but I'm always left wanting more, so this time I went armed with more money and picked up two jars of Toasted Garlic Mayo (believe me - this stuff is amazing!) BBQ Garlic Marinade and Chilli Garlic Mayo and Vampire Relish (for Bradley obviously!).
After we had stocked up, we headed to Ryde to watch the Hovercraft go back and forth from Portsmouth. I've decided that I want to have a go on one next time we go across, it looks like fun! We sat and watched the cruise ships go by that had come out of Southampton before heading back to Yarmouth for our ferry back.
I can't wait to visit again, it's a very picturesque Island and I've decided that when I'm older, I'd love to retire and live over there!
Have you visited the Isle of Wight before?
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