Saturday, 19th June - Off to the Isle of Wight

We had a good journey down - highlight being stunning views of a pair of red kites at junction 9 of the M40.

Instead of taking the Wightlink ferry from Lymmington to Yarmouth as we usually do we opted to catch a later mid-afternoon ferry from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, near Ryde as we planned to visit HMS Victory first. However, I really should have checked this idea out beforehand as when we arrived in Portsmouth we discovered you can't just pay to see HMS Victory as the ticket covers all the "attractions" at the Historic Dockyard and with just 2 hours to spare there was no way we would have had the time.Doh!





Photo above of the 170 metre high Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth



Approaching Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight



We eventually arrived at the self catering cottage, having stopped off en route for food supplies, just in time for Doctor Who.

This is the seventh time we've visited the IOW and for the last 3 years we have stopped at the same house located in the small village of Chale which is an ideal location as its easy to reach all parts of the Island.

As I have no photos of HMS Victory (yet) I will have to resort to some pictures of the house.

Its not very attractive from the outside but its spacious inside and well equipped with a large, secluded garden.



But the real highlights are the stunning views although the photos below do not really do them justice.

View from the bottom of the garden looking towards Hoy monument on Saint Catherine's Down.



You can see the Needles from the bench on a clear day



Views from the bedrooms - the first view shows Chale Church and then Freshwater Bay in the distance.





The view you get from the upstairs landing and one of the kitchen windows.



Another bedroom and kitchen view looking towards St Catherine's Oratory and Down.



Off to Calbourne Water Mill, Brighstone (including an OPEN church), and a quick visit to Chale Church(also open) tomorrow - hopefully more interesting photos than today!