Isle of Wight day 19 Fri 11 May 2018

Noisy smokers courtyard till about 11.30pm last night. Could not login to hotel wifi either. Moved car from pay car park around 8.30am to Union Street Ryde near front of Kasbah and joined Yvonne for breakfast in a cafe opposite. Drove to Freshwater and walked along the cliff tops to the famous Needles sea stacks in a strong cold wind. As well as the Needles sea stacks you could see the continuation of the chalk under the water towards Harry’s rocks in Dorset. At the Needles New Battery - Victorian gun emplacement and Cold War rocket test site, as a bonus there was an interesting display concerning the British rocket development program which occurred here with production of the rockets at East Cowes and launching at Woomera in South Australia. The rockets were based on the German rockets of WWII and formed the basis of the later American rocket program. Lunch of steak pies at the Warren Farm on the way back to Freshwater. Drove to Carisbrook Castle and walked around the perimeter of the walls before driving to Osborne House where we spotted a rare Red Squirrel. Walked around the gardens before driving to nearby East Cowes for dinner at the Lifeboat Hotel/Restaurant at the yacht marina. Expecting a noisy night at Kasbah as the small wine bar closes at 2am, may even use the supplied ear plugs.(May explain the very low price for our accommodation)Read more