The Needles

Today the weather was supposed to be not too bad so we planned to visit Alum Bay and "The Needles" - the west 'point' of the Isle of Wight (ha ha).

Although it didn't rain it was pretty darn cold!  We arrived at the Needles Park before anyone else it seemed. We took the chair lift down to the beach and got off for a short stroll.

It was even colder on the beach, which was mostly stone at that point.  I took to trying to skim stones on the sea but there was a distinct lack of of flat round stones.  Owen tried to copy me, but his efforts appeared to consist of finding the largest rock he could hold in one hand and hurling it into the sea - I'd say that the results were about the same, I was not very successful in skimming!

There was a cafe where we stopped briefly, and also the Alum Bay glassworks store, but we were not inspired to buy any glass ornaments or keyfobs etc.

We decided to head to Yarmouth where we would buy fish & chips and sit on the beach front or pier to eat them.  Owen had fallen asleep, and the one Fish & Chip shop in Yarmouth did not have what Alison wanted. So Owen was loaded into the cart in and under blankets and Ethan and I pulled it onto the pier where we waited in the freezing cold for what felt like forever for Alison and her mum to get back from another fish and chip shop.  It was very welcome to have hot food at the end of the pier!

Next we though we'd go to the Garlic Farm and shop, so back into the car for another bouncy ride on the IoW's fantastic roads (...um, not!   Some roads appear to be a a series of well mad potholes with the occasional well-meaning bit of road to interfere with the otherwise undriveable surface). Also, despite an apparent physically imposed top speed limit of 40 mph (as well as being the actual legal speed limit on many parts of the roads), the locals seem to delight in going at 50 mph or more.  The book I'm reading now, Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver, springs to mind frequently!  We sampled some interesting chutneys and other savoury concoctions made with garlic, and learned a little about garlic in the process.

Last stop was the campsite indoor pool again for a very short swim, since the pool closed at 5pm.