October 7th Needles and Yarmouth

The Needles

Alum Bay with coloured snds

Rocket testing poster

The forecast for today was dry and overcast.  We decided to head for the Needles, the iconic landmark of the Isle of Wight. We started off fairly early and Christine noticed that there was a pearl centre alongside the road on the way.  We duly stopped and while Christine browsed, I joined other men who were looking fairly forlorn.  Eventually a ring was chosen, approved and purchased so one half of us was happy!  The centre had a coffee shop and we had a coffee before carrying on.  We arrived and parked at the Needles visitor centre which did not look too inspiring.  We made our way along path to the Needles viewing platform which gave good views of the rocks and lighthouse. It was very breezy and quite cold on the exposed path and cliffs.  On the way we also had good views of the cliffs of Alum Bay with the different coloured sands.  We also visited the nearby rocket testing station which was highly secretive when used in the cold war.  We then made our way back to the visitor centre and had a snack in a café.  Most of the other stalls & shops were very touristy and the only ones we enjoyed were the coloured sand shop and the glass blowing centre.

The Gossips Cafe

Yarmouth castle

Having finished here we decided to visit nearby Yarmouth, particularly the castle.  We parked and spent some time looking at the exhibits of the small castle and then quickly had a look round the interesting "yachty" town.  It had a very applicably named coffee shop.

We then drove the 1/2 hour journey back to Shanklin, settled back in the hotel  and then had a quick walk around Shanklin's town which I must say seemed full of gift shops and restaurants/pubs.  It had stayed dry and proved to be a very satisfactory part of the holiday.  Where to tomorrow?