I had the alarm set for 7.30, but was awake before that. I had a shower and went downstairs for breakfast. I met Linda, and she sat me down at a lovely table next to the window. The back garden led directly to the Cliff Path. Stephen cooked a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and black pudding, which set me up very well for the day.
I packed my bag and headed out via the back garden gate to the Cliff Path, and set off walking west. Like much of the coastal walking I've done, the route had plenty of variety. It began along a boardwalk, through Shanklin, then up above the cliff through Luccombe, then through woods, where I could see evidence of the big storm that had been through, and back down to the board walk to Ventnor, up on grassy hills, then took a wrong turn in the direction I wanted to go in, rather than investigated where the path actually went. The detour took me through farm land, and was quite nice, but quite a long way. I got myself right, and headed up another cliff and then followed fields for a few miles, coming back to sea level by taking a cool tunnel. By now it was getting late - my detour had taken quite some time. The walk in total was 11.8 miles.
I turned away from the sea, and headed up into Niton. Only to discover that the buses apparently run only every two hours. I dispiritedly got some food from the supermarket (it's a small village) and asked the woman there how I would best get a taxi. She gave me a number, but said that I would be better off asking people in the shop whether anyone was going to Newport and could I have a lift. I didn't fancy throwing myself at people's kindness, and so went out to eat, and to call the taxi. Luckily, I looked at the bus timetable in my bag, and realised that buses went more frequently from another stop. Which I couldn't find. I asked in another shop, and was pointed in the right direction, and found myself on a bus heading for Newport.
It was on this journey that I realised that the island is much bigger than I thought. The narrow road wound around and up and down. I did some research and realised that I would never make it out to Alum Bay and the Needles before it got dark. So I changed my plan, and decided to explore Newport and go north to Cowes instead. Newport was fairly uninteresting. A big town with a lot of high street shops. There were some more interesting ones, but I spent about 15 minutes walking around, and then headed back the bus station, but not before buying some plasters for my feet.
I boarded the bus for Cowes, and took the fast, major road through the gathering darkness. I'd bought a 24 hour ticket, so could ride buses as many times as I wanted. I got off at the ferry port, and had a wander. Central Cowes is made up of hilly, pedestrianised, cobbled streets, completely different to Newport. Almost all the shops have a nautical bent, and there's hardly a high street shop in sight. It was dark, but I could still tell that it was very nice. I ducked through a side-street arch to see the harbour, and walked around to the north face to look back on mainland UK. It was fairly bleak under those conditions, but again, I could tell that the story would be entirely different in summer.
I headed back to the bus stop, boarded a conveniently departing bus, and headed back to Newport. I didn't have long to wait for a bus back to the south coast, getting off in the main street of Lake, and walking back to the B&B. After strapping up my painful feet, and having a little rest in front of the TV, I went back out to get fish and chips from the shop I'd noticed in Lake. They wouldn't let me sit in the shop, and I couldn't eat it in Haytor Lodge, so I stood near the station wolfing it down as quickly as I could. It really wasn't very nice.
Back at Haytor Lodge, I relaxed in front of the TV, and had an early night.
I packed my bag and headed out via the back garden gate to the Cliff Path, and set off walking west. Like much of the coastal walking I've done, the route had plenty of variety. It began along a boardwalk, through Shanklin, then up above the cliff through Luccombe, then through woods, where I could see evidence of the big storm that had been through, and back down to the board walk to Ventnor, up on grassy hills, then took a wrong turn in the direction I wanted to go in, rather than investigated where the path actually went. The detour took me through farm land, and was quite nice, but quite a long way. I got myself right, and headed up another cliff and then followed fields for a few miles, coming back to sea level by taking a cool tunnel. By now it was getting late - my detour had taken quite some time. The walk in total was 11.8 miles.
I turned away from the sea, and headed up into Niton. Only to discover that the buses apparently run only every two hours. I dispiritedly got some food from the supermarket (it's a small village) and asked the woman there how I would best get a taxi. She gave me a number, but said that I would be better off asking people in the shop whether anyone was going to Newport and could I have a lift. I didn't fancy throwing myself at people's kindness, and so went out to eat, and to call the taxi. Luckily, I looked at the bus timetable in my bag, and realised that buses went more frequently from another stop. Which I couldn't find. I asked in another shop, and was pointed in the right direction, and found myself on a bus heading for Newport.
It was on this journey that I realised that the island is much bigger than I thought. The narrow road wound around and up and down. I did some research and realised that I would never make it out to Alum Bay and the Needles before it got dark. So I changed my plan, and decided to explore Newport and go north to Cowes instead. Newport was fairly uninteresting. A big town with a lot of high street shops. There were some more interesting ones, but I spent about 15 minutes walking around, and then headed back the bus station, but not before buying some plasters for my feet.
I boarded the bus for Cowes, and took the fast, major road through the gathering darkness. I'd bought a 24 hour ticket, so could ride buses as many times as I wanted. I got off at the ferry port, and had a wander. Central Cowes is made up of hilly, pedestrianised, cobbled streets, completely different to Newport. Almost all the shops have a nautical bent, and there's hardly a high street shop in sight. It was dark, but I could still tell that it was very nice. I ducked through a side-street arch to see the harbour, and walked around to the north face to look back on mainland UK. It was fairly bleak under those conditions, but again, I could tell that the story would be entirely different in summer.
I headed back to the bus stop, boarded a conveniently departing bus, and headed back to Newport. I didn't have long to wait for a bus back to the south coast, getting off in the main street of Lake, and walking back to the B&B. After strapping up my painful feet, and having a little rest in front of the TV, I went back out to get fish and chips from the shop I'd noticed in Lake. They wouldn't let me sit in the shop, and I couldn't eat it in Haytor Lodge, so I stood near the station wolfing it down as quickly as I could. It really wasn't very nice.
Back at Haytor Lodge, I relaxed in front of the TV, and had an early night.
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