As Gavin
was away I decided to take a trip with a tour company. My destination
was the Isle of Wight. Why? Well, the year 6 class had been
there so I thought I'd see what it was about. We arrived in
Portsmouth by 10am and picked up our tour guide. We boarded
a ferry with the bus and began our ½ hour journey to
the island. It is often referred to as the diamond of England
because of its shape. We saw this war frigate, HMS Westminster
on the journey over. You can just make out the crew standing
to attention on the decks. I wonder if they travel this way
everywhere.
Our tour involved staying on the bus mostly and driving through
all the little towns, right the whole way round the island.
Our first stop was for lunch at Shanklin. I was absolutely in
heaven as I entered the Shanklin Chine. I felt like I'd been
transported back to New Zealand. Water cutting through the sandstone
cliffs makes a chine. I can't say any more just look at the
evidence.
We carried on around the coast and again I was reminded of New
Zealand. It was an extremely hot day and with few stops it wasn't
the most pleasant experience. We were finally allowed out again
at Allum Bay. We had 45 minutes to see over 1 ½ hours
worth of sights. I wished we'd got here earlier rather than
trying to see the whole island. Allum bay is the home to the
Needles, coloured sounds and Allum bay studio Glass works.
I took the
gondola ride down to the beach. I've never seen such pretty
cliffs.
Then back
up the top I used some of the coloured sounds to make a key
ring memento. Finally I had a quick look through the glass works.
It was extremely hot inside. The process looked quite interesting,
unfortunately I had to leave before seeing a completed product.
It was then time to head back to London. This actually became
quite eventful as the bus driver nodded off momentarily. Luckily
the two ladies sitting in the front noticed and woke him up.
He later said that usually guides spend more time in fewer places,
which gives the driver more rest. It was still quite a tense
journey the rest of the way home.
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