The Eastern side of the Isle of Wight
On Wednesday we set off through a busy Newport we went to Ryde and as car parking was at a premium didn’t stop.
Sandown
Sandown was just as busy but we did manage to find somewhere to park on the High Street and walked down to the side of the pier. We had some tea from a booth decorated to celebrate ‘Only fools and horses’ that was opposite the pier (Only food and sauces)
The Garlic Farm
The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight is not only famous for the garlic grown there but it has a restaurant that is highly recommended. If you have enough time then going on a tour of the fields would well worth the time but we decided to just have lunch and do a little ‘garlic’ shopping.
I can recommend the special of chicken in garlic mayo as well as their chips – be careful what you choose if you don’t like garlic and if that is the case then have one of their delicious cakes. In the tasting room on the wall was a description about how the original garlic bulbs came to the Isle of Wight in the Second World War. It appears that the Free French on the island wanted some to spice up their food and a plane coming back after dropping off agents in France brought some back and they were planted at the farm.
Here are the two bottled beers I picked up at the shop on the farm.
After The Garlic Farm we returned to the coast road and tried to stop in Shnaklin but just like Ryde we couldn’t find any where to park along the Esplanade. On our way out towards Old Shanklin I managed to avoid a car coming the wrong way down a one way street and then we passed through Ventnor and once on the Military Road we head back to Yarmouth passing through Freshwater
On our last full day on the island we decided to stay around the hotel and I went into Yarmouth again with my camera.
Norton Grange
Here’s Norton Grange from the coastal path.
and from the grounds.
We did get some interesting towel animals left in our room, here’s a small selection of them.
Most evenings the house band entertained before or after the main show and the vocalist was excellent.
and again on Thursday lunchtime (just like Sunday) there was a BBQ on the patio with excellent music from the leader of the house band.
Yarmouth
The morning was overcast.
In the afternoon the weather picked up and after my walk into Yarmouth I watched yachts and the ferry arrive at the harbour and other visitors capturing their images to remember Yarmouth by.
One last sunset over The Solent.
