Another lovely day, after a few spits and spots overnight and we have decided to take a drive along the west coast along the coastal road.

Bypassing Sandown and Shanklin which we will visit another day, we were a bit disappointed by not being able to get down into Ventnor and find suitable parking but carried on along the Old Military Road, finding a small lay up above Chale Bay (literally above the oldest Theme Park in the UK – Blackgang Chine) which afforded spectacular views along the coast and Chine Bay, towards The Needles and little glimpses of the beach below….

A little further along was a National Trust carpark for Brook Chine Beach a part black sand and pebbly beach just accessible above the tide….

A brief stop and cliff top walk looking down on the beaches of Freshwater….

And more stunning views looking towards The Needles and out to Mermaid Rock….

A further short drive took us to our main destination the car park below The Needles Headland, the most westerly point of the Isle of Wight and almost spitting distance from Milford on Sea on the mainland. Here fortunately the parking attendant appeared to have gone home, so we parked up and set off to walk to The Needles viewing points. Looking down on the magnificent multicoloured cliffs and Alum Bay…

We almost achieved eye to eye contact with a kestrel as we walked….

Access to the lower viewing point is through the NT Old Battery….

But it was also worth climbing up to the higher viewing point to get a wider view of their magnificence – how awesome is our natural world?….

After a quick mooch around The Needles Attraction, which reminded me of the one at Lands End (equally awful) only to find that all the shops were not dog friendly (their loss) and a last look at The Needles….

There is a rather cool cable car running from the end of the car park down to Alum Bay and a number of boat trips available from the landing stage down on the beach and an open top bus doing circuits from the car park to both viewing points so you could easily make a day of it but we have had a great day, a couple of nice walks and are ready for the drive back to site, food and relax.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 51
• Miles walked – 6
• Beaches – 5
• O/N – £17.50