Another beautiful day, too hot to walk far out of the shade but we popped down into Shanklin and found a car park up on the cliff top which led straight onto the upper promenade with pretty spectacular views in places, though mostly hidden by the hedgerow, along the coast back towards the other side of Whitecliffs from yesterday….

Pretty soon we started to descend down into Shanklin with it’s lovely and fairly busy sandy beach….

As expected the beach is not dog friendly during the summer and there was absolutely no shade so we didn’t linger and made our way along the lower promenade around the headland to enjoy a leisurely stroll along the year round dog friendly Lake beach which had a decent strip of low tide damp and cool sand for us to walk on. I enjoyed a good paddle all the way to Sandown, along the waters edge and even managed to persuade Tilly to get her feet wet, which hopefully helped in keeping her a bit cooler….

Sandown was busier than Shanklin and again with no shade and unable to walk on the damp sand (dog ban) we took a quick look at West Side Beach and the Pier….

And beyond the Pier – East Side Beach….

Before heading straight back to the tranquility and cool damp sand on Lake Beach and found ourselves a little spot of shade wedged up next to the groynes for a sit and a drink as we watched the tide creep in….

Before making the climb back up to the van and the short hot drive back to site to spend the rest of the afternoon sat in the shade of the van in a very welcome breeze.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 7
• Miles walked – 6
• Beaches – 3
• C/P – £4.10
• O/N – £17.50

As it is still quite warm out of the breeze and shade we loitered around site until after lunch and ventured back to visit Bembridge, finding parking in the village centre and followed a leafy lane with some rather exclusive houses hidden behind huge gates down to the seafront and Bembridge Beach, again a mix of sand and shingle but with a lot of exposed rock and a rather impressive Lifeboat station at the end of a Pier at the far end…

Plenty of space for Tilly to have some freedom and at least by splashing through the rockpools she is getting slightly cooled down. The main beach either side of the lifeboat station is Lane End Beach….

Here again the coastal path meanders inland a bit through the grounds of a rather nice seafront hotel with some pretty impressive gardens….

The coastal path continues through residential areas as it cuts across the headland to Forelands Beach….

A much wilder and quieter beach with no easy vehicular access, here we sat for a while, I paddled and Tilly darted in and out of the shallows which is about as brave as she gets around water and only then when there is no notable crashing or even lapping of the sea!

In the distance is the nearest of Whitecliffs Coves, which was to have been our destination for walking today but whilst sat on the beach, i made the executive decision to abandon said plan and instead return to the welcome shade and breeze on site….

Destination for another day and probably not this trip.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 20
• Miles walked – 6
• Beaches – 4
• O/N – £17.50

Yep the weather gods are still with us as today we take a short drive to the National Trust car park at St Helen’s. Surprisingly we find plenty of space to park the van safely as we wander over the low dunes to The Duver Beach a mix of sand and shingle narrow strip of beach with beautiful clear and calm aquamarine sea….

Across the entrance to Bembridge Harbour is another strip of sand and shingle beach – Bembridge Harbour Beach, a rather long walk around though, so we satisfy ourselves with the distant view…

Turning back on ourselves we wander along the beach hut backed St Helen’s Beach which is busy on this glorious Saturday afternoon….

At the far end of the beach is this rather striking ruin of the original St Helen’s church?….

Here the coastal path heads inland a bit around a couple of private estates and a large holiday park running through fields at first and then fortunately a tree lined (shady) pathway….

After a mile and a half we arrive in the small seaside village of Seaview (aptly named) and down onto Seagrove Beach a fairly busy but very small strip of sand and shingle….

From here we followed the original coastal path which is closed off at some point between here and St Helens, hence the inland walk but is still open to reach the delightful Priory Beach….

There are lots of craft out in the bay enjoying the fine conditions and we sat in the shade just sea watching before making our way back to the van. We had planned to continue on around to Bembridge but it is really too warm to consider walking any further so that can be tomorrow’s outing.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 22
• Miles walked – 5
• Beaches – 4
• O/N – £17.50

At the risk of sounding boring, another fab day as we take the short drive north to Cowes and opt for finding parking (free) on the outskirts of East Cowes and walk the mile or so down to the small pebble beach…

The ferry port dominates most of the seafront here and other than a supermarket and large residential area there ins’t much to East Cowes so we wandered back through the town to catch the Floating Bridge chain ferry across to Cowes…

For the princely sum of £1 (or actually if I had checked £1.50 return) you can travel on the ferry across the river Medina into the centre of Cowes, it takes about 5 minutes and the ferry seems to operate continuously back and forth. The main high street is pedestrianised and full of bars, shops etc, not quite as upmarket as I imagined but all the usual suspects – Henry Lloyd, Musto, Fatface etc plus a number of independents made for a nice wander….

The end of the high street leads down onto the promenade passing the Cowes Yacht Club with its decorative row of canons and flagpole….

Just as we were passing they fired the starter which nearly sent Tilly into outer orbit and we covered the next half a mile in super quick time but then I was able to calm her down and we had put sufficient distance between us, we were able to sit for a while on the green above the beach watching the yachts fairly scudding along in the breeze and of course the constant stream of incoming and outgoing ferries….

The beach was a long strip of golden pebbles….

Time to make our way back after a very enjoyable day.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 18
• Miles walked – 7
• Beaches – 2
• Ferry – £2
• O/N – £17.50

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