The Day We Hit The Coast: Isle of Wight
Using the Train Line website keeps booking your trains across the UK simple but they do charge a booking fee. You can also get tickets from National Rail without a fee but they will redirect you to the website of the train company that is operating the journey you chose in order to purchase the tickets. Depending on how you feel about paying for convenience it can be worth paying the booking fee to purchase all your train tickets from one website if you are buying multiple tickets.
The Trainline and National Rail websites both generate the cheapest times to travel and makes booking your tickets easy. We always pick up our tickets on the day of travel to avoid paying a delivery charge. If you cannot pick up tickets the day of your travel (for example a station we regularly use doesn't have a ticket machine) You are able to pick up your tickets at any station before your travel date.
On the way home we took the Mega Bus. It was quite expensive for this trip, and it was a long journey. The train was out of our budget going back to Birmingham though. The bright side is that taking the coach give us time to think and we came to the realisation that we wanted to take more week long trips in Europe.
We arrived in Portsmouth at 10am, and met up with my Uncle. We made our way from the train station to the hover craft that goes over to the Isle of Wight.
We used public transport on the Isle of Wight and it was cheaper for the three of us to get a group day pass. The link to their transport is here: (Note, they only take cash) http://www.islandbuses.info/page.shtml?pageid=1271
Waiting for our Hovercraft |
The hovercraft was pretty big and probably held around 100 people.
The hovercraft went 60/mph
We caught the #3 bus and headed towards Ventnor.
We could not have asked for better weather to see the Isle of Wight.
The bus ride ended up being a beautifully scenic drive. We got off the bus in Wroxall and walked to the Donkey Sanctuary.
Donkeys this way! |
DONKEYS!! |
By the time we arrived here, we were very hungry. The Sanctuary had a cafe, which to our surprise wasn't very vegan friendly. I was shocked that an ANIMAL sanctuary for rescued donkeys didn't have vegan options... In my opinion they go hand in hand.
We asked them if they could put the side salad onto some bread with mustard and that's what we had. The staff were very apologetic, so hopefully they add some options to their menu in the future.
Salad Sandwich |
Beautiful farms |
After some time with the donkeys we made our way to the bus stop. The roads didn't have side walks, so we had to walk in the road with the cars.
We caught the bus to Newport
Above the fish and chip shop, Is our ancestral home from 200 years ago approx.
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We caught the #7 bus to Shalfleet to a cottage that was built by an ancestor of mine in the 1600's
Dave Death Motorcycle |
The New Inn dating from 1743 |
Ancestral Cottage built in the 1600's |
Pictures of the Cottage in The New Inn next door |
After our drink we hopped back on the bus and headed towards Newport.
We still had over an hour before our hovercraft back to Portsmouth so we stopped in a Malaysian restaurant for some dinner.
We got a bean curd tofu curry and mixed veggies to share. It was fantastic.
After dinner we caught the hovercraft back to Portsmouth.
What a lovely place to visit. I loved scrolling through all your pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much.
DeleteI would be so surprised that an animal sanctuary didn't have vegan options. I feel like that would be the majority of what they would have. I'm sorry that you were stuck with a side salad sandwich. I remember when I was a vegetarian, in Texas... yes Texas, it would be hard for me to find vegetarian options so I would have to do things like that.
ReplyDeleteYeah there are times were it can be tricky in remote areas if you are not prepared. I actually heard the other day that Globe Life Park, the Texas Ranger's stadium, has an all vegan concession stand. Maybe we will make it to a Rangers game one day.
DeleteThese pictures are absolutely beautiful. It is hard to find vegan in foreign countries, they eat so much meat.
ReplyDeleteThe UK was good for vegan options for the most part just not at the Donkey Sanctuary.
DeleteI went to Great Britain 7 years ago. But I never went to Portsmouth.
ReplyDeleteWhich parts did you get too?
Deleteyour pictures are always beautiful.I love every place you visit
ReplyDelete:) We are glad.
DeleteWow, so beautiful! And these cute animals...!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm vegetarian, so I know it's not so simple find places to eat, but you found great alternatives!
Glad to hear. Sometimes it is a little more work. But it is always worth it.
DeleteLooks and sounds like a beautiful trip. Would love to visit one day.
ReplyDeleteIt was. We had a great time.
DeleteThat looks like such a fun place to visit. Glad they offer a huge vegan option!
ReplyDeleteYeah it was a great place to see.
DeleteThis looks like an incredible place to visit! Your photos are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIt was great! Thanks.
DeleteThat hovercraft looks like so much fun! And I remember taking an overnight Mega Bus from Dundee to London, which thankfully I got the Gold version so I was able to sleep! Those buses are so uncomfortable!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even though there was a gold version in England!
DeleteAmazing pictures and I loved the way of your presentation as well. Keep travelling and keep sharing. This world is such a beautiful place to live and enjoy. Mesmerising!
ReplyDeleteThank you. There is so much in the world to see. I would like to explore at least a handful of it.
DeleteA lovely and peaceful place to hangout during summer. Kids will enjoy this kind of weekend with cute farm animals, and learn a lot.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we saw some kids there. I think on a nicer day there would have been more.
DeleteI want to be there somewhere warm. It is already spring but it is still cold.
ReplyDeleteYeah the summer sunshine does make for a better day out.
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