Chilling out at the hotel with a pint of Murphy’s. Jim, an old local is sharing some stories while fishing in the bay. He talked about drilling for gas on the island, it was apparent that times were hard; back in the day.

His attitude to life and his visions of the past were enlightening.

This is Crompton Bay, stunning views, huge beech and popular with the surfers on the mornings – but at the moment it’s a bit windy!

Taken some nice photos of Shanklin town and beech which I’ll upload later. Just sitting down for a snack before hitting the road again.

Woken up this morning not by the sound of the seagulls or even the alarm clock – it was the sound of four bikes on a ore-breakfast run around the island. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining only envious! I have done the same myself, admittedly not quite as early but never the less I can assure you it’s a great feeling.

So what about today? I have no idea..

Clear night over the bay (23:45)

First day and I already look a little burnt up top…

Like an old friend room 309 was waiting for me; on route I bought a parking permit for the week which will save all the scratching around for change for the pay and display parking.

The trip via the ferry went well although a little breezy at times.

The speedy sea-cat type ship went there and back in the same time it took us to get there!!!

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Well I missed the last services before the end of the motorway, so now I’m in TGI Fridays about half a mile from the ferry port – the ferry leaves at 2pm.

Well just started out need to get some juice before I get to the island as I expect it will be quite expensive. Just to add to the list of things to hey fixed on the car when I return; the most valuable commodity in my car is currently unprotected – yes the locking fuel cap isn’t working. Watch this space for more updates.

Well, its been an interesting day. I woke to one of the brightest days of my stay at IoW; gutted that I was leaving today. I must say though it did cloud over partially just to appease me.

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From Shanklin I went onto Brading and once again paid to see the “Experience of a lifetime”. I saw;

.. Romans…

.. old queens…

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