We left the busyness of London to explore the little island off the south coast of England. We hired a car and booked ourselves into a BnB in Waterlooville, near a small town called 'Selborne'. Bud's Alumni is Selborne College and was named after 'John Palmer', the 2nd Earl of Selborne, who succeeded Lord Milner as High Commissioner for South Africa and governor of the Transvaal and Orange River in 1905 during the transition of the union of South Africa.
Selborne is a quiet little green village with beautifully old buildings and lots of greenery. We stopped over at the 'Selborne Arms' for a pint. Here I was given an early birthday present (Go-Pro) which Bud got to play with for the rest of the weekend.
We next headed to the beach on Hayling Island. It was raining, very windy and the beach was not that pleasant. We didn't stay long before heading off to our bed and breakfast in Waterlooville.
The next morning, we drove to Lymington, parked our car and boarded the ferry going across to Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. The weather was not ideal (as usual in England), however our spirits were high and were excited for an adventure. Neither of us had a map or a plan for when we got there, but decided that we would find our way to 'The Needles Point', which is a point where 3 peaks of chalk rock stick out of the sea.
Once at our destination, we started following the coast line hoping to find either a bus, a path or signs. The wind was so strong that conversation was impossible. After about 10 minutes of walking, to our delight, we saw a pathway heading towards Freshwater Bay. It was sheltered and off the main road and so we decided to follow it and didn't worry about where we would end up. We were just happy to be out of the wind, streets and to be surrounded by natural beauty. Of course, the English Rainy weather had caused some flooding and most of our journey along the path was spent wading through mud, however, it felt like a real outdoor adventure.
The path took us to Freshwater Bay which is a beach made of chalk pebbles. The waves made an extraordinary unique noise as they crashed onto the pebbles. Surrounding the bay were white chalk cliffs with eroded caves. We continued our journey up a steep chalk cliffs, walking into the wind, following the coastline and heading towards an interesting monument which we could see in the distance. As we trekked up the hill, the tiny monument in the distance slowly got bigger and bigger....until we finally reached it. We stopped awhile at The Tennyson's monument to appreciate a bit of history. The monument was erected on the highest point of Isle of Wight, in memory of Lord Alfred Tennyson, a famous poet. Next to the monument was a massive Toposcope with the words written on it..."Sunset and Evening Star, And one clear call for me, And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea (Lord Tennyson)."
We continued along the cliffs edge and found a sheltered spot to stop for lunch. When we got our breathe back, we continued on our journey towards the Needles. It wasn't much further, when we finally reached 'The Needles Old Battery', an old fort used during both World Wars as well as a Rocket Launch site. Just below the rocket launch site was The Needles point. It was so windy that we were unable to go too close to the edge and at one point I thought that my feet were literally going to blow out from under me.
As we walked up the long hill away from the point, we saw a bus stop and decided to make it a day and get a bus back to the ferry.
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
(Lord Alfred Tennyson)