Isle of Wight 2010
++++++++++++++++++

:when: Sat 28th August - Monday 29th August
:who: Myself and Roland

Background
==========

We'd both wanted to get out of London over the bank holdiday and had hoped to
visit Cornwall. We decided to leave booking late so that we could see what the
weather was like but that turned out to be a mistake. By 9:30pm on the Thursday
the overnight sleep train from Paddington to Penzance had only one bed left and
both National Express and Megabus had sold out. After a couple of hours of
scrambling around we agreed upon the Isle of Wight instead.

Route
=====

We decided to walk the West of the island because it is an area of `outstanding
natural beauty <http://www.wightaonb.org.uk/>`_ (no map on that site though!)
and also hosts `the needles <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Needles>`_, one of
the island's main natural landmarks.

Our route takes us from Cowes along the North West coastal path and then
slightly south to `Newbridge <http://www.multimap.com/s/rsQciB0l>`_ to camp at
the Orchards. The next day we head to The Needles and then along the South West
coast down to Brighstone Holiday Centre.

There is a `walking page
<http://www.iwight.com/just_visiting/getting_around/walking.asp>`_ on the
official tourism pages for some other ideas but the brochure mentioned doesn't
contain any routes.

Travel
======

There are good train links to London from both Portsmouth and Southampton. The
ferries from Portsmouth go to Fishbourne whereas the ones from Southampton go
to Cowes.

Trains to Southamton go regularly from London Waterloo (see `National Rail
Enquiries website <http://www.nationalrail.co.uk>`_) and take an hour and a
half. From there you can get a ferry to Cowes with `Red Funnel Ferries
<http://www.redfunnel.co.uk/>`_.

Travel within the Island
------------------------

The official tourism website has `information about travel around the island
<http://www.iwight.com/just_visiting/getting_around/>`_ Quoting the website:

    With up to 350 ferry crossings a day, it's simple to travel to the Isle of
    Wight, and once you are here, it is even easier to get around.
    
    Only 2 hours from London, ferry routes connect directly with the road, rail and
    coach links to whisk you off to your Island destination. If you are not
    bringing a car with you, once ashore you can take advantage of the Island's
    comprehensive network of buses which are especially geared towards visitors.

The website for the Island's train service is here:

* http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/island-line.aspx 

with a map here:

.. image :: swtiowmap2tnail.jpg
   :target: http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/uploads/swtiowmap2detail.jpg

There are also loads of taxis:

* http://www.iwight.com/travelInformation/gettingAround/taxi.asp

Bus information is here:

* http://www.iwight.com/travelInformation/gettingAround/buses.asp

There's a network map here (and a PDF on the page if you click the image):

.. image :: networkmap.gif
   :target: http://www.islandbuses.info/networkmap01.shtml

Handily there is a Number 7 bus which goes every 30 mins and is close to our
route on the evening of the first day and the whole of the second day so that
we can jump on it if we abandon all hope of walking the route!

.. image :: r7_minimap.gif
   :target: http://www.islandbuses.info/r7.shtml

Camping
=======

There is a list of campsites here:

* http://www.uk-sites.com/caravan_parks_and_campsites/camping_in_isle_of_wight.htm

We chose to stay in:

* The `Orchards Holiday Caravan & Camping Park <http://www.orchards-holiday-park.co.uk/>`_ 01983 531331 (£30 per night for
  two people sharing a small tent)

* `Brighstone Holiday Centre <http://www.brighstone-holidays.co.uk/schools.htm>`_  01983 740244 (hard to
  get hold of)

Both of these places have swimming pools.

Maps
====

The best maps are probably on `MultiMap <http://www.multimap.com/s/rsQciB0l>`_,
choose the OS Map view and you get Landranger and Pathfinder maps of the whole
island.

Kit
===

Once again, here's my kit list:

* `Kit List 2009 <kitlist.ods>`_ (`OpenOffice <http://openoffice.org>`_ format)
  or `as a CSV file <kitlist.csv>`_ (can be read by Excel)

Here's information about the stove we used on the trip:

* `MSR Wisperlite Internationale stove review <../../blog/2009/msr-whisperlite-internationale-2009.html>`_