Off exploring today in Smart Arse. Lots of the roads round here are so narrow that a car as small as ours is just perfect and we have noticed there are quite a lot equally small and often Smart too.
We headed for the Needles which is West and went as close to the coast as the roads allowed. First stop Compton Bay where the high chalk cliffs are crumbling away and we wondered how soon the car park would crumble over the edge. We passed Freshwater Bay but didnt stop and carried on to the Needles.
Have to say this was a disappointment. Commercialised like Lands End but with less natural attraction. We parked in the car park and got a £2 reduction in the parking charge as Smart Arse has a (valid) National Trust sticker in the windscreen. Then we somehow got it wrong. We walked all the way Up to the Needles lookout point... All Up hill and then, as it just happened to be sitting waiting, we caught the tourist bus all the way Down. And that meant down past the car park and to the tourist attraction area which meant we had to walk
What can i say about the Needles ? Well a lot smaller than we had expected and pretty well impossible to even get a decent view or photo. In fact the photo I took from the bottom through a hole in the fence was far superior to those I took from the official viewpoints after we had walked right to the top of the hill.
The attraction area at the bottom of the hill was not to our taste is the best I can say. There is a chair lift down to the beach but we decided not to bother. There was an interesting sand shop where i was enticed to buy a plastic elephant and fill it with sand for the cheap price of £7.50. No. Ta.
So on round the coast to Yarmouth which proved to be a far better place to visit. Parked in a big carpark just over the swing bridge and later found it was really the only place to park in town. Had a very nice lunch in the first pub we came to and then a walk along the wooden pier to admire the boats and
look across at the mainland at Lymington which looked to be within spitting distance but obviously wasnt.
We liked Yarmouth a lot. Had a lovely feel to it and the sun back out, the sky was blue again and we overstayed our carparking but got away with it.
Back via Newport which was busy with traffic and then to the campsite with a stop to admire the view down to Sandown and the coast from a little nature reserve area. Complete with a handy icecream van.
We are very pleased with the weather which is being kind. Dry, warm but not too hot and as long as we can bear having our hair standing mainly on end in the brisk wind we can manage well.
