The Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight (IOW) is one of our favourite places in England. For years we have travelled here annually, mainly on our motorcycles, and explored this beautiful island. After a tour of the West Country and catching up with family and friends we decided to spend a few weeks on the Isle of Wight, this time in Daphne and bringing our cycles. It’s about 45 minutes to travel from Portsmouth harbour to Fishbourne (IOW) on the car ferry. We booked through the Caravan & Camping club and got a generous 50% discount to take Daphne across the Solent.  

We spent some time “wild camping” and had booked a campsite for a few days in Wootton bridge. However with Lockdown 2 looming we asked the campsite if they would consider hosting us for the duration of the lockdown. Living in a motorhome full time and having nowhere else to go can feel stressful during these strange times so having a place to hole up and call home means the world. Luckily government guidelines are now a lot clearer for people in our position and campsites are allowed to have key workers and those who live full time in their caravans/motorhomes/vans to stay if they wish. We were pleased to be offered a place to stay at the campsite next to Kite Hill farm. The photos below will show you a little bit about our second lockdown:

Masks are compulsory on ferries and public transport.

We enjoyed watching ferries and other boating activity arrive in Fishbourne.

The view towards Tennyson down.

Ryde has a lovely seafront and pier. We enjoyed a final cafe breakfast before lockdown.

All set up at the sunny campsite. 

Walks around Wootton bridge were varied with woods, creeks and the harbour. 

Ivan and Otto cosy in Daphne.

Mackerel skies over the Old Mill Pond in Wootton Bridge.

We cycled and found lots of old railway lines made into cycle tracks.

Firestone copse was right next to the campsite and we got to know it well.

Spot the dog 😂

Ivan found a bench named after him.

We cycled to Quarr abbey and had the best cherry pie take out from the cafe 😍

More woodland walks.

We recommend the campsite. It’s very friendly, well maintained and the showers were fab. The campsite was closed for lockdown.

Early morning coffee and walks in the woods.

Otto relaxing in Daphne 😍

Ivan was thrilled when he came across the original Spice girls rock & roll bus from the film “Spice World”. 

From Island harbour you can cycle alongside the river Medina into Newport all on cycle lanes.

The chain link ferry between East and West Cowes had broken down so we managed to get our cycles onto a small bus ferry across. 

Lockdown ended on 2nd December 2020 and the IOW was put into Tier one so we celebrated with a few drinks in the local pub one evening. Not a substantial meal in sight! 

Our longest cycle was Sandown via Newport along the Red Squirrel cycle route. We aimed to get the train back to Ryde and then cycle back from there. However the trains were not running so with sore bums and aching calves we managed to cycle all the way back. An epic day out, phew 😅. 

Sunset over the campsite.

We managed to see a red squirrel in Firestone copse despite it being winter 😊.

Over the course of November/December 2020 we explored the island. It’s been great to spend lockdown finding new places we have never been to before on the island and keeping active. Thank you reading this blog. We hope you are keeping well xx