The Isle of Wight is well-stocked with short walks of about one mile. The 1.5 mile walk from Fort Victoria to Sandhard Beach and back is one of the lesser-known routes. We attempted this one a couple of weeks after Easter. I had previously visited Sandhard Beach on my own, during an early morning trip without any trousers. Cappuccinos and free parkingFor the return visit, we parked at Fort Victoria. Parking is free, which is becoming rarer than spotting a red squirrel on the Isle of Wight (see our free parking guide if you are similarly annoyed by paying through the nose to park). Fort Victoria is one of several Victorian-era forts built when Lord Palmerston became convinced that the French were about to invade. Others include Puckpool Battery and the circular forts in the middle of the Solent. The French never did invade, so you can either see Lord Palmerston's efforts as providing a perfect deterrent or being a complete waste of time. Either way, the Isle of Wight has been left with a series of interesting old buildings. This particular one currently houses attractions including a reptilarium, a planetarium and an imaginarium - where you can do craft activities and buy stuff. There are also two cafes, toilets and a woodland. We were due to meet my mother and her husband, but they were running late so we had a nosey in the imaginarium. Child two spent her pocket money on a stuffed dog and I quizzed the owner about the pottery painting on offer (no, they don't have a kiln but they do varnish your artworks). After 30 minutes of complaining about my mother being late, I stomped off and began the walk. It is usually us that is running late, but I couldn't risk the walk getting too close to lunchtime. I also quite enjoyed smugly remarking that we had managed to get two children ready and out of the house and still arrived before them. Getting walkingThe walk to Sandhard Beach begins with a hard-going section along the shingly beach. Anyone training for an Ironman competition should go for a jog on this stuff. We stopped at the Boat House, which is a nice little café right on the beach. They were still getting ready ahead of opening the following day, but a kind member of staff took pity on us and provided cappuccinos anyway. I think she could tell that we needed it. At this point my mother arrived, giving me the perfect opportunity to say "good afternoon", even though it was long before noon. I don't think she enjoyed the joke as much as me. The walk then continue on a smoother section of sea wall which passes Warner Leisure Norton Grange Holiday Village. There aren't railings, but for most of the way, there are steady steps down into the water rather than a huge drop. It's also fairly wide. Approaching Sandhard BeachAbout three quarters of a mile from Fort Victoria we reached Sandhard Beach. As if often the case, the beach looked completely different from my last visit. Back in the summer, the tide had been quite low and the early morning sun was dazzling.
On this occasion, there wasn't a whole lot of beach and the wind was blowing with some enthusiasm. My dream had been to use the barbecue stands, which are provided at Sandhard Beach (thanks to Yarmouth Harbour). I had an image of us sat round the benches whilst roasting marshmallows and sharing stories of what a great dad I am. As it happened, we couldn't get the barbecue to light in the strong wind and most of the seating was underwater. The best I managed was to briefly light my thumb, but it didn't heat up sufficiently to roast a marshmallow. I admitted defeat and gave an apologetic speech about it being much nicer on a sunny day. The children seemed happy enough to eat the marshmallows without roasting them, and we began our walk back to the car. Not our most successful outing then, but no-one cried or fell into the sea so we've certainly had worse.
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We've been watching with interest at the appearance of a new holiday resort in the West Wight called Sandy Lanes Resort (or occasionally Sandy Lane) at Atherfield. These things don't come along too often and we were excited at the thought of a new Isle of Wight seafront holiday resort with posh lodges (see our guide to the other lodge resorts on the Isle of Wight). From what I can gather, the lodges were being sold individually with the option for owners to rent them out. We've previously written a couple of blog posts and taken Tony the Drone for a couple of flights at Sandy Lanes Resort. You can read the previous blogs here and here. The site was previously a privately owned holiday park, which was apparently open from 1935 until 2007, and usually known as Atherfield Bay Holiday Camp. Some reports say it was a Pontins, but that isn't true as far as I can tell (thanks to Vivienne who alerted us to this much repeated bit of fake news). Planning for a new holiday park with about 60 lodges was approved in 2016, after the land was put up for sale for a guide price of £650,000. Estate agents began listing properties with a 250 year lease. Signs were put out the front by a company called Sandy Lane Resort Limited saying that it would have a bar, restaurant, tennis courts and a wellness centre. I was looking forward to a game of tennis overlooking the beautiful West Wight coastline and had already ironed my white tennis shorts. What's happening now?From what I can remember, the resort was due to open in summer 2023. A property website called Knight Knox says it was due to complete in 2023 and mentions a company called RoyaleLife. However, at the time of writing it is fenced off and a sign says that live in caretakers are protecting the site. Estate agent listings for the lodges have been removed. Companies House records for Sandy Lane Resort Limited say that the accounts are overdue and that the company status is 'Active — Active proposal to strike off'. I'm not exactly sure what this means. Another company mentioned - RoyaleLife - 'went into administration last summer' according to a Business Desk article from January 2024. However, in its list of affected resorts it doesn't mention Sandy Lanes. It mentions 'Fort Caravan Park, Sandown' and 'IOW View, Sandown' (I've not heard of the latter). However, there are further updates in the minutes from Brighstone Parish Council's meetings. At the minutes of a meeting on February 14th 2024 there was a representative called Mr Brookes from "the company now funding the completion of the site". He explained that the drainage "had been laid not in the correct direction according to the plans with some drainage pipes running uphill". We had a similar issue with the waste pipe for the washing machine in our old house and can confirm that this design is less than ideal. The minutes then continue to say: "As several councillors were missing could either Mr Brookes or the planning agent attend the mid-month planning meeting which would be on Wednesday 28th February." And so, representatives from the 'new ownership' returned a couple of weeks later on February 27th 2024 "To discuss new proposals to complete the work on site and highlight unresolved issues still outstanding." They "explained the current issues with infrastructure and buildings already installed and remedial issues required before going forward. It was explained that changes and future building to various areas of the development would be done in the future. Unfortunately, certain documents from the developers had not been received. These would be re-sent to the Clerk to forward to Councillors. Councillors declined to make any comment until they had seen the documents which included a planning report from the IoW Planning Department. To be an agenda item for the March Parish Council meeting." (I have edited this slightly as there were a couple of typos). The draft minutes from March gave a brief update that: "Main concerns were with building control issues raised at the previous Parish Council meeting and lighting. Cllr Alldred was working with Shorwell Parish Council to produce a draft comments response which would be forwarded to Councillors for their comment." So, what's the summary?By the point, you have probably nodded off.
From these snippets, I think we can conclude that the company which was due to open the site is no longer involved. I don't know the name of the new company, although there is someone called Richard Brookes at a company called Turley which offers 'expert advisory services for the built environment and beyond'. I have no idea if this is the same person as the one who attended the meeting. It could also be Richard Brookes, the 18th century physician who wrote History of the most remarkable Pestilential Distempers in 1721, but I admit that is less likely. We don't know when the site will open, or if it will still be called Sandy Lanes Resort, Sandy Lane or something else altogether. If you want to check for further updates, I would check minutes from Brighstone Parish Council. My mother rarely gets much of a say on where we go on family days out. She usually receives a text at around 9am to inform her that we are going to Tapnell Farm/Mottistone Manor Gardens/Asda etc. and that she is welcome to join us. I tell her that we will be there at 10am, and then I send her another message at 9.45am to say that we are running late and will be there at 10.30am. We then meet her at 10.45am or sometimes 11am. There is an unwritten understanding that 10am doesn't really mean 10am. However, with her birthday approaching I offered my mother free reign to suggest her dream day out with the grandchildren. She came up with a plan that we would spend the day digging her garden and pulling out pond weed. She insisted that by the end of the day we would all be thanking her. We swiftly put a stop to that ludicrous suggestion and explained that there were limits to my generous offer. The follow up suggestion was a treasure hunt around Shanklin followed by rounders on the beach at Yaverland. This sounded much more appealing to me, so we agreed to meet at 10am. True to form, we met in Shanklin at 11am. The Shanklin Treasure TrailWe have written much about Treasure Trails on this website. We had previously completed seven of them, out of a total of 10. Some are better than others, but they are all good fun. You pay about £10 and are given a sheet of clues. They work well with children, who are happily tricked into going on a local history walk under the guise of it being a treasure hunt. The Shanklin trail starts at the big car park in the old village. We opted to park at the Big Mead car park, which is one of Shanklin's excellent free alternatives to coughing up for parking. The first clue was a little ambiguous, so we wasted a few minutes in the churchyard near Big Mead before confirming our error and heading for the old village. What I like about Treasure Trails is that you are forced to notice things that you had previously driven past and paid no attention to. In Shanklin, this took us past the war memorial and a large sculpture nearby that I had never really noticed. It also took us down some pretty back streets so we could stumble across hotels and businesses and Mrs Guru could say "oh, that's where that is!" Thankfully, the sun was shining, which made a big difference to the general vibe. Shanklin is one of those Isle of Wight towns that comes alive on a sunny day but can feel a bit dreary on a wet and windy day. Ventnor is in the same category. Of course, a bit of sunshine makes anywhere look better but seeing drops of rain pouring down an advert for ice cream is a little bit sad. Seeing families and old dears enjoying an ice cream on the esplanade on a sunny day is far more pleasant. With the sun shining and a light breeze, Shanklin looked lovely. The trail led us along a footpath that I hadn't been down, and into a park that I had driven past numerous times but never explored (I am being deliberately vague in my descriptions, in case you end up doing the trail). Rumbling stomachsAt this point, I received the first request for lunch. We had made it to about 11.45am, which is pretty good going for us. Without a treasure hunt, the first request would have been about 11.15am. I suggested that the treasure hunters carried on and that I would go to Co-op to get a selection of meal deals. My mother thrust £20 of Co-op vouchers into my hand that had been living in a drawer since Victoria was on the throne. Choosing lunch is never a stress free task in our family, but I did enjoy strolling back to the car as the sun shone. I returned half an hour later with a selection of wraps, a few bits of fruit protected by plastic packaging (as God intended) and multiple flavours of smoothie that I wouldn't possibly have bought if they weren't sold as a bundle. The lady on the till said "I've not seen these in a while" as she scanned my antique vouchers. After lunch, the trail continued onto the seafront, and delivered the money-shot of Shanklin towards Luccombe (see the top of the page). A series of cliff paths and footpath closures meant that the planned route had to be altered, but we got the general idea of where the trail was meant to go. By the time we reached clue 11 of 19, time was running away from us. We had committed to a series of other tasks for the afternoon including fitting a shower screen and getting milkshakes from the self-service machine at Crocker's Farm near Cowes.
I informed my mother that the remaining clues and the rounders match would need to wait a few weeks, but that we would return for the final eight clues. Luckily, I had bought some birthday flowers from Co-op, which softened the blow. And no, before you ask, I didn't use my mother's vouchers to buy her birthday flowers. Although, I would have done if the meal deals hadn't been so expensive. We will return to Shanklin in a few weeks to complete the trail. Hold onto your hats. I am not generally a big user of buses. I am ashamed of this and know that they are one of the things we need to embrace to save mankind from destruction. However, on a normal week we just find it so much more convenient to drive everywhere. You can come and go when you want, use the vehicle as a mobile restaurant or bundle the children into the car if one of them is having a tantrum. You also don't have that frustrating moment where the bus turns left and wiggles through a housing estate for 20 minutes when it could turn right and get you to your destination in five minutes. However, despite that long pre-amble I can wholeheartedly recommend the Needles Breezer. It is one of two open top buses on the Isle of Wight and was the one we took this week. A few years ago, we travelled on the Needles Breezer and Downs Breezer but child two didn't remember it all so we wanted to make it right. (It is unsurprising that she doesn't remember it, as I think she was a foetus at the time). The planOn this occasion, the plan was that myself and child two would catch the Needles Breezer as part of a visit to the Needles and Alum Bay. This works particularly well, as you don't have to pay to park (a saving of £6 or £4 if you have National Trust membership). It is also convenient as cars aren't allowed on the road that leads to the National Trust's Needles Old Battery, so a bus saves you a walk of about half a mile. One option is to stay on the bus when it arrives at the Needles Landmark Attraction, as it does a loop up to the Old Battery and then returns to the pleasure park with its chairlift, minigolf and glass blowing. We didn't do the Old Battery, although I would recommend it, particularly if you want to justify National Trust membership for another year. You get closer views of the Needles and the lighthouse than you get from the main attractions at the pleasure park. The tea rooms and the tunnel are the two highlights for me. Hook a duck and stuff a rabbitOn this occasion, we did the touristy things including making a plastic bunny out of sand, riding the carousel and hooking a duck. We skipped the chairlift as it was a little blowy but it's good fun and we will return another time to do it. As a side notes, it's worth saying that the chairlift is a little more thrilling than you may be imagining. A bar lifts over you, but you aren't strapped in by a belt and the drop below is rather a long way. I would wait until your children are sensible enough to sit still, or you will have grey hair and loose bowels by the time you reach the bottom. Anyway, back to the Needles Breezer. Child two is not a great traveller, so it was something of a tense moment as the bus started to move. Thankfully, she took to it very well. We sat upstairs in the open air, which immediately transforms a bus journey into a much more interesting occasion. Branches swoop past your head, speed bumps feel like a modestly-sized theme park ride. A recording waffles on with nice little nuggets of local history. The ticket you need is called a 'Rover + Breezer' ticket, which allows you to leap on and off as you please. It allows travel on all of Southern Vectis' buses, not just the open top ones. I enjoyed not having to concentrate on driving and being high enough up that I could peer into people's back gardens and observe how many people own trampolines. There are also occasional moments where you realise how two landmarks sit in relation to each other, which was another little thrill for me. Besides the Needles headland, the Needles Breezer also stops in Yarmouth, meaning it is particularly good for a day trip from Lymington (personally, I think it's a much better day trip than can be managed as a foot passenger via Southampton, as discussed in our day trip guides). On our journey, the bus stopped in Yarmouth for about 12 minutes so we had a little walk round the town whilst I remarked how much I liked Yarmouth and would like to live there. Child two shrewdly observed that I say this every time we visit. She didn't exactly refer to me as a 'broken record' but that was certainly her tone. Other optional stops on the route include Fort Victoria, which is an old military base with a couple of small attractions. The beaches at Colwell and Totland are also nice stopping points. Both have somewhere where you can buy a coffee. Our journey ended with a circle back to Freshwater Bay. The sun shone as we returned and the whole thing was bordering on idyllic. Freshwater Bay is a particularly good place to stop for an hour. There are rock pools at low tide, good views from the cliffs, a lifeboat shop with ice creams and a photographic museum/café called Dimbola that overlooks the sea. A few assorted bits of advice about the Needles Breezer
We have spent much time on this blog jabbering on about the Military Road. It features in our guide to the Isle of Wight's best driving route (The Wighty 90) and it also stars in a few films, as explained in our Isle of Wight TV and Film Tour. The end of the road?It seems inevitable that you soon won't be able to enjoy the Military Road in its current form. I've heard gossip about various options, including moving part of the road back a bit or just leaving it to be dragged into the sea like a sandcastle constructed over several hours by a proud dad. Whatever happens, it won't be the exact same drive or cycle that it is now. We took Tony the Drone for an early morning flight last month to see some of the points where the road is particularly close to the edge. Good times on TarmacForgive me for a little nostalgia, but if you aren't interested in waffle about Isle of Wight life then you shouldn't really be on this website. Feel free to watch a video of a cat on a skateboard instead.
When I was growing up, Compton Bay became our go-to beach - and generally the Compton end rather than the Hanover end. I'm not sure what year this started, but I would think it was when we were old enough to climb down the steep steps without falling over. My parents were not keen to pay to park, so my father would drop us off by Compton Farm on the Military Road and we would start walking down the steep steps whilst carrying a cool box and a windbreak. He would then park for free at the car park at the top of the Military Road and cross the field to join us. I also suspect he enjoyed five minutes to himself so he could smoke his pipe and admire the view whilst we walked ahead. As we grew up, trips along the Military Road continued with friends, often at night after an evening on the beach. On one occasion, shortly after I had passed my test, we were met with a herd of cows which had wandered onto the road. My friend Stuart climbed out of the car and started running at the cows...before they started running at him. He swiftly retreated, but not quite as swiftly as my car, which was reversing at pace. He caught up eventually and we decided the best bet was to call my mother. In the end, we found a number for Newport police station, who seemed happy enough to help. A few years later, I proposed to Mrs Guru about 20m from the Military Road on the Compton cliffs. A couple of cars drove past and honked. I had written a message in the sand for her to view from the cliffs, but the tide had come in and left a message saying 'MARR ME'. More recently, the Military Road served as a highlight of long drives spent trying to get children to either fall asleep or stay asleep. As the children have grown up, I often take a detour over Compton Down when travelling from Freshwater Bay to Carisbrooke - just to admire the view. They don't show as much interest in the view as I would like, but I suspect I was the same. Anyway, if your favourite road is also the Military Road, please share your love stories in the comments below. If you've got another favourite road, such as a M6 or the A1...please keep it to yourself, I'm really not interested. This is just a quick blog post to shout about a ferry deal that I suspect lots of people don't know about. It is what the kids call a gamechanger for anyone on things like Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Jobseekers Allowance, Pension Credit and Council Tax Support. It is only available to people who live on the Isle of Wight. If you have stumbled on this page and don't fit into those categories that you need one of these guides instead:
(Yes, we've written a lot about the Isle of Wight ferries). Anyway, back to the main subject of this blog post. The Discounted Fares Scheme For Low Income HouseholdsSix years ago, a discount scheme was created for people on the Isle of Wight who receive benefits (we will move onto the small print of what that means shortly). One guide I read suggested that is 14,000 people - or about 10% of the Isle of Wight's population. (The exact figure is hard to work out, as the eligibility varies depending on which ferry company you are using). Each of the three ferry companies operate a similar scheme for low income households. However, they all use different names for it:
How much money will I save?A lot! Current prices that we've been able to find are:
who is eligible and how can I apply? Is it lots of faff?Each ferry company has a different criteria but the amount of paperwork and faff is not that significant:
Can friends and family visit me with these discounts?No, I don't think so. I'll update if I hear otherwise.
Fear not, this isn't going to be another one of those nauseating Easter guides with endless puns about 'cracking' events and 'eggcellent' activities. We know that such things are beneath you and fail to even raise a titter. I would encourage you to confidently condemn such behaviour.
Anyway, here are some of the events that we know about on the Isle of Wight for Easter 2024. Please add your comments below if you know of other events that we've missed. Or just leave a comment to tell me how handsome I am, that's fine as well. 1. Alice in Wonderland at Tapnell Farm Park
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Tapnell Farm Park's Alice in Wonderland event last year. It's returning for 2024 with things like potion making, circus games and a maze. Tapnell's events take place indoors, although I can 100% guarantee that there will be zero rain on the Isle of Wight in April (Ed: you really can't say that...).
2. Easter Egg Hunt at Brading Roman Villa
What better way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour than a hunt for chocolate at the home of some Romans?
Brading Roman Villa is holding an egg hunt to raise money for a charity called Daisy Chains. There's a magic show, Peter Rabbit and hidden letters around the grounds. I've not been to this one, but it is obviously popular as you can 'pre buy your hunt to avoid the queue on the day'. I am glad to see they haven't turned it into an Alton Towers style experience where there's an express queue for people who paid extra because their children whined the loudest. It takes place on Saturday 30th March. 3. Easter Egg Hunt at Ventnor Botanic Garden
You might not find what you're looking for at the Easter egg hunt at Ventnor Botanic Garden, but as the saying goes...nothing Ventnored, nothing gained.*
Anyway, this a good one for those towards the South Wight. It takes place on Easter Sunday (March 31st). *I've been waiting weeks for a chance to use this pun and am very proud of it. I thought of it whilst standing in the shower and immediately leapt out to write it down. You're probably thinking it wasn't worth it. 4. Great Railway Easter hunt at Isle of Wight Steam RAilway
The Easter event at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway is a two week thing, rather than a one off thing. It will combine chocolate and trains, which covers the key interests of most of my family. They will have giant eggs around the site and falconry displays.
It's called The Great Railway Easter Hunt. 5. Easter Fireworks in Sandown
Sandown's popular New Year's Day fireworks were rescheduled to Easter.
You'll get a good view anywhere along the Esplanade, it tends to be particularly busy around the Pier (they launch off the end of the Pier). Last time we went, we parked at the big car park by Sandham Gardens and walked along. It was chocca blocka but we weren't waiting too long to get out as we could escape in the Culver direction rather than driving through Sandown. 6. Easter Eggs in the West Wight
So, we've had an Easter Egg hunt in the East Wight and another in the South Wight... Here's one for the West Wight, organised by the people who run that splendid double decker bus at Freshwater Bay. If the weather is good, this will be a great location. Hopefully the eggs aren't all grey, or you've got no chance of finding them amongst the pebbles.
7. The Big Brick Build at Osborne House
We are obsessed with Lego in our house. Sometimes I even let the kids play with it as well. Osborne House is capitalising on such things with a week and a bit of Lego-related things happening at Easter. I'm not really sure what Lego has got to do with Easter, but then I'm not really sure what chocolate and rabbits have got to do with Jesus either.
8. New stuff at Blackgang Chine
Not exactly an event, but Easter will be our first chance to see the new stuff at Blackgang Chine. We now know that Colossus is being moved from Robin Hill (*wipes away tear*), and will be pirate-themed in its new home. The fort near to Pirates Cove has been removed to make way for it. There is also something else appearing for younger children at Blackgang Chine. My best guess is that Robin Hill's The Ripple will appear at the former Cliffhanger site, but that's just a guess. I'll be editing this blog post in a few weeks when it turns out I was wrong.
9. Calbourne's Duck Race
Calbourne's Duck Race is great fun. We got there rather late last time, but we still got the general idea. It takes place in Winkle Street, which is the place that is constantly being photographed for calendars they sell in garden centres. Here's our blog from last time.
At the time of typing, I can't find a lot about it happening in 2024 but I assume it is. Keep an eye out for the sign that appears on the Middle Road with more details. We took the drone out for a fly this morning, after reading about "ground movement and cracks" at Rylstone Gardens in Shanklin. A friendly chap working at the boat club directly below helpfully pointed me in the right direction. He suggested that the crack is near to the Elvis plaque. I avoided making any gags about him being All Shook Up about it, as it didn't quite seem appropriate when there are businesses and clubs underneath. The first photos show the cordoned off area, with a few people having a nosey. You can download HD versions of the file below.
The next photo is a closer view of the plaque. The friendly chap at the boat club and I agreed that we couldn't really see anything notable. There are lots of small cracks in the footpath, but he suggested they had been there a while. I'll upload my video at some point, so that others can see if they can spot anything. You can download an HD version of this image below
The friendly chap at the boat club then suggested that I look at the protective mesh that is in place to reduce the risk of debris falling onto anyone's head. He suggested that there is fresh dust/debris that has fallen on the left and right of this photo. I don't know for sure if this is new or old movement. Download an HD version below to get a better idea of what I'm talking about:
Finally, the friendly man pointed me in the direction of a summerhouse, which is now perilously close to the cliff near to Luccombe Manor Country Hotel (200m along the coast from where the cordoned off area is). He wasn't suggesting that it has moved this week, but it is a reminder that movement along this part of the Isle of Wight is pretty frequent. He also told me that it previously housed a webcam showing the sea view. And here's the same summerhouse from the other side. Room with a view anyone? You can download an HD version below.
Note for editors: You are welcome to publish these photos elsewhere, but we require you to credit us with a link to https://www.isleofwightguru.co.uk. Contact me for further high resolution images and videos (currently raw, but I'll edit them once the children are occupied).
I have big concerns about AI. I'm not too worried about the possibility of robots taking over and becoming our masters, but I am wary of cleverly disguised plagiarism which will put millions of people out of work. Anyway, let's put such fears to one side and see how successfully Chat GPT can generate Isle of Wight related AI images. Here's what it spat out when I gave it a few Isle of Wight themed image requests: Create a picture of Elvis Presley visiting the Needles on the Isle of WightOK, so Elvis looks like Elvis but what has happened to the Needles? Where's the lighthouse? The first chalk stack looks like Freshwater Bay's Stag Rock but other than that it's a total mess. I give it 4/10 Create an image of The Beatles visiting Blackgang ChineWe all know that Ticket To Ride has Isle of Wight links, and that John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr attended the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival. But what would happen if they visited Blackgang Chine? Well, we shall never know as Chat GPT just produced a picture of four random guys standing in front of some dinosaurs. The sign at the back doesn't even say 'Chine', it says CHNE. If you've booked these guys for a Beatles weekend at Blackgang Chine, ask for your money back. It's 3/10 from me. Create an image of King Charles and Camilla building a sandcastle on Sandown beachWhy does Charles have a beard? Why does Sandown Pier look like Brighton Pier with a new sign? What is going on with Camilla's left hand? It's a 2/10 from me, since neither the people nor the background looks right. Create an image of Tom Cruise visiting VentnorI can only assume that Chat GPT hasn't been to Ventnor. The Spyglass has become a hotel, the hills aren't high enough. Tom Cruise is stood in a field which doesn't exist. I'm giving this one 4/10. Create an image of Princess Diana enjoying an ice cream at Carisbrooke Castle whilst Harry and Meghan do a high fiveCrumbs, these are getting worse. Diana looks unwell. Harry looks like Harry, but Meghan doesn't look right at all. And no, that's not Carisbrooke Castle. That's not even a high-five, it's a wave. 2/10.
Well, that was a waste of time. Wightlink has announced three changes to its Multilink pass for regular travellers. Two of the changes probably won't affect vast numbers of people but I thought it was worth highlighting the third one - which could save you a lot of money if you're a couple who visit (or leave) the Isle of Wight at least twice a year. Here's my main point for those who don't want to read the full waffle. If you travel as a foot passenger on the Ryde Pier Head to Portsmouth Harbour crossing as a couple twice a year, then it is now almost certainly worth getting a Multilink passenger pass. Anyway, on with the main waffle.
The first two changes that Wightlink has made are to do with the Multilink vehicle passes. You can now have three people on your pass instead of two, as long as you live at the same address. For example, a mum and dad living on the Isle of Wight and their grown-up daughter could share a pass if she still lives at home. You don't need to travel together, so it is now easier to use up several journeys between you. The second change is that you need to cancel Multilink vehicle bookings with 24 hours notice, rather than with an hour's notice. However, it seems you can still amend bookings so it's not a big deal. I think some people were booking several crossings on the same day and then cancelling the ones they didn't need. The first two changes only affect those with an Isle of Wight residence (permanent residents or second home owners). The third change is to the Multilink foot passenger pass, which is available to anyone - whether you have an Isle of Wight address or just enjoy visiting. So, if you live in Portsmouth and pop over on a sunny day then this deal is for you. You can now have two names on a Multilink passenger pass instead of one, as long as you are part of the same family. The minimum number of passes you can buy is 10 singles which are valid for 12 months. So, previously you would need to visit the Isle of Wight five times in a year, whereas now it is two or three times per pass holder. Let's crunch some numbers for visitors from Portsmouth:
For Isle of Wight residents, it is quite similar:
It gets a little more complicated once you factor in discounts, concessions and the different fares for the Lymington and Fishbourne ferries. For example:
Anyway, I'll leave you to chew over those numbers. |
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April 2024
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