Isle of Wight in July

You know I haven't done this for ages, but I decided it was about time I showed some of my pictures from July. So at the beginning of July I did a weeks training course in the UK on the Isle of Wight - yes I did say the Isle of Wight. For all the rock knockers it was a petrophysics course and was really good so would highly recommend it if you have access to Nautilus courses. It was a combination of classroom and field work, but actually we had more time in the sun than in the gloomy classroom!

For all those who have not been to IOW - it is populated with the elderly particularly on the south side of the island - well anywhere outside of Cowes! We were staying in Shanklin on the south-eastern side of the island.

First we got the ferry from Portsmouth to Ryde ...













Then we started to look at the rocks :) The weather was pretty fine and I only had to wear my waterproof jacket once (as a wind proof) and I borrowed a pair of gloves. I would hassen to add that all the others were in shorts and t-shirts at that point. Such a Houston wimp.

We had pretty leisurely lunches, mind you that was partly because the service everywhere we ate was dismal!


The hotel was also something special. It looked quite nice from the outside, and to be fair it was clean inside just with a little out of date decor! Mind you the bus load of granny and grandpa's in the dinning room when we arrived should have been a give away. Our first evening (and only) meal at the hotel was pretty awful. I had fish pie and overcooked peas - it would have been super if I didn't have any teeth! My room was a shoe box, actually so small I could even open the bathroom door fully or the wardrobe for that matter!






Finally, we could not come to the Isle of Wight and not go and see the Needles. Unfortunately for us the cloud was down but you can just about see the impressive chalk stacks. What you don't see is the really naff amusement park that is directly behind me when I am taking the photo - it does sort of ruin the atmosphere and the beauty of the place!