Compton Bay

Last night, we planned a trip to Compton Bay, which meant we had to get on the bus to Newport before 9:30 am to pick up some supplies at Morrisons and make a connection to the bay at 10:40 am. It was about forty minutes until we rang the bell to get off. It seems popular, as about half the bus disembarked with us.

We were dropped off at the National Trust car park. There was a coffee-cum-ice-cream stall which we thought we might come back to, but when we returned, it had closed. We headed to the beach for a walk along the coast, searching for fossils. According to The Trust, the "Isle of Wight is the richest source of dinosaur remains in Europe," and we found what we believed were rocks that seemed to have been moulded from something with huge paw prints. We found fewer than we had hoped, but what we saw was impressive.

After fossil hunting, we planned to walk to Freshwater Bay. We started heading that way but realised the cliff path more or less disappeared, and, most of the time, the only people we saw in that direction were a pair of paragliders. We turned back to sit on a bench with a fantastic sea view while unpacking the lunch we'd bought. A couple who had walked from Freshwater passed us, and they commented that it was a challenging route to follow. We looked at the timetable and saw a bus was due, so we waited for it and took a five-minute journey instead.

The hotel on the cliff at Freshwater Bay has been refurbished since we last visited: there's now a restaurant and bar overlooking the sea. We made a note that we'd want to come back, but today, we'd planned to walk onwards along the trail to Yarmouth. It's a lovely walk along the marsh and wetlands. We stopped off for bottled water at Freshwater Tesco, where we wandered through their summertime beach shop but decided not to buy anything.

At Yarmouth, we were unsure where to stop for refreshment. Eventually, we settled for Gossips Café at the pier entrance. I am glad we did. PY went to buy tea and scones while I sat outside, but he soon beckoned me in because an inside table with a view had been secured. We watched as the Yarmouth ferry departed for Lymington.

It was an excellent way to spend the afternoon. By the time we got back to Ryde, we were still in the mood to enjoy the outdoors, so we had a couple of drinks at Harbour House. They were gearing up for the Euros final, but we opted to watch it at home, where we used up some of the dinner I'd prepared yesterday. We could also have our sporting disappointment, losing to Spain, from the comfort of our sofa!