Sky
Free Member
- Posts
- 1,032
- Likes
- 1,461
Warning - another long post alert!
Having spent almost a year in 2012/2013 touring France and wildcamping in my motorhome, I wrote an article about it and due to the nice feedback you gave me, it would seem many of you enjoyed reading it. Just in case you're interested and you missed it, you can find it here.
Due to your appreciation, I thought I would follow it up and write another about the Isle of Wight as I've spent the last year full-time wilding there. I figured this may help those of you who are either not interested in France or for some reason are unable to hop across the channel – after all; foreign holidays don't appeal to everyone.
If you're on a limited budget and looking at staying in the UK to save money, it is actually cheaper to go to France. Firstly, the ferry companies charge higher fees and secondly, you will pay above average for most things on the island compared to the UK mainland. The ferry is actually cheaper than it is to the Isle of Wight most of the time and the cost of fuel (as well as booze and food) in France is a lot cheaper too. At the time of writing this, diesel was just over £1.00 per litre.
By staying in the UK of course; you have no language barrier or problems with gas bottles and fittings to worry about. If you have a dog it won't need an expensive rabies jab or passport. Those of you with young kids may also not relish the thought of 'are we there yet?' being said every ten minutes when you have eight or ten hours driving ahead of you.
There are also fish and chip shops, English food and beer like John Smith's (pure 'sick' in a glass) for those among you that don't wish to travel abroad or eat that 'foreign muck'. Now don't go getting upset, I'm not intentionally insulting anyone here; it is a fact that there are people like this (I've met a lot like it and one of them is a very good friend of mine) – you know who you are!
:ninja:Ferries
Isle of Wight ferry prices are unjustly high and are in my opinion a rip-off. The poor islanders (locally known as Caulkheads) get a small discount, but it's nowhere near enough if you need to travel regularly to or from the island.
When I came back from France in April 2013, the ferry from Le Havre to Portsmouth cost me €50.00 (a little over £42.00) one way. I was on the ferry for nearly six hours (it was delayed slightly), but I could at least enjoy a decent cup of coffee or have some reasonable quality food whilst on board plus they have comfortable chairs to sit in too.
The cost to the Isle of Wight from Portsmouth to Fishbourne the next day with Wightlink was £78.00 one way (I didn't get a return as it would only have been valid for three months) and I was only on it for just over thirty minutes. What they called coffee tasted like they'd made it with bilge-water and was completely undrinkable. The food they offered is not worth a mention and the seats are dreadfully uncomfortable - just as well it's a short crossing. :mad2::mad1:
I've since been told that Red Funnel Ferries are the better company to use for MH owners as they offer better deals providing you're willing to travel early or late and especially if you have a deal with one of the many campsites(e.g. Park Resorts). However, as I have no experience of using them with a motorhome I cannot comment or make any recommendations.
Roads
The first thing you'll notice as you get off the ferry is how bad the roads are; they are the worst 'made' roads I have ever driven on. I have travelled and driven all over the world (including most of the UK mainland) and have seen some pretty bad roads in my forty (almost) years of driving (especially in South Africa and South America), but nothing consistently as bad as those on the Isle of Wight – I kid you not!
They have been patched and re-patched for generations. According to an employee of Island Roads that I spoke to, a lot were never actually properly constructed as roads, they are just country tracks that have had more and more hardcore, gravel and tarmac put on top again and again. Now this new company (strangely enough, mostly the same employees that did them previously) has the job of fixing and or re-making them.
I personally consider most of the current surfaces unsafe for any speed over forty mph and even that is too fast in a lot of places – especially in a motorhome. There are patches that are so rough, that you will rattle just about everything in your MH to destruction unless you slow right down to twenty mph or less. I wouldn't recommend having glass or china on board – change everything for melamine/acrylic or wrap everything very carefully before driving off.
Most roads are very narrow and there are many with sharp and blind bends and some corners have adverse cambers that will tilt you over more than normal. A lot have 6' 6” width restrictions, but a lot more should either have them or be made one-way. It's not just the width of the road that you have to watch out for though; there are a lot of overhanging trees that could do serious damage to your motorhome if you don't take care.
Understandably, a lot of islanders drive 4x4s because of the state of the roads and I'm pretty sure that you'll find the highest number of Mitsubishi Pajeros in one place that you've ever seen. I counted twenty in an afternoon and I wasn't really looking.
I would advise anyone not to drive at night – if you hit one of the many seriously deep potholes I saw, you will do a lot of damage and it could easily result in a serious crash. You certainly wouldn't want to drive on these roads with alloy wheels and low profile tyres (not that you see them on many motorhomes, but I have seen them on a few).
Island Drivers
As you would expect, local drivers know the roads better than visitors and they know where the potholes are, so they will naturally drive faster than you. However, be warned; island drivers do the strangest things, especially at roundabouts, filter lanes and box junctions.
The island has recently gained a lot of these pesky mini-roundabouts that seem to be the trend. If there are one or two of you approaching one, you should be OK, but if three or four of you arrive together most drivers just stop, not knowing who has right of way over whom. I just went first in these situations and chuckled to myself at people's inability to make a decision (I shouldn't I know, but I couldn't help myself - sorry).
There is a very short section of Dual Carriageway just to the north of Newport that islanders call the 'Motorway'. Be careful; they undertake, overtake when they shouldn't, won't change lanes when they should, dive into the tiniest gaps in front of you and then hit the brakes. They treat filter lanes as if they were T-junctions and if you try to filter in, far too many of them will try hard to stop you from doing so by deliberately closing up any gaps.
Over ninety percent of those I saw parking their car, drove into the space. Obviously, this left them with no choice, but to dangerously reverse out later with the limited visibility reversing has to offer. I witnessed several collisions while I was there with people doing just this – one hit a pushchair with a young child in it, but thankfully there was no injury – just a lot of swearing that I thought was going to come to blows (her wanting to hit him). I offered myself as a witness and that made the aggressively defensive driver (saying that the woman should have been looking out for cars maneuvering) back down.
Width awareness of one's vehicle makes for some interesting situations too. It is a fifty/fifty split between 'my car is ten feet wide, I won't get through there' to 'my car is only four feet wide, I'll get through there easily'. Either way, you'll find yourself braking hard in places that you wouldn't normally expect to.
Coaches, buses and lorries cross the centre line on a lot of bends and they are forced into the middle of the road in quite a few places too. Many drivers of these larger vehicles seem to think everyone should give way to them and will occasionally pull out in front of you unexpectedly.
Like most grumpy old gits, I think a high percentage of today's drivers' skills are poor, but on the island they are definitely worse. I think it's because they learn to drive on the island, take their test on the island and the majority rarely (if ever) get to drive on what we know as normal roads. You will have to make allowances, but it can be difficult at times not to get angry - don't. I really do not like driving angry and think it's potentially more dangerous than drink-driving.
Parking
Parking in town or on beaches is difficult if you drive a larger van. Mine is just under six metres (due to a box and bike on the back) and I managed OK, but it is the biggest I would want to take there. On-street parking is difficult in most places because bays are five metres or less and the roads are mostly very narrow (always tuck your mirrors in when you park or they'll get broken).
Roads in some towns also have steep cambers, so your van will lean over more than usual. If you're not careful you may hit one of the many poorly positioned street signs.
Parking Fees
Parking charges are high and well above the average that I've experienced recently. Also, because the bays are so small, you will invariably have to pay double as you'll spill over into a second bay. Don't be surprised to find yourself paying around a fiver an hour in places. This sign is from a car park in Newport and is one of the cheaper ones (remember to double the fee):
As you can see by these pictures; we're not welcome in some places, but I just ignored these signs. There is no TRO sign in place and as has been shown many times on this forum they're not enforceable in law, so you couldn't be prosecuted if you chose to do the same. Nothing was said to me and I parked by these signs regularly.
The car park at Alum Bay (for The Needles) will charge double the parking fee for a motorhome, even though there is plenty of room in the bays for longer vehicles. I won't repeat here what I said to the ticket vendor when he asked me for eight pounds instead of the four I was offering, but I wasn't my usual polite self I can assure you. :mad1:
Fuel
In some places fuel can be up to twenty pence a litre more than you'll pay compared with mainland prices (watch out for 'out of town' garages). Tesco and Sainsbury's in Ryde and Newport are the cheapest and are in line with mainland prices as you would expect.
Eating Out
Prices vary depending on location and what you choose to eat as usual. I personally found that pub food is generally as good and around half the price of restaurants, but if you don't like pubs take a look at Tripadvisor for a breakdown of popular restaurants.
Take Away Food
I found that most Chinese and Indian Take-Away prices were around 20% higher than those on the mainland. Pizza, burgers, kebabs and the like were around the same. These were all researched especially for you by the way – I would never eat such unhealthy food myself.
Mobile Phone Coverage
According to friends and family that live on the island, the best coverage is O2, Orange and EE (in that order), with Vodafone being the worst. As the island terrain is very hilly expect many dead-spots. Ventnor is one of the worst places to get a signal of any kind as the town is below high cliffs and no one has had the sense to fit suitable repeaters yet.
WiFi & 3/4G
Three offer the best coverage for data followed by O2, Orange and EE (Vodafone coverage is useless - by their own admission). Three is the only one worth relying on in my experience as all the others are very slow.
My Samsung S3 is with O2 and I tether to my lap top when I can, but mostly I use a Huawei dongle from Three with a SIM from www.sambamobile.co.uk that I top up with credit by playing adverts whenever I can pick up a WiFi signal.
WiFi is widely available in pubs and restaurants – mostly you'll have to ask for a password as you would expect, but there are a few where you don't. There is a McDonalds in Ryde and Newport with free WiFi (if you have the stomach to eat their products).
By using a Solwise Rocket external antenna, I found I was able to use WiFi from the car parks of the various places that kindly gave me their passwords the same as I did in France.
Police
There is quite a high police presence on the island. I don't know the reason, but I should imagine it may have something to do with the prisons (Parkhurst, Camp Hill and Albany). Still, this is no bad thing because crime figures are pretty low compared with a lot of the country.
As I spent a lot time in regular spots (mainly rural, seldom urban), I got to see police cars checking up on the places I was staying occasionally. Mostly they ignored me, but on occasion they would give me a nod or a wave and only twice ever stopped to talk. On both occasions, they were very polite and were not bothered by my presence or the fact that I was staying the night.
Pubs
There are some great pubs, so you'll be spoilt for choice. There are some fantastic old ones to visit because of the building, there are some that do great food, some that do great beer and some that are a combination of those things.
I personally won't use a pub unless it is in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide as I will only go to a pub to drink good quality 'real' beer, not to spend a fiver on a pint of yellow 'Eurofizz' that will give me hiccups and an upset stomach (my apologies if you're a lager fan, but I prefer my taste buds without icicles on them).
I found several that have good beer and a car park I could overnight in. Two of these are in the POIs, but I'm afraid you'll have to do your own asking for the rest as I said I wouldn't publicise the fact that I stayed.
Suffice to say, I was only turned down the use of their car park overnight by one CAMRA recommended pub and that was the one in Freshwater. I doubt you would want to drink there anyway – it hasn't been decorated since the early '70s by the look of it and the beer was like cold tea, so I wouldn't have had more than the half I did.
Colloquialisms
Well, when you travel there is no getting away from the fact that you will need to learn a few new words. The island has its fair share that you won't hear elsewhere. Here is a list of a few examples. Keep your ears open and you'll hear many more – especially in West Wight.
Wilding Spots
There are quite a few in the POI database and I stayed at most of them at least once, some quite regularly.
There are many other places you can stay too – my attitude is if I can park there legally, then I can stay there overnight legally. I'm more than happy to ignore the unlawful signs that the council has put up unless I think they have a good reason like a weight, access or size restriction.
The forest stops are nice, but can get quite busy– I personally like quiet spots away from people. Cowes, Lake and Newport Industrial estates are very quiet on a Saturday night and all day Sunday if you're not worried about a good view.
The best views and places to park (and overnight) are Culver Down, Brading Down and along the Military Road which runs the length of the SW part of the island between Niton and Freshwater. Expect occasional vehicle noise, but the roads are not busy at night.
Beaches
There are some great beaches around the island, but it will cost you to park on most of them during the day and as I said previously, bay sizes are small; so be prepared to pay double. The ones I found where you'll be able to park without being charged are Gurnard, Freshwater, Compton, Sandown, Bembridge and Seaview.
Walking & Dogs
The island is a great place to take a dog. There are lots of long walks over the downs and along coastal paths that are perfect. You can choose short or long ones and there are many with a great view as well as a variety of trees and plant life. One of my favourites is the Tennyson Trail. Although, this is fourteen miles long in it's entirety, there are lots of shorter walks that make up the full length.
If you go from Blackgang viewpoint car park (pictured) and walk up to St Catherine's Oratory (pictured) on the top of the hill, you'll get a 360° view of the island and you can see all the way to the coast on about 90% of it on most days (unless it's cloudy or foggy of course).
It's such a shame that some dog-owners aren't more responsible though. Some animals that should be muzzled are not (not really a problem for you, but they can be for your dog). Also a lot don't pick up after their animals and a lot of those that do, will just throw the bag aside when no one is looking. I'm sure this is the same everywhere, but I just happened to notice it a lot on the island.
I personally, have trained my dog to go in bushes and hedgerows and nowhere near footpaths. He dutifully reverses back until his bum is well under any bush or into deep brush – it's actually quite comical to watch. I always carry bags in case he gets caught short and goes where anyone is likely to walk, but I try not to use them unless I have to. Why preserve it in plastic when it will naturally dissolve away just like the cows', sheep's and rabbits' does? Of course if you live in a town or city that's different as there are bins you can deposit the bags in. Anyway, I digress – stop talking s**t Trevor . . . now where was I? Let's get back on topic:
Water & Waste
Not a problem really because the island is so small (23 miles x 13.5 miles) and neither is ever too far away. I found public toilets in the following locations that I could use (I don't use chemicals and empty regularly, so don't have a 'smell' problem); SeaClose Park in Newport (waste only), Cowes Esplanade (water and waste), Gurnard Esplanade (water and waste), Sandown/Yaverland (water and waste) and Compton (water and waste).
I always used them when no one else was around either early in the morning or as it gets dark. I do this because people (in their ignorance) will always assume you're doing something wrong. If I had to empty when there were people around, I would just cover the cassette in a black bin liner so no one knew what I was carrying.
Gas
This is available in many garages on the island, but the cheapest is Vectawarm in Newport on the Dodnor Industrial Estate. They also do the cheapest LPG for those of you with refillables like Gas-It or Gaslow.
Campsites
The island has many, but I avoided them – the thought of being on a campsite sends shivers down my spine. Still, if this is your thing then you won't be disappointed with what's available and if you check with the ferry companies Red Funnel and Wightlink you'll find they do deals with some campsites for a combination package.
CLs & CSs
There are a few if you're a member of either of the clubs (although I'm told most owners don't care if you are or not). They are all overpriced in my opinion; I really don't need to pay fifteen pounds to park my van in a field. Still, if you like using them they are available.
Summary
Well, I hope something I've written will be of use to you if you do decide on a visit. Geographically, the island is a beautiful place and the locals are in the main very friendly so I doubt very much that you'll be disappointed if you go.
The largest industry on the island is tourism and according to Wikipedia in 1999 they received 2,700,000 visitors. Considering that the population at that time was only around 130,000, I'm sure you can appreciate that's a lot of people during peak season (although a lot are just day visitors).
Considering, they have so many tourists each year – you'd think they could afford to fix the bloody roads! :mad2:
Have fun regardless of my negative opinions and enjoy your stay . . .
Last edited:
