When you are in the Isle of Wight an absolute must see attraction is the Needles Park. It is named this because of the famous white cliffs, or stones, that are poking out of the sea in sharp points that are known as needles. It is free to go to the Needle park, but you do need to pay for the parking. If you don’t have a car you can get a local bus there or join the tourist bus to the Needles.
When you arrive, you have the option of browsing around gift shops and souvenir shops. There is also a glass workshop. If you are hungry there are cafes and restrooms too. To get down to the sea, you can either take a chair lift or walk down the steps. When we arrived the queue for the chairlift was far too long for my liking, and I did not have the patience to join the long queue, so we decided to walk down.
We were very fortunate that the weather was ideal when we went there. The sun was out the sky blue, and no rain to be seen anywhere. However we still got wet. I must warn you, that if you do take a trip in the small boat to see the needles up close, then you must be on guard when you first hop on the boat. We were sitting there, waiting for more passengers to board so the boat would go, when I noticed jetboat circle around us. Before I knew it I had sea water all over my camera, my legs were and arms were drenched and my clothes were partly wet too. The guy and girl in the jet boat stared right at us and were laughing out loud, then they sped off into nowhere. The skipper on the boat phoned through to someone (the coastguards maybe?) and reported the incident. Still we didn’t let i t spoil our day. Fortunately I had packed a change so I used that to dry the cameras and to dry myself.
If you like swimming then don’t forget to pack your swimsuit so you can join the crowds having fun in the water.
Alice Letts 