Blogtober16 - 5 Super cool things about the island

This one seems a little difficult for me at the moment because I don't entirely like living on the island, but I suppose it makes you look for the positives. I've lived here about six months and still have no friends, and feel extremely isolated. Being unemployed for a while also means I've lost confidence in my own abilities.

However positivity is important, so here are some cool facts about living on the Isle of Wight:

1. Great ways to travel - Although bus travel is extoriate, there are many other ways to travel including steam train, driving and ferry. I'm still to try the steam train, but even the bus only takes an additional 10 minutes to get somewhere. You could go from one side of the island to the other and it wouldn't take longer than an hour (traffic permitting). There is the 10 minute hovercraft which gets you to Portsmouth Southsea or Redjet that gets you to Southampton in 25 minutes.

Hovercraft

2. Festivals & events - It is known for the events that bring people to the island including music events like Bestival and Isle of Wight Festival. It also has big yacht events with Cowes Week, which brings music, food and much more than just yacht races. Here are some pictures I took during this year's Cowes Week:

3. Link to royalty - Queen Victoria called the island her home for many years. I would recommend anyone to visit the Needles as she loved to collect the different colours of sands, and you can do the same. 

My sand elephant from visiting the Needles

I would also suggest you go to Osborne House, where she holidayed with her husband, Prince Albert. If nothing it is interesting to realise how small she was from seeing her bed. The link with royalty has remained with members of the royal family visiting for different events.

4. Dinosaur Island - This is the name given as it has been discovered to be one of Europe's finest sites for dinosaur remains. According to Visit Isle of Wight, the "yellow, brown and grey rocks exposed in bays of Compton, Brook and Brighstone contain fossilised tress and dinosaur bones!" You can visit Hanover point, where there are giant casts of dinosaur footprints. I will definitely need to check this out.

5. Unique tourist attractions - There is plenty to visit with castles, manors, beaches, vineyards, festivals (as mentioned), animal sanctuaries and activities such as go-karting and bowling. Here are some pictures from attending Barton Manor for a fundraiser:

Please refer to one of my posts here. It shows the main differences living on the island and the sights I've seen. With my birthday next week, I hope to see much more.

I hope you enjoyed the post and I would definitely recommend coming along for a holiday to see for yourself. I just don't think living here is necessarily for everyone.