Isle Of Wight Trip & Car show

Isle Of Wight Trip

& Car show

September 2nd to September 5th

Friday

We set off from our homes to meet up at Ockham Bites to start our latest adventure to the Isle of White. The meetup time was 9am and to leave at 9.15am, picking up more of the group on the way. One by one we started turning up ready to go to the White link ferry in Portsmouth. We had 7 stags and one interloper, a Rover 216 convertible, Theo and Helen had only purchased the Rover 1 day before, since their stag is in doc for a full restoration, so they needed a substitute car. A warm welcome to Ian and Wendy who joined us at Ockham bites for the journey to the IOW and Don and June who joined us later that evening from the Themes Valley. Off we set, 8 cars strong, down the A3 what a fantastic site. Our first stop was at the A3 services so that Simon and Careline could join the party. Our next pickup point was at Liphook where Carl, Jan, Peter, and Jack joined the convoy, now 12 cars. Isle of White here we come 😊. It was starting to rain, and the clouds were looking quite menacing, but every cloud has a silver lining just as we turned off the A3 onto the M27 the cloud started to break, and the sun started to shine through. we finely got to Portsmouth and the ferry terminal, we all checked in and we were put into a lane eagerly waiting for the ferry. Some of us were on later ferry’s so they had to wait for their time slot. One by one we started to be loaded onto the ferry and much to our surprise we were being loaded at the front of the boat in such away all the cars were fanned out like a car show with more classic cars behind us, WOW what a site. People were queueing up to take pictures of this fantastic site of classic cars.

The ferry was loaded and we set sail, there was no turning back now.

We soon got told to go back to our cars as we will soon be docking. The ferry doors were starting to open, and it was time to release the beats, starting our engines and we were set free and hitting the roads of the IOW on our way to the Warner Brothers Hotel winding though the country roads from Fishbourne then into Ryde and onto Bembridge where our hotel was. We all pull up at the hotel entrance where we were greeted by our receptionists to book us in. as I was checking in the lady that served me said that she had never seen so many classic cars of the same model together with a big smile on her face. We parked our cars and headed to the bar for a well-deserved drink and a catchup about our journey. Some of us went for a drive to check out some of the local sites. The hotel was on the seafront providing us with some great scenic walks before meeting up for dinner and watch the evening entertainment.

Saturday

Saturday morning soon came around and breakfast was calling. We all met up at 8:30-9am.  After breakfast it was time to get ready to go to the IOW classic car festival, we agreed to meet up at the coach park and driveway of the hotel. Slowly everyone arrived, gathering a total of 10 stags and 1 rover 216 convertible. All the cars were very wet as had a cloud burst just before we finished breakfast but there was a glimmer of hope in the distance the skies were looking brighter. By this time, we were starting to gather some interest around the cars, people were taking lots of pictures and videos of the cars, so we started our engines and started to role, it was a bit strange as we started to move people were waving us off as if we were VIP’s.

After driving long some fantastic county roads we got to Ryde at the location of the Car Show, we soon parked up and the cars looked stunning all rowed up. They soon started to gather interest and people were asking about the cars. After some time, some of us decided to go to see the other stunning cars in the show. Some of us took the chance to hop on the old open topped Route Master Bus that took them to the Bus Museum in Ryde and some of us took the opportunity to have a game of Ten pin bowling to as we were parked next to a bowling alley. The day soon past and it was time to head back to the hotel.

Sunday

Sunday soon came around and after breakfast we gathered the troops once again for our drive around the island. Starting at Bembridge though Breading onto Downend then onto Areton around Newport then past Carisbrooke then though Calbourn then stopping at Yarmouth for some refreshments and a look around the village. After a short break in Yarmouth some of us moved on to Alum Bay and the Needles taking in the sites and attractions, sweet factory and the glass blowing factory and gift shops and other attractions there too. Most of us how went on the chair lift seemed to enjoy the ride from the top of the cliff down to alum bay to see the coloured sands in the cliff.

It was time to move on once again this time tacking the coastal road known as the Military Road winding along the cliff edge and going through some idyllic county side as we wound our way along the roads to St Boniface down, the heist point on the island. What a great place to take some photos of the sites and the cars and a group photo too.

In the meantime, there was a destress message from Graham and Clair saying that they had broken down in Carisbrooke castle. They had decided to spend some time looking around the castle and when they went to set off, they found that the car didn’t want to start!! It was a dodgy fuel pump it had decided to stop working ☹, fortunately, Carl and Jan had the solution, they always carry a spere fuel pump in their boot and off to the rescue they went, they were still at the Needles, so they were only 20 minutes away. This is not the first time they have saved the day with their spere fuel pump the last time was on the Cornwell trip. They fitted the fuel pump and turned the key it was music to their ears the sound of the roar of a stag once again and taking to the road once again.

Back in St Boniface down we were happy to hear that Graham and Clair were on the move once again and look forward to seeing them back at the hotel.

It was time to get ourselves back on the road and back to the hotel too, heading toward Sandown and then onto Bembridge and our hotel. Wow what a full day that was.

We all met up just before dinner for drinks and a chat to catch up on the day’s events. Around the dinner table there was a lot of chat and laughter of enjoyment with each other’s company.

We went to see the entertainment after dinner, but it was a bit loud, so some of us left there and went to sit in the bar for a quiet drink. Then one by one the table got bigger as more of our group joined us. We noticed that it was starting to rain and then the thunder and lightning started. Oh my gosh, it was a storm and a half, a couple of us watched the storm unfold before our eyes it was lighting up the skies.

It was time for bed as we had to leave in the morning it was sinking in that this trip was coming to an end.

Monday

Monday morning soon came around it was time to pack up and load the cars, once this was done it was off for our last breakfast before going home. There was a big buzz around the table about how well the weekend had gone. After breakfast we all went outside for a quick game of giant Jenga that Christian had found and setup. One by one the wooden blocks were removed the game kept on going the wind was blowing and making the tower of blocks rocking until one-to-many blocks got removed and down came the tower.

Such joy and laughter were herd amongst us all but all good things must come to an end it was time to set off for the ferry to go home. We all said our goodbyes to each other and headed for the cars once again.

Some of us were on the same ferry and some were on later ones. The drive home was not as exciting as the drive there thinking about the great time we had had.

It was good to hear one by one as everybody got home safe and sound.

We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to Gary and Christine for organising a fantastic weekend on the IOW and to all that joined us to make it a special weekend.