Isle of Wight - Day 2

If you are in England and you do not talk about the weather is like committing a crime. So here I go. The weather today was very cool, the temperatures hovering around 12- 15 degrees celtius. There was a strong wind blowing with a hint of rain to come during the day.
The arrangement with the hotel was bed & breakfast as with most of the hotels in UK. We were told that breakfast will be served between 8.30 AM and 9.30 AM.

We had a good breakfast consisting of milk and cereals, Orange Juice, Toast Butter and Hash Browns with Baked Beans (Triangular pieces of potato cutlets fried nicely to brown with cooked beans in sauce).We washed all that down with Tea or Coffee as per individual choice. It was a very filling breakfast and we started planning our day.

We Visited the Butterfly World :

Butterfly World is a colourful and enthralling experience as you watch hundreds of exotic butterflies from around the world fly freely in the tropical indoor garden.

A visit provides the opportunity to see hundreds of butterflies flying freely in a natural environment. They are mostly tropical species but are representative of the five continents of the world. There are usually around 25 species to be seen at any one time, though 100 species are on display at one time or another, during the season.

The exotic gardens are all attractively laid out.Visitors have the unique opportunity to study the egg-caterpillar-chrysalis-imago life cycle at first hand.

Many information boards are displayed and illustrated signs identify the popular species and their country of origin. The emerging cages provide the chance to see around 20 adult butterflies being born each day as they emerge from their chrysalis.

We also have exotic finches flying freely and Chinese Painted Quail wandering around eating uninvited insects.

Some Images of the Butterfly World

It also contained a Japanese garden with nice fountains.

The tropical gardens are authentic reproductions of Italian and Japanese gardens with a delightful range of water features.The formal Italian Garden has brilliantly coloured bedding plants, classical figures, balustrading, and a Roman temple facade. The Japanese Garden has an informal setting of oriental plants - maples, azaleas, pines and conifers, amidst statues, pagodas, replica buildings and pebbled and gravelled areas. Within both gardens are beautiful fountains, a waterfall and some special water displays.

There are two koi ponds holding a wide range of colourful Japanese Koi Carp, with some over 75cm long. The hand feeding and talks on these amazing fish is not to be missed. It will automatically be given to booked groups. Some members of each group may be able to hand feed the Koi.

From the year 2000 Jumping Jets were added , which shoot jets of water three and a half metres high and five metres across in a synchronised display and other 'get wet if you want to' water features.

'Small World' is set in a dark fairytale setting with decorative lighting and an animated diorama of animals and other characters, including an arctic pirate scene and a clown band playing music. Youngsters love these fun attractions.

Some Images of the Fountain World

After that we had the experience of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

The Isle of Wight once boasted 54 miles of railway, most of which was closed between 1952 and 1966. However its unique atmosphere has been perfectly preserved by the largely volunteer-run Isle of Wight Steam Railway, which began operating trains in 1971.

The Railway is truly a journey back in time - a living, breathing museum! All the carriages and most of the locomotives have spent much of their working lives here on the Island. They have all been painstakingly restored to pristine condition and are the hallmark of the delightful railway. The oldest locomotive was built in 1876 and carriages date back to 1864!

The railway runs five miles from Wootton, through Havenstreet and Ashey, to Smallbrook Junction, which is the interchange with Island Line's electric trains that run from Shanklin to Ryde Pier Head (Connecting with the Wightlink high-speed catamaran service from Portsmouth Harbour). Havenstreet is our main station with a large tarmac car park. Granny Winter's Pantry offers a wide variety of hot and cold meals, snacks and beverages and the Railway Shop has a fascinating cornucopia of unusual and nostalgic gifts to satisfy all tastes. A children's play area, woodland walk and museum of Island railway history are also to be found at Havenstreet. The train ticket is valid for unlimited travel on the day of ticket issue, so please ride as much as you wish!

The Steam Railway is an ideal day out from the mainland with the journey time from Portsmouth Harbour taking as little as 30 minutes. Through tickets are available from the Wightlink booking office at Portsmouth Harbour and from many mainland railway stations.

After that we went and visited the Sandown Beach and then back to the hotel after a tiring day and Dinner at by now the favourite "The Jasmine".

Some Images of the steam Railway

Link to the Photos of Day 2

http://picasaweb.google.com/venkatraman.anand/IsleOfWightDay2ShanklinNewportSmallbrookJunctionSandown?authkey=G2Vsihj-Nl8
Day 3 Blog follows