Today is our last day on the Isle of Wight. After breakfast Dee and I went to reception to catch up on communications via Wi-Fi. Reception wasn't open till 9am but the cleaner was kind enough to let us in before the office opened.

We left Rookley at about 9am and went to Shanklin to do some shopping. John and Trevor went off to relax instead of walking the streets. As Dee and I walk down the main street it became obvious that none of the shops were opening till 10am. We decided to enjoy a coffee till the shops opened.

Shanklin is a tourist town on the east coast of the Isle of Wight, north of Ventnor. There are many quaint houses, thatched inns, and tourist and specialty shops. I bought some souvenirs as a reminder of our visit to the Isle of Wight. We spent about 2 hours shopping.

Trevor and John picked us up at about 12.30pm for lunch. We went down to the ocean and had lunch at the Fisherman's Cottage. It was very windy and it was high tide so the ocean was almost up to the boardwalk and very rough. Once the car was parked Trevor and Dee led us past some beach huts to nowhere. Or that was what I thought. We couldn't see anything that resembled somewhere to eat. As we rounded the beach huts there was a very small pub tucked away against the headland. However when we went inside it was much bigger than it looked.

We enjoyed another great meal in a traditional old pub. John and Trevor had the largest lunch, steak and ale pie with vegetables and chips. Dee and I had lasagne. We were really full after having the meal and had no room for dessert.

When we looked out the window while eating it looked like were in the ocean and the waves were breaking right in front of us. However there was about 10 metres between the pub and the ocean.

After lunch we made our way to the ferry. We were an hour early but were allowed to take an earlier service back to Portsmouth. We arrived back on mainland at about 3.30pm. Again Dee and I had a shopping trip. This time we went to Gunwharf Quays where there are factory outlets for the major brands in England. I think that everything is much cheaper here than in Australia.

In the centre of the shopping centre is an open area with coffee bars and as you look up you see the Spinnaker Tower. It looks like a sail and at the top there is a viewing area and restaurant. The tower is visible from miles outside Portsmouth.

We managed to get the shopping done in about 90mins and missed the downpour that drenched everything. The rain settled as we drove the 20 mins back to Emsworth.

Dee's lounge room is starting to look like a shopping centre with all the things that are collecting there. It will be interesting to see how it all fits in the suitcases when we leave. Lucky we only came with half our quota.

Tomorrow will be a lazy day.