The air shines with a mild magnificence…
Leaves, voices, glitterings… And there is also water
Winding in easy ways among much green expanse,
Or lying flat, in small floods, on the grass;
Water which in its widespread crystal holds the whole soft song
Of this swift tremulous instant of rebirth and peace.
Tremulous - yet beneath, how deep its root!
Timelessness of an afternoon! Air’s gems, the walls’ bland grey,
Slim spires, hope-coloured fields: these belong to no date.
A Spring Day © David Gascoyne 1941
David G could not have been more correct about the Isle of Wight(IoW) when he wrote this poem in 1941. Even to this day it holds very true - ’’these belong to no date’’ !!! Saturday the 11th June we (Smitha, Sapna, Ritu, Shrikant, Yash, Kunal and me) started off early in the morning at around 07:00 from Reading towards Isle of Wight. The journey to this island was partially by train and partially by ferry. Had to changeover a train at Guildford to reach Portsmouth Harbour at about 10:00. From Portsmouth took the Wightlink ferry to reach Ryde - the entrance of the Isle of Wight. On the train to Portsmouth we also met our friends from London - Meera and Aarti. The day was sunny and right from the entrance to Ryde the beach was along with us. Losing no time, we went off to the beach at Ryde. After a round of photographs and splashing of water we headed KFC for a lunch(Roaming around is quite an appetizer - u see ). Immediately after lunch took the bus to Newport. Newport is the biggest town of IoW.
The bus journey to Newport was rather quite as most of us were sleeping (Getting up at around 0600 Hrs on a Saturday had to take its toll!!!) Our accommodation was at a place known as Brighstone ( http://www.brighstone-holidays.co.uk) which is further away from Newport. From Newport we took another bus to a place known as Brighstone Three Bishops. This place - Three Bishops - is a very very small place where there is a church and a small shop apart from a couple of houses. The holiday centre was around 20 mins walk from here through green fields and the church. The resort is absolutely fabulous and situated right on the beach. Checked in and immediately left for Sandown. Sandown is another beach town in IoW and so it was beach time again. On a shack on the beach we had fish & chips, splashed around on the beach and just plain freaked out with the Frisbee. At around 1830 we returned back to Newport from Sandown where we just lazily walked around for some time. The last bus to Three Bishops from Newport was at around 2230 and we had decided to take that bus back home. Had a lovely dinner comprising of Pizzas at Pizza Hut and then caught the bus to Three Bishops. Enroute suddenly one of us remembered that the walk to our holiday centre is not going to be easy as there were no street lights !!! Unfortunately I too remembered seeing a graveyard around the church through which we were to pass. The drive from Newport to Three Bishops was probably the quietest time of our entire trip where each one of us had the same thoughts - How were we going to cover the distance in pitch darkness among the forest and the graveyard !!! Each of our face was worth seeing in anticipation of the task ahead of us. But then all our fears were unfound - by some stroke of luck our bus driver offered to drop us off at the resort as we were the last commuters of the bus. We thanked him endlessly and said a small prayer of thanks as we zoomed past the church and the graveyard. The relief on our faces made for a happy picture but I still feel that had we taken that walk, it would have been a night to remember for each and every one of us.
The next day began early enough with Meera, Aarti, Yash, Kunal and me going for an early morning coastal walk. It was absolutely refreshing and we were looking forward for a busy day at some of the most beautiful places in IoW. We had a heavy breakfast of fried eggs, hash browns, vegetarian sausages and orange juice and left for the needles point at Alum Bay. It was a very short drive to the Alum Bay. We took the chair lift from here to reach the base of the bay from where we had to take a ferry to the needles and the light house. This ferry, unlike our previous one, was an open ferry and the ride was absolutely exhilarating with splashes of water on our faces and cameras. Had a good look of the needles which are pretty blunt now (pun intended ;-) ) due to the force of the water beating against it. Then did some shopping and then left for Ryde. Reached Ryde at around 1400 and all of us were pretty much hungry. Saw a Chinese restaurant where we had sumptuous fried rice. After catering to our gastronomic juices, we explore Ryde a bit. As the sun set on the horizon beyond the huge expanse of water, we walked down the bridge back to Ryde Esplanade railway station to catch the train back home tired but satisfied, taking in the view that nature has offered.