Categories: uncategorized
Date: 10 February 2008 21:29:30
It's been a beautiful day here. Smudgelet and I decided to go to a different church this morning, one on the south coast which we'd not been to before, so that straight after church we could walk to the Needles. Driving through the Island countryside as the sun streamed down through the bare branches of the trees, the sheep grazed in the green fields, the first of the wayside flowers peeped out amongst the buds of green on the branches of the hedgerows, and the sea reflected the clear blue of the spring sky, it was a blessing of itself and I felt my heart lift and couldn't help but sing as I drove along - much to the disgust of Smudgelet, which made it all the more fun! :o)
The amazing thing was, when we got to the church I found it was my friend who was preaching. She'd been praying and praying about the service, which she'd been dreading, especially because she really wanted to do a sketch but none of the congregation would participate and she was trying to work out how precisely she was going to do this four-person sketch on her own. And then Smudgelet and I walked in and her prayers were answered! It was funny, actually, as there were four churches we could have gone to on the way to the Needles, but I'd felt convinced that the one I wanted to go to was this one and couldn't explain why.
Our walk was a delight. We indulged ourselves first of all in buying a bag of sweeties from the sweet manufactory at Alum Bay, somewhere we'd never been before but will certainly be visiting again! Then we walked along the clifftop. It's only three quarters of a mile and fairly approachable walking, though a little nerve-racking when you slip on a loose stone and feel your ankle go slightly wobbly beneath you and you realise just how far down it is to the sea below! It's an amazing view, though, of the multi-coloured sands of Alum Bay behind you and the pure crystal white of the Needles outlined against the blue of the sea stretching out ahead of you. I think it's one of my favourite walks on the Island... especially when the teashop is open. The teashop is amazing, so tiny and so high up, with views out over the rocks to the lighthouse and free binoculars to keep you occupied as you gaze out. The Battery itself was closed, sadly, as it's great fun going underground into the very rock, though we did see where they launched the space rocket and also where Marconi did his radio testing, so it was still fairly educational. But the lemon drizzle cake was what made it all worthwhile, and the fact that it was so warm that we abandoned coats AND jumpers. Is it really only February? (And was it really that cold in Australia? Tee hee!)
Pictures to follow, when I can work out how to download them from my new camera.