Visit the Diamond Isle

What would you normally fit into in twenty minutes? Watch an episode of Friends? Check your Facebook? Do the washing up? On the Isle of Wight, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve in just 1200 seconds. Kick things off with a ten minute trip down memory lane on the Needles Park lift chair which transports you from the cliff tops down to the Isle of Wight’s most famous landmark and a whole host of activities. As you ride towards Alum Bay, you’ll be treated to spectacular views over the Needles Rocks, lighthouse, and sand cliffs. Although the journey takes just five minutes each way, you can spend hours at Needles park sampling traditional sweets, watching glassmakers in action, and browsing the famous Sand Shop.

Think you’ve got what it takes to tell a fossilised pterosaurtooth from a pebble then take the ten minute fossil-hunting challenge? Hit any of the beaches along the south coast of the island and get searching. You could find ammonites, fossilised shark fins and even the bones of a dinosaur that roamed the island 120 millions years ago – just look for tiny jet black rocks patterned like the middle of a Crunchie chocolate bar. And remember it’s not cheating to brush up on your prehistoric knowledge beforehand at Dinosaur Isle or the Dinosaur Farm Museum. So in just twenty minutes you’ve seen the impressive Needle Rocks and felt the thrill of being a dinosaur-hunter – now that’s would we call good time management.