A four of fish and finger pies. Hungry for fish and chips now!


Just a lazy day walking up and down these rocks. They get to the bottom and they go back to the top, turn around and go back


Cap off the day at our local pub (there is no shortage around here) to have a pint of dark ale. Loving England!

Although I'm already missing haggis. Haggis and dark ale would go very good together. Tres bien ensemble. Oh haggis, I love you, I love you, I love you! That's all I want to say.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Sky of blue, and sea of green. Couple walking along the river bed during low tide


Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky

Turns out that bug infestation is not just in our room. It's all over the city.

It's been a good four day's worth of rest and now all our troubles seem so far away. I think we're ready to resume our tour of the UK. We were only waiting for this moment to be free. Just have to hop online and buy some tickets to ride. I just hope that we've staved off the worst of the travel fatigue moving forward.

Oh well. Don't you know it's gonna be... alright.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

I don't think anyone else could have hidden so many lyrics in there - it really made my day!

Glad to see you're still going after the long silence.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/358.html



We never did make it into Liverpool to sightsee. Just savoured the luxury of lazing around our apartment across the Mersey River doing absolutely nothing, except drinking dark ale and eating fish and chips.

And now we're about to depart the big island for a much smaller island!


The Steam Packet Ferry is a familiar fixture for Isle of Man visitors

The Steam Packet Company has a monopoly on all ferries going in and out of the Isle of Man. If you're coming in to see any of the motorcycle races on the island, you've got to book your tickets well in advance. We actually purchased ferry tickets online for last year's TT -- 8 months before the races! But, as usual, we couldn't predict where we'd be in 8 days (a week), much less 8 months! We ended up flying back to Toronto that summer, so in the end, we had to forfeit the tickets.

So this is our second attempt at the Isle of Man!


We got in!

Normally the hold is full to the brim with motorcycles, but the reason why it's empty and we were able to purchase tickets just the day before is that we are visiting the Isle of Man a couple of days after the Classic TT races. Even when we arrived in the UK a few weeks ago, I knew we'd be in the vicinity around this time, but there was absolutely no chance of securing a ferry reservation for the race days on such short notice.

No sour grapes at all, though. I've watched TT races on TV and I truly do not believe we could've dealt with all the crowds in our fragile, travel-exhausted state. Still, we've heard the island is really beautiful, so we're looking forward to just poking our heads around without loud motorcycles and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds everywhere.

Honestly.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

It takes just under three hours to cross from Liverpool to Douglas, the eastern port on the Isle of Man. Not only are there few motorcycles on the ferry during our mid-week sailing, but there's not many cars or passengers either.


This is what the ferry normally looks like during race week, with several crossings per day! Picture from the Internet

We rolled off the ferry in the early afternoon and made a bee-line through the middle of the island to the other side. We've been told by many people that there's a good campsite just outside of Peel, on the west coast. Coast to coast on the Isle of Man is really not that far - 17 kms! The island is small! I can't imagine tens of thousands of motorcycle spectators on this tiny island on race weeks! Well, I can imagine it. I've seen the videos...

So glad we're not fighting all those crowds. And all those bikes.

Really.


Our campsite in Peel. This was the only other tent in sight

Numerous light patches of grass marked all the spots where campers had set up their tents last week. Feeling neighbourly, we unpacked our new home up beside a large RV and a German woman came out to greet us.

"You've just missed the races!", she exclaimed in absolute dismay. She said this in the same tone that you'd use to describe a huge natural disaster, like an earthquake or hurricane.

"Yes, we know. We're just here to see the island."

She seemed not to hear me. "The races were just a couple of days ago. It was so good! We come every year. I cannot believe you just missed the races!" Now her fevered voice reached the pitch reserved for mourning the loss of a family pet.

This woman was getting annoying. I thought about moving the tent.

"Yes, that's too bad we missed the races. We're just going to continue setting up. Nice talking to you."

Her husband came out. She wailed to him: "They just arrived. They missed *ALL* the races!" It sounded like her entire family just disappeared in a plane crash.

"Okay, bye."

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Having an early supper at our campsite. Neda is making her single-pot stirfry specialty. Mmmmm!


After dinner, we walked into Peel to do some sight-seeing


Like most sea-side towns, Peel is a fishing port

The most popular tourist attraction is Peel Castle, in the background above. The town of Peel is a popular vacation spot not just for tourists, but local Isle of Man residents as well. However, the town is deserted. This is the first week of school and we wander around the streets and shores of Peel, devoid of people, cars and motorcycles. It's kind of nice having the place to ourselves, and not having to fight any crowds.

Most of the businesses here have also shuttered their doors for the season, with only some restaurants open during the weekends. Glad we had dinner at our campsite.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Peel Beach, one of two in the town


A statue of Fenella, a character in a book called "Peveril of the Peak"

Although the book was written in 1823, and the statue looks old, it was made just a few years ago by a local artist, Nick Barlow, who carves these sculptures out of wood. With a chainsaw! Parts of the book were set on the Isle of Man, hence the connection.

Apart from the motorcycle races, the Isle of Man is also notable for having a large community of artists.


The fortress of Peel Castle overlooks the harbour

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com