Isle of Man 2017 – Day 2

Morning Run

As usual, I started my day, and Day 2 on the Isle of Man, earlier than the others. I was up at 5ish waiting for it to get light, and when it did so I went for a run. My route took me up to the Cringle Plantation, along a new mountain bike trail there, up to the Cringle Reservoir and then out onto the Ballamodha Road and back to Ballabeg. It was a lovely morning with a bright sun rising into blue skies and barely any wind.

We then had breakfast at Pats and headed off to Richard and Gerry’s to borrow some tools to fix the seatbelt in the Camper. It didn’t take long to fix once I had the necessary tools. I tilted the seat forward to loosen the belt off and then simply took off the 17mm bolt holding the other end of the seatbelt in place. With this off we were able to release enough tension to allow the belt to run smoothly again and get the little retaining button out of the mechanism. Sorted. With that done we stopped for a a cup of tea and a chat and then headed off to the coast.

Swimming in the Sea

We went to Port Soderick first where Morgan and I found a geocache and went for a stroll along the beach.

Port Soderick

Port Soderick

We then went back along the coast to Port Grenaugh where we had lunch in the camper.

Lunch in the Camper

Lunch in the Camper

I then went for a swim. And what a swim it was. Crystal clear waters, loads of seaweed and rocks to swim over and glorious conditions too. It was a little choppier out of the bay but it was still lovely floating over the tops of an underwater garden. It didn’t even feel cold.

Swim

Swim

Once changed Morgan and I went up onto the coast path to find a quick geocache alongside the Cronk ny Merriu promontory fort.

Scenic Drive to a Camping Spot

We then dropped Pat off at home and we headed north for a night in the campervan. We had to take the long way around, as not only was the Mountain Road closed, but the main road through Foxdale was closed too. It was a nice scenic drive though and we even got to see a hen harrier gliding low over the upland moors alongside the Round Table Road.

Our destination for the night was the Ayres Nature Reserve at the far north of the Isle of Man. After a little bit of searching and some poor navigation from Anna we found a suitable spot and pulled up for the night. As we did, the wind picked up and it started raining. This kind of put on hold our nice evening sat around the camper watching the sunset. We did manage a quick play on the bike and a wander across to the sea but other than that we cooked dinner, ate dinner and played cards in the van. Dinner was pasta with sausages, tomato and mascarpone sauce.

It was very much like being at home though with windswept dunes, a dark sky discovery site, a sandy, pebble-backed beach and no one else around. Just the way we like it!

We then set the beds up and settled down for the night.

Another busy day with lots done. We all slept well, I went for a walk in the morning while the others slept on and then we had freshly cooked pancakes in the van for breakfast! Another successful camping trip on Ramsey the Camper.

Pancakes for Breakfast

Pancakes for Breakfast

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.