{"id":24049,"date":"2017-04-14T08:50:26","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T07:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=24049"},"modified":"2017-04-14T21:57:06","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T20:57:06","slug":"isle-man-2017-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/04\/isle-man-2017-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Isle of Man 2017 – Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hoorah, it’s the Easter Hols, Morgan is off school, I’m off work and Anna is off work too. Time for a trip to the Isle of Man in our camper. The trip had actually been planned for a while. However, initially we were going in the car as we didn’t have a camper. We changed that though as taking the camper meant that we could take a few more toys with us, maybe camp out overnight somewhere and of course get used to it with the three of us on holiday in it. We could also show it off to Friends and family on the Isle of Man. Ferry bookings were\u00a0therefore changed and we set off with the camper fully loaded. I’d taken the day off on\u00a0Friday to get things ready.<\/p>\n

The Journey to the Isle of Man<\/h2>\n

The drive up to Heysham to get the boat was a long slow one with traffic lights and roadworks everywhere and long delays. At least we were in the camper which is nice to drive has plenty of room and is more relaxing than a car in such situations. We also get to wave to other VW owners too and it always brightens our journey when we get a good wave back. We had plenty of VW waves today.<\/p>\n

We also had plenty of time and had planned to stop off for dinner at a nice pub just outside Llandegla. Unfortunately when we got there the pub was no longer open. We did find another ‘restaurant’ just around the corner. There was nothing wrong with it but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. The food was OK but the surroundings were just a little cheap and cheerful. Fine for what we needed though so we ate up and were soon on our way again. Into yet more traffic.<\/p>\n

We finally arrived at the ferry terminal around midnight. We checked in, and then pulled the bed out\u00a0in the back and Morgan and I had a quick\u00a0sleep. We had expected to board a little earlier than we did but eventually we were allowed onto the ferry. We went straight to our cabin, got into bed and fell asleep. The crossing was calm, we all slept\u00a0for a few hours and were soon docking at Douglas on the Isle of Man.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/a>

On the Ferry<\/p><\/div>\n

Driving on the Isle<\/h2>\n

First stop once we got off the Ferry was Pat’s house. We were staying with her and she was expecting us for breakfast. It was still only 6:30am but the plan was to make a full day of it today having had some sleep on the boat. We weren’t on the Isle of Man for long so we\u00a0didn’t want to waste any time. It was just a quick 10 minute trip to Pat’s house where a nice big breakfast and a friendly welcome was waiting for us. We caught up, ate breakfast and chatted and then planned our day.<\/p>\n

We decided to head north and walk up Snaefell. The idea was to drive along the mountain road, park at the Bungalow and walk up from there. We were soon stopped in our tracks though as the Mountain Road was closed. We therefore ended up driving through Laxey, getting held up in lots of traffic lights again and finally made it to Ramsey. We decided to park up on the seafront for a picnic lunch in the sunshine. The sun was indeed shining, the sea looked lovely and clear and we had a nice picnic. It was cold out though so we stayed mainly in the van. Morgan did try sitting outside briefly and I did go for a bit of a walk along the seafront while the others snoozed.<\/p>\n\n\t\t