Friday 6th August 2010
1700
Well we’ve ‘done’ Peel today – it took us a whole 4 hours from leaving here to getting back again.
Last night I was chatting to Neil on msn and happened to mention that I’ve got VERY little space on my hard drive and would that cause it to run slowly. He said definitely yes and then talked me through a couple of ways to try and get it to run quicker. I defragged my computer and ran a cleaner programme – it didn’t really make any difference but I couldn’t really expect it to work miracles without some REAL organising / deleting of files. I did also order myself a new external hard drive so that I can free up some space on this hard drive so hopefully make this computer run better.
When I went up to bed last night I was feeling daft and bored so I took some photos of what I can see while lying in bed hahaha
This morning I got up at about 9ish and had some breakfast before going back up for a shower.
I also checked my car’s tyre pressures after yesterday’s scare. All the tyres were fine, none were below 30psi but I put the fronts to 35 and the backs to 39. I haven’t had any problems today but I’ll check them again in the morning just in case. What I didn’t like is that where the cars are parked there’s LOADS of flies it’s really horrible!!!!!
I kind of planned a route into Peel but I wasn’t certain exactly which road I’d be turning right along so I gave up with writing routes and decided to just follow road signs to Peel. There was a road we’d seen to the right which was marked as 4 miles to Peel so we explored that road. Unfortunately it was a little skinny road and looked like it was single track so we abandoned that road and went back to the main roads.
We got to Peel easily enough though we weren’t sure where we were going to park. We spotted a sign for free parking so followed it and found a car park which was rather full!! We drove round randomly for a short time then a lady came over and asked were we looking for a parking space, when we said we were she showed us to a side road alongside the car park where she was parked. Obviously she knew she was leaving so there was at least one space available when she moved. As it happened there should’ve been 2 spaces when she left but I waited till she’d gone so I could get in really easily.
We then walked through the car park to the town centre. There’s very little in Peel, we wandered up the ‘main’ shopping street although there’s not very much. We went into a couple of different little newsagent type shops to buy souvenirs and sweets and things.
We were then wandering round looking at our map and a man asked us where we lost – we said we weren’t, just pondering but he did tell us how to get to the prom so we decided to follow what he said down to the prom. When we got to the prom we found the ice cream parlour that Chris had mentioned and also we could see Peel castle.
We decided we’d probably finished our shopping bits so we went for lunch in a café. We went into the café but there didn’t seem to be any tables at all. We were about to walk out again but there was a man and his mum sitting at a big table with 2 spare spaces so they said we could join them. They were very nice people, the lady was talking about when she was in Liverpool many years ago.
I was supposed to be paying for lunch but the café didn’t have a card machine – there are loads of places here without card facilities, even the small shops at home take cards :-o Oh well, it meant my mum had to pay for lunch as well – oops.
After our lunch we went back to the prom for Davison’s famous ice cream. We both decided on a tub with 3 scoops in but that was an awful lot of ice cream!!! I couldn’t finish my ice cream even though it was delicious :-( If I had finished I probably would’ve been sick :-(
After our ice cream we went back to the car to go back to the cottage. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was getting back cos we’d come in through a one-way system. I decided to follow the signs for Douglas as that was almost directly opposite Peel but on the other side of the island. It turned out my theory was correct cos we ended up back on the same road we’d come in on.
We got back to the cottage just after 1500 without any real plans. We tidied up a little bit and I also filled in the guest satisfaction survey from the cottage. There are about 6 questions to fill in with one line each for the answer but I did more than 1 line on every question and also did a PTO and wrote about a third of a page extra haha. I now need to decide what to put in the visitors’ book, the survey is only seen by the owners but the guest book is seen by everyone.
2125
Right well this will definitely be my last update while I’m actually in the IOM. I still haven’t thought of anything for the visitors’ book!!
We’re more or less fully packed now ready for tomorrow and we’ve had our tea. I’ve also stripped the bed which I’m not sleeping on.
Obviously in the morning we need to put everything into our boxes and then pack the car. I’ll also re-check the cars’ tyre pressures and hope that they’re ok. Once I’m back on the mainland even if I do get a puncture it’s easy to sort – go to any National or Kwik Fit garage.
Goodbye from the Isle Of Man :-)
Friday, 6 August 2010
Thursday, 5 August 2010
IOM day 6
Thursday 5th August 2010
1000
This cottage is not doing me any good at all – every morning it seems I wake up with a head and / or backache, I’m glad I brought plenty of painkillers with me cos every morning I’m starting the day with a handful of pills!! Luckily the tablets seem to sort it and within half an hour or so I feel human again.
I was up before my mum this morning and had my breakfast. I’ve also written my postcards this morning but I’ve decided I don’t really like them so if we find some nicer postcards before we find a postbox I’m going to re-write them!
1845
Today has turned out pretty good in the end.
We went out at about 1100 to head for the craftworks in Silverdale Glen. I thought I’d sorted out the instructions and knew exactly where I was going – we did get there in one go but not quite by the route we intended. We did initially miss the turning – I saw the sign as we passed it but luckily there was a place not too far on where I could turn round. When I actually turned into the road I discovered it was a tiny little road, in places only wide enough for one car to drive and another pulled over. When we got into the Glen we found the craft studio and there was hardly anyone else in there :-)
I’d decided I wanted to paint something so my mum decided to do one as well. We both wanted something simple to paint, in the end I chose a pirate parrot and my mum chose a turtle :-) We had a very relaxing morning both painting our models :-)
When we’d finished we went looking for the tea room but it was really rubbish – there were 2 sandwiches left in the fridge and the lady was offering basic sandwiches – cheese or ham or both. We decided not to bother and went off to our 2nd destination of the day – Cregneash Village cos mum wanted to go to the National Folk Museum.
We headed off in the right direction and we got there in one go although not quite in the exact route we planned. Luckily when we got there there was a bit car park with an obvious sign where to park. It wasn’t quite so obvious where to go after you leave the car park but we did find the correct path. There were people coming up towards the car park so I asked one man if we were going the right way and was it far, he said it was a 2-3 minute walk and he was going to give us his entrance sticker but unfortunately he’d folded it in half and it had stuck to itself so we weren’t able to use it.
When we got to the entrance office we paid and got our sticker to let us into the various sites in the area. The lady then directed us upstairs to a small exhibition before sending us into another room to watch an introductory video.
At that point all I really wanted was lunch and a toilet so we went straight into the tea room next door. We weren’t very inspired by what we saw on the menu but when the lady who was serving showed us what was on the specials board we both decided on lamb hotpot. It was very nice and my mum couldn’t finish hers so I had one and a bit meals. But, she heard someone mention carrot cake and her ears pricked up haha. Mum had a pudding of carrot and walnut cake but I didn’t have a dessert – I certainly was full after finishing off her lunch as well as my own.
When we’d eaten we set off around the heritage site – it’s an interesting ‘museum’ it’s not one building, it’s a little village with different cottages and workshops for you to go in, some with craftspeople showing you different things. We also went into the local church which, although not part of National Trust is on the trail map for you to look round. There was a leaflet in the church with The Lord’s Prayer in Manx on the back so we picked up a copy for ourselves and one to give Fr Gerry when we get home haha
We also found a postbox in the village so I was able to post my postcards – even though I wasn’t particularly happy with them, at least they were going.
We headed home, I knew where I was going and just had to make the correct turn. One part of the instructions was to continue forwards where the A31 becomes the A5, I recognised that so I knew I was heading the correct way.
Not long after I’d turned onto the A3 for our cottage the screen on the dashboard of the car was telling me to check the tyre pressure of the back passenger side tyre :-o I was quite worried about that, especially cos I was on a ‘go as fast as you want’ road and it looked like there was nowhere to stop. Luckily there was a government building with a yard-type thing at the front where I was able to pull off the road. I was glad I’d brought my compressor with me!!! When I checked the tyre it was complaining about, it was on 34psi so I pumped it up to 39 which is what it says for fully loaded. After that it stopped complaining and I couldn’t feel anything obvious that might’ve caused a puncture :-S I’ll check the tyre properly tomorrow morning while they’re cold. I have done a visual check each morning and some other times when I’ve got back in the car but I haven’t done a proper pressure check yet – naughty me!! If I have got a problem with the tyre I’ll have to try and ring Enterprise to see what I should do about it. I did ask them about punctures when I first picked up the car and they said just to ring them to let them know then take it to any branch of National or Kwik Fit where they have accounts – over here I wouldn’t have a clue!!!!
We got back to the cottage at about 1800 I think – and you know the rest LOL
1000
This cottage is not doing me any good at all – every morning it seems I wake up with a head and / or backache, I’m glad I brought plenty of painkillers with me cos every morning I’m starting the day with a handful of pills!! Luckily the tablets seem to sort it and within half an hour or so I feel human again.
I was up before my mum this morning and had my breakfast. I’ve also written my postcards this morning but I’ve decided I don’t really like them so if we find some nicer postcards before we find a postbox I’m going to re-write them!
1845
Today has turned out pretty good in the end.
We went out at about 1100 to head for the craftworks in Silverdale Glen. I thought I’d sorted out the instructions and knew exactly where I was going – we did get there in one go but not quite by the route we intended. We did initially miss the turning – I saw the sign as we passed it but luckily there was a place not too far on where I could turn round. When I actually turned into the road I discovered it was a tiny little road, in places only wide enough for one car to drive and another pulled over. When we got into the Glen we found the craft studio and there was hardly anyone else in there :-)
I’d decided I wanted to paint something so my mum decided to do one as well. We both wanted something simple to paint, in the end I chose a pirate parrot and my mum chose a turtle :-) We had a very relaxing morning both painting our models :-)
When we’d finished we went looking for the tea room but it was really rubbish – there were 2 sandwiches left in the fridge and the lady was offering basic sandwiches – cheese or ham or both. We decided not to bother and went off to our 2nd destination of the day – Cregneash Village cos mum wanted to go to the National Folk Museum.
We headed off in the right direction and we got there in one go although not quite in the exact route we planned. Luckily when we got there there was a bit car park with an obvious sign where to park. It wasn’t quite so obvious where to go after you leave the car park but we did find the correct path. There were people coming up towards the car park so I asked one man if we were going the right way and was it far, he said it was a 2-3 minute walk and he was going to give us his entrance sticker but unfortunately he’d folded it in half and it had stuck to itself so we weren’t able to use it.
When we got to the entrance office we paid and got our sticker to let us into the various sites in the area. The lady then directed us upstairs to a small exhibition before sending us into another room to watch an introductory video.
At that point all I really wanted was lunch and a toilet so we went straight into the tea room next door. We weren’t very inspired by what we saw on the menu but when the lady who was serving showed us what was on the specials board we both decided on lamb hotpot. It was very nice and my mum couldn’t finish hers so I had one and a bit meals. But, she heard someone mention carrot cake and her ears pricked up haha. Mum had a pudding of carrot and walnut cake but I didn’t have a dessert – I certainly was full after finishing off her lunch as well as my own.
When we’d eaten we set off around the heritage site – it’s an interesting ‘museum’ it’s not one building, it’s a little village with different cottages and workshops for you to go in, some with craftspeople showing you different things. We also went into the local church which, although not part of National Trust is on the trail map for you to look round. There was a leaflet in the church with The Lord’s Prayer in Manx on the back so we picked up a copy for ourselves and one to give Fr Gerry when we get home haha
We also found a postbox in the village so I was able to post my postcards – even though I wasn’t particularly happy with them, at least they were going.
We headed home, I knew where I was going and just had to make the correct turn. One part of the instructions was to continue forwards where the A31 becomes the A5, I recognised that so I knew I was heading the correct way.
Not long after I’d turned onto the A3 for our cottage the screen on the dashboard of the car was telling me to check the tyre pressure of the back passenger side tyre :-o I was quite worried about that, especially cos I was on a ‘go as fast as you want’ road and it looked like there was nowhere to stop. Luckily there was a government building with a yard-type thing at the front where I was able to pull off the road. I was glad I’d brought my compressor with me!!! When I checked the tyre it was complaining about, it was on 34psi so I pumped it up to 39 which is what it says for fully loaded. After that it stopped complaining and I couldn’t feel anything obvious that might’ve caused a puncture :-S I’ll check the tyre properly tomorrow morning while they’re cold. I have done a visual check each morning and some other times when I’ve got back in the car but I haven’t done a proper pressure check yet – naughty me!! If I have got a problem with the tyre I’ll have to try and ring Enterprise to see what I should do about it. I did ask them about punctures when I first picked up the car and they said just to ring them to let them know then take it to any branch of National or Kwik Fit where they have accounts – over here I wouldn’t have a clue!!!!
We got back to the cottage at about 1800 I think – and you know the rest LOL
IOM day 6
Thursday 5th August 2010
1000
This cottage is not doing me any good at all – every morning it seems I wake up with a head and / or backache, I’m glad I brought plenty of painkillers with me cos every morning I’m starting the day with a handful of pills!! Luckily the tablets seem to sort it and within half an hour or so I feel human again.
I was up before my mum this morning and had my breakfast. I’ve also written my postcards this morning but I’ve decided I don’t really like them so if we find some nicer postcards before we find a postbox I’m going to re-write them!
1845
Today has turned out pretty good in the end.
We went out at about 1100 to head for the craftworks in Silverdale Glen. I thought I’d sorted out the instructions and knew exactly where I was going – we did get there in one go but not quite by the route we intended. We did initially miss the turning – I saw the sign as we passed it but luckily there was a place not too far on where I could turn round. When I actually turned into the road I discovered it was a tiny little road, in places only wide enough for one car to drive and another pulled over. When we got into the Glen we found the craft studio and there was hardly anyone else in there :-)
I’d decided I wanted to paint something so my mum decided to do one as well. We both wanted something simple to paint, in the end I chose a pirate parrot and my mum chose a turtle :-) We had a very relaxing morning both painting our models :-)
When we’d finished we went looking for the tea room but it was really rubbish – there were 2 sandwiches left in the fridge and the lady was offering basic sandwiches – cheese or ham or both. We decided not to bother and went off to our 2nd destination of the day – Cregneash Village cos mum wanted to go to the National Folk Museum.
We headed off in the right direction and we got there in one go although not quite in the exact route we planned. Luckily when we got there there was a bit car park with an obvious sign where to park. It wasn’t quite so obvious where to go after you leave the car park but we did find the correct path. There were people coming up towards the car park so I asked one man if we were going the right way and was it far, he said it was a 2-3 minute walk and he was going to give us his entrance sticker but unfortunately he’d folded it in half and it had stuck to itself so we weren’t able to use it.
When we got to the entrance office we paid and got our sticker to let us into the various sites in the area. The lady then directed us upstairs to a small exhibition before sending us into another room to watch an introductory video.
At that point all I really wanted was lunch and a toilet so we went straight into the tea room next door. We weren’t very inspired by what we saw on the menu but when the lady who was serving showed us what was on the specials board we both decided on lamb hotpot. It was very nice and my mum couldn’t finish hers so I had one and a bit meals. But, she heard someone mention carrot cake and her ears pricked up haha. Mum had a pudding of carrot and walnut cake but I didn’t have a dessert – I certainly was full after finishing off her lunch as well as my own.
When we’d eaten we set off around the heritage site – it’s an interesting ‘museum’ it’s not one building, it’s a little village with different cottages and workshops for you to go in, some with craftspeople showing you different things. We also went into the local church which, although not part of National Trust is on the trail map for you to look round. There was a leaflet in the church with The Lord’s Prayer in Manx on the back so we picked up a copy for ourselves and one to give Fr Gerry when we get home haha
We also found a postbox in the village so I was able to post my postcards – even though I wasn’t particularly happy with them, at least they were going.
We headed home, I knew where I was going and just had to make the correct turn. One part of the instructions was to continue forwards where the A31 becomes the A5, I recognised that so I knew I was heading the correct way.
Not long after I’d turned onto the A3 for our cottage the screen on the dashboard of the car was telling me to check the tyre pressure of the back passenger side tyre :-o I was quite worried about that, especially cos I was on a ‘go as fast as you want’ road and it looked like there was nowhere to stop. Luckily there was a government building with a yard-type thing at the front where I was able to pull off the road. I was glad I’d brought my compressor with me!!! When I checked the tyre it was complaining about, it was on 34psi so I pumped it up to 39 which is what it says for fully loaded. After that it stopped complaining and I couldn’t feel anything obvious that might’ve caused a puncture :-S I’ll check the tyre properly tomorrow morning while they’re cold. I have done a visual check each morning and some other times when I’ve got back in the car but I haven’t done a proper pressure check yet – naughty me!! If I have got a problem with the tyre I’ll have to try and ring Enterprise to see what I should do about it. I did ask them about punctures when I first picked up the car and they said just to ring them to let them know then take it to any branch of National or Kwik Fit where they have accounts – over here I wouldn’t have a clue!!!!
We got back to the cottage at about 1800 I think – and you know the rest LOL
1000
This cottage is not doing me any good at all – every morning it seems I wake up with a head and / or backache, I’m glad I brought plenty of painkillers with me cos every morning I’m starting the day with a handful of pills!! Luckily the tablets seem to sort it and within half an hour or so I feel human again.
I was up before my mum this morning and had my breakfast. I’ve also written my postcards this morning but I’ve decided I don’t really like them so if we find some nicer postcards before we find a postbox I’m going to re-write them!
1845
Today has turned out pretty good in the end.
We went out at about 1100 to head for the craftworks in Silverdale Glen. I thought I’d sorted out the instructions and knew exactly where I was going – we did get there in one go but not quite by the route we intended. We did initially miss the turning – I saw the sign as we passed it but luckily there was a place not too far on where I could turn round. When I actually turned into the road I discovered it was a tiny little road, in places only wide enough for one car to drive and another pulled over. When we got into the Glen we found the craft studio and there was hardly anyone else in there :-)
I’d decided I wanted to paint something so my mum decided to do one as well. We both wanted something simple to paint, in the end I chose a pirate parrot and my mum chose a turtle :-) We had a very relaxing morning both painting our models :-)
When we’d finished we went looking for the tea room but it was really rubbish – there were 2 sandwiches left in the fridge and the lady was offering basic sandwiches – cheese or ham or both. We decided not to bother and went off to our 2nd destination of the day – Cregneash Village cos mum wanted to go to the National Folk Museum.
We headed off in the right direction and we got there in one go although not quite in the exact route we planned. Luckily when we got there there was a bit car park with an obvious sign where to park. It wasn’t quite so obvious where to go after you leave the car park but we did find the correct path. There were people coming up towards the car park so I asked one man if we were going the right way and was it far, he said it was a 2-3 minute walk and he was going to give us his entrance sticker but unfortunately he’d folded it in half and it had stuck to itself so we weren’t able to use it.
When we got to the entrance office we paid and got our sticker to let us into the various sites in the area. The lady then directed us upstairs to a small exhibition before sending us into another room to watch an introductory video.
At that point all I really wanted was lunch and a toilet so we went straight into the tea room next door. We weren’t very inspired by what we saw on the menu but when the lady who was serving showed us what was on the specials board we both decided on lamb hotpot. It was very nice and my mum couldn’t finish hers so I had one and a bit meals. But, she heard someone mention carrot cake and her ears pricked up haha. Mum had a pudding of carrot and walnut cake but I didn’t have a dessert – I certainly was full after finishing off her lunch as well as my own.
When we’d eaten we set off around the heritage site – it’s an interesting ‘museum’ it’s not one building, it’s a little village with different cottages and workshops for you to go in, some with craftspeople showing you different things. We also went into the local church which, although not part of National Trust is on the trail map for you to look round. There was a leaflet in the church with The Lord’s Prayer in Manx on the back so we picked up a copy for ourselves and one to give Fr Gerry when we get home haha
We also found a postbox in the village so I was able to post my postcards – even though I wasn’t particularly happy with them, at least they were going.
We headed home, I knew where I was going and just had to make the correct turn. One part of the instructions was to continue forwards where the A31 becomes the A5, I recognised that so I knew I was heading the correct way.
Not long after I’d turned onto the A3 for our cottage the screen on the dashboard of the car was telling me to check the tyre pressure of the back passenger side tyre :-o I was quite worried about that, especially cos I was on a ‘go as fast as you want’ road and it looked like there was nowhere to stop. Luckily there was a government building with a yard-type thing at the front where I was able to pull off the road. I was glad I’d brought my compressor with me!!! When I checked the tyre it was complaining about, it was on 34psi so I pumped it up to 39 which is what it says for fully loaded. After that it stopped complaining and I couldn’t feel anything obvious that might’ve caused a puncture :-S I’ll check the tyre properly tomorrow morning while they’re cold. I have done a visual check each morning and some other times when I’ve got back in the car but I haven’t done a proper pressure check yet – naughty me!! If I have got a problem with the tyre I’ll have to try and ring Enterprise to see what I should do about it. I did ask them about punctures when I first picked up the car and they said just to ring them to let them know then take it to any branch of National or Kwik Fit where they have accounts – over here I wouldn’t have a clue!!!!
We got back to the cottage at about 1800 I think – and you know the rest LOL
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
IOM day 5
Wednesday 4th August 2010
1750
Well last night we had a fight with the washer dryer – we could not work out how to make it dry. I followed the instructions for drying but it washed again!!! In the end we finally gave up and hung the washing around the cottage and on the airer.
I felt pretty rough last night, with a really bad headache so I was in bed just after 1000. When I got to sleep I slept ok – till about 4am when a storm woke me up!!! There’s a skylight in the ceiling / roof of my bedroom and with the rain battering on that and the window it kept me up for a while. Luckily I hadn’t planned on getting up early and when I did get up at around 0900 I felt ok.
We’d decided to do another load of washing this morning – we did the darks last night and were doing the coloureds today. We already knew we wouldn’t be able to dry the clothes so had planned to hang them on the airer and radiators and in the wardrobes cos there are radiators in the wardrobes. We did do that and I had a shower around 1100.
We had the sausage rolls and pies we’d brought with us for lunch and then went out around 1400. We’d planned to go to the cat sanctuary today and then into Douglas. I did detailed directions for the cat sanctuary and again we didn’t get lost :-)
When we got to the cat sanctuary we pulled into the car park and a dog and a cat immediately came to say hello to us, I was a bit scared of hitting one or other of the animals so I made my mum get out of the car to distract them and make sure they were safe while I parked haha
As we were walking across the yard a little black cat came over to us so I crouched down to stroke it and then it decided to climb up onto my shoulders haha It even stayed with me for ages, I stood up and walked around for a while with my new shoulders warmer ;-D We then went further in and there were cats everywhere – just wandering round, relaxing, eating or fighting haha – they were just doing whatever they wanted to. It was such a nice place to visit I could’ve stayed there ALL day. We went and sat in the lounge area and I’d only been sat down for a few minutes when my friend from earlier came to sit on my knee again :-) Unfortunately the cat who decided she loved me looked like she was full of cat flu, she had gooey eyes and a runny nose :-( My mum also got a friend sitting on her knee and we stayed there for quite a while before dragging ourselves away from our friends and looking round more.
We found that at the cat sanctuary there were also horses, donkeys, guinea pigs, rabbits, cockatiels, chickens and a couple of dogs. The horses and donkeys weren’t interested in being petted and most of the other animals were behind fences / cages so you couldn’t actually touch them.
The entrance to the cat sanctuary from the road is quite a tight squeeze and as we were going across to our car we saw a camper van trying to negotiate the gate – it really looked like it wasn’t going to make it at all but they went out and re-angled and managed to get through – I was so surprised.
When my mum eventually dragged me away from the cats we were heading into Douglas, I hadn’t written directions for that cos we did it the other day. When we got into Douglas town I headed for the same area we were in the other day and managed to get in the Disc Zone rather than the car park – you get 2 hours free on the Disc, I got to use my Parking Disc :-D
We only had a few things we needed to get in Douglas and we had to post my mum’s postcards. I got myself some new trainers and slippers, I’ve been having to wear my posh running trainers up to now cos I destroyed my others last week when I dried them with a hairdryer, also the slippers I bought to bring here are not comfortable at all so I bought some more to replace them.
As usual this week, since we’ve got back to the cottage we haven’t done very much at all. My mum has had a sleep on the couch though!!
1950
We’ve now put our tea in the oven – again we’re having stuff we brought with us from home that needs eating – sausages and bacon. Oh well we’re intending taking less home with us than we brought LOL
I bought some postcards in Douglas today so I need to write them tonight and hopefully find a postbox tomorrow – we bought stamps for my postcards that aren’t written yet hahaha.
1750
Well last night we had a fight with the washer dryer – we could not work out how to make it dry. I followed the instructions for drying but it washed again!!! In the end we finally gave up and hung the washing around the cottage and on the airer.
I felt pretty rough last night, with a really bad headache so I was in bed just after 1000. When I got to sleep I slept ok – till about 4am when a storm woke me up!!! There’s a skylight in the ceiling / roof of my bedroom and with the rain battering on that and the window it kept me up for a while. Luckily I hadn’t planned on getting up early and when I did get up at around 0900 I felt ok.
We’d decided to do another load of washing this morning – we did the darks last night and were doing the coloureds today. We already knew we wouldn’t be able to dry the clothes so had planned to hang them on the airer and radiators and in the wardrobes cos there are radiators in the wardrobes. We did do that and I had a shower around 1100.
We had the sausage rolls and pies we’d brought with us for lunch and then went out around 1400. We’d planned to go to the cat sanctuary today and then into Douglas. I did detailed directions for the cat sanctuary and again we didn’t get lost :-)
When we got to the cat sanctuary we pulled into the car park and a dog and a cat immediately came to say hello to us, I was a bit scared of hitting one or other of the animals so I made my mum get out of the car to distract them and make sure they were safe while I parked haha
As we were walking across the yard a little black cat came over to us so I crouched down to stroke it and then it decided to climb up onto my shoulders haha It even stayed with me for ages, I stood up and walked around for a while with my new shoulders warmer ;-D We then went further in and there were cats everywhere – just wandering round, relaxing, eating or fighting haha – they were just doing whatever they wanted to. It was such a nice place to visit I could’ve stayed there ALL day. We went and sat in the lounge area and I’d only been sat down for a few minutes when my friend from earlier came to sit on my knee again :-) Unfortunately the cat who decided she loved me looked like she was full of cat flu, she had gooey eyes and a runny nose :-( My mum also got a friend sitting on her knee and we stayed there for quite a while before dragging ourselves away from our friends and looking round more.
We found that at the cat sanctuary there were also horses, donkeys, guinea pigs, rabbits, cockatiels, chickens and a couple of dogs. The horses and donkeys weren’t interested in being petted and most of the other animals were behind fences / cages so you couldn’t actually touch them.
The entrance to the cat sanctuary from the road is quite a tight squeeze and as we were going across to our car we saw a camper van trying to negotiate the gate – it really looked like it wasn’t going to make it at all but they went out and re-angled and managed to get through – I was so surprised.
When my mum eventually dragged me away from the cats we were heading into Douglas, I hadn’t written directions for that cos we did it the other day. When we got into Douglas town I headed for the same area we were in the other day and managed to get in the Disc Zone rather than the car park – you get 2 hours free on the Disc, I got to use my Parking Disc :-D
We only had a few things we needed to get in Douglas and we had to post my mum’s postcards. I got myself some new trainers and slippers, I’ve been having to wear my posh running trainers up to now cos I destroyed my others last week when I dried them with a hairdryer, also the slippers I bought to bring here are not comfortable at all so I bought some more to replace them.
As usual this week, since we’ve got back to the cottage we haven’t done very much at all. My mum has had a sleep on the couch though!!
1950
We’ve now put our tea in the oven – again we’re having stuff we brought with us from home that needs eating – sausages and bacon. Oh well we’re intending taking less home with us than we brought LOL
I bought some postcards in Douglas today so I need to write them tonight and hopefully find a postbox tomorrow – we bought stamps for my postcards that aren’t written yet hahaha.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
IOM day 4
Tuesday 3rd August 2010
1840
I didn’t have the best night last night, well the night was ok but I woke up with a headache. I actually had the headache before I was getting up but didn’t have the energy to get up and get some painkillers. I did take the pills as soon as I got out of bed and thankfully that sorted the headache.
We got up and had breakfast and got washed and dressed etc before going out at about 1030ish. I’d looked at google maps last night to get to Laxey but it did something weird so I gave up with that and created my own route using the various maps I’ve got. Amazingly we got to Laxey with NO diversions and didn’t get lost at all!!!!!
We found the gift shop for the Laxey Wheel and mum wasn’t sure she actually wanted to go to the wheel. I asked the lady in the shop how long the walk was to the wheel and she said only 5-6 minutes so mum decided she would go. We followed the sign for the path and it was quite a rugged uphill path – perfect for me not so much for mum. She made it though slower than me. When we actually got to the wheel she decided she wasn’t paying £4 so I left her sitting on a bench outside and went in on my own.
She made the right decision cos she’d have hated it – loads of steps and rough paths. I went up to the top of the wheel, up very narrow but steep steps that go round and round. There was a bit that said “low beam watch your head” and even I would’ve bashed my head if I hadn’t ducked down. When I came down from the wheel I followed a different set of steps and another path and found myself on the mines trail. Unfortunately my legs seem to be getting used to no exercise cos I got a cramp in my left leg while I was going up and down the steps and paths. When I came down to the bottom of one path I saw that I could go into the mines so headed up that way. I asked the man how long it takes in the mine and he said its only 40 yards in and back out the same way. You have to wear a hard hat to go in the mines so I asked the man if he’d take my picture hehe. As I was going in the mine my mum rang me to say not be much longer cos she was getting fed up * rolleyes *
After I came out of the Wheel site we went down a slightly different way to how we’d gone up, partly cos the path was easier and partly cos we wanted to go to the toilets which I’d seen as we walked up. We then walked through the grounds of the fire station and as we were going through the siren went off to signal that there was a fire. A lady came out of the station to warn us not to continue the way we’d been going for a few minutes cos all the fire crew would be on their way very soon and they’d come haring down the path we were about to walk up. She stood chatting with us for a couple of minutes and sure enough 3 cars came flying down that path. She said it is the fastest retained fire service on the island, I was surprised that the only warning that the crew had of being needed was the siren from the station.
Once we’d seen the fire engine go and we were certain there would be no more cars flying down the path we made our way back to the gift shop where we bought quite a lot of stuff. We then dumped our purchases in the car ad made our way to the station to get the electric train up to the top of Snaefell. I also bought some earrings from a stall near the station before we went up.
We got on a nice tram with VERY high steps – not a problem for me but mum struggled. There were only a few of us on the tram and a man (co-driver or something) was telling us about things on the way up. He also pointed out that we’d slow down at a certain point to get a good view of the Laxey Wheel where the vegetation had been mysteriously cut down hahahaha. On the way up we couldn’t see as much as we might’ve liked cos it was quite misty and dull, apparently on a clear day you can see England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland from the summit but that wasn’t possible today :-(
When we got to the top we went straight into the café for lunch, I was hungry and wanted a proper meal so we decided we’d both have lasagne – but there was only one portion left :-( Mum had the lasagne and I had the half chicken – which also turned out to be the last portion of that, it seems it was a good job we went in when we did, if we’d left it any later we possibly wouldn’t have got a hot meal at all.
As we’d got off the tram the man said we weren’t actually at the summit yet, he pointed up a path and said we had to go up there for the proper summit. When we’d finished our lunch I left my mum in the café and I went up to the summit, it wasn’t too far. I’d left my coat in the café and when I was going up the path I really wished I’d had it with me – it was freezing!!
Once I’d made my way back down we were actually able to get the 1510 tram down the mountain cos it was still there, hadn’t gone yet. As we were getting on the tram my mum fell up the steps – she said her knee went underneath her :-( Thankfully she was ok.
The trip down the mountain was totally uneventful and we got back to the car around 1545 and came back to the cottage. Again we managed to not get lost at all!! :-)
We’ve decided to do some washing tonight but it’s taken longer than we expected – supposedly the wash we put on takes 95 minutes – it’s taken 2 hours, has only just finished and it’s 1950!!
1840
I didn’t have the best night last night, well the night was ok but I woke up with a headache. I actually had the headache before I was getting up but didn’t have the energy to get up and get some painkillers. I did take the pills as soon as I got out of bed and thankfully that sorted the headache.
We got up and had breakfast and got washed and dressed etc before going out at about 1030ish. I’d looked at google maps last night to get to Laxey but it did something weird so I gave up with that and created my own route using the various maps I’ve got. Amazingly we got to Laxey with NO diversions and didn’t get lost at all!!!!!
We found the gift shop for the Laxey Wheel and mum wasn’t sure she actually wanted to go to the wheel. I asked the lady in the shop how long the walk was to the wheel and she said only 5-6 minutes so mum decided she would go. We followed the sign for the path and it was quite a rugged uphill path – perfect for me not so much for mum. She made it though slower than me. When we actually got to the wheel she decided she wasn’t paying £4 so I left her sitting on a bench outside and went in on my own.
She made the right decision cos she’d have hated it – loads of steps and rough paths. I went up to the top of the wheel, up very narrow but steep steps that go round and round. There was a bit that said “low beam watch your head” and even I would’ve bashed my head if I hadn’t ducked down. When I came down from the wheel I followed a different set of steps and another path and found myself on the mines trail. Unfortunately my legs seem to be getting used to no exercise cos I got a cramp in my left leg while I was going up and down the steps and paths. When I came down to the bottom of one path I saw that I could go into the mines so headed up that way. I asked the man how long it takes in the mine and he said its only 40 yards in and back out the same way. You have to wear a hard hat to go in the mines so I asked the man if he’d take my picture hehe. As I was going in the mine my mum rang me to say not be much longer cos she was getting fed up * rolleyes *
After I came out of the Wheel site we went down a slightly different way to how we’d gone up, partly cos the path was easier and partly cos we wanted to go to the toilets which I’d seen as we walked up. We then walked through the grounds of the fire station and as we were going through the siren went off to signal that there was a fire. A lady came out of the station to warn us not to continue the way we’d been going for a few minutes cos all the fire crew would be on their way very soon and they’d come haring down the path we were about to walk up. She stood chatting with us for a couple of minutes and sure enough 3 cars came flying down that path. She said it is the fastest retained fire service on the island, I was surprised that the only warning that the crew had of being needed was the siren from the station.
Once we’d seen the fire engine go and we were certain there would be no more cars flying down the path we made our way back to the gift shop where we bought quite a lot of stuff. We then dumped our purchases in the car ad made our way to the station to get the electric train up to the top of Snaefell. I also bought some earrings from a stall near the station before we went up.
We got on a nice tram with VERY high steps – not a problem for me but mum struggled. There were only a few of us on the tram and a man (co-driver or something) was telling us about things on the way up. He also pointed out that we’d slow down at a certain point to get a good view of the Laxey Wheel where the vegetation had been mysteriously cut down hahahaha. On the way up we couldn’t see as much as we might’ve liked cos it was quite misty and dull, apparently on a clear day you can see England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland from the summit but that wasn’t possible today :-(
When we got to the top we went straight into the café for lunch, I was hungry and wanted a proper meal so we decided we’d both have lasagne – but there was only one portion left :-( Mum had the lasagne and I had the half chicken – which also turned out to be the last portion of that, it seems it was a good job we went in when we did, if we’d left it any later we possibly wouldn’t have got a hot meal at all.
As we’d got off the tram the man said we weren’t actually at the summit yet, he pointed up a path and said we had to go up there for the proper summit. When we’d finished our lunch I left my mum in the café and I went up to the summit, it wasn’t too far. I’d left my coat in the café and when I was going up the path I really wished I’d had it with me – it was freezing!!
Once I’d made my way back down we were actually able to get the 1510 tram down the mountain cos it was still there, hadn’t gone yet. As we were getting on the tram my mum fell up the steps – she said her knee went underneath her :-( Thankfully she was ok.
The trip down the mountain was totally uneventful and we got back to the car around 1545 and came back to the cottage. Again we managed to not get lost at all!! :-)
We’ve decided to do some washing tonight but it’s taken longer than we expected – supposedly the wash we put on takes 95 minutes – it’s taken 2 hours, has only just finished and it’s 1950!!
Monday, 2 August 2010
IOM day 3
Monday 2nd August 2010
2020
hmm I’m starting this blog tonight at the same time as last night, oh well.
I slept in the other bed last night and it was much better in that the light didn’t wake me up but I did have a stiff neck when I got up this morning :-S I’ll have to see how I am tomorrow morning – and if I have a bad neck again I might swap back to the other bed :-/
I got up later today – 0930 although I had gone to bed later last night so that was logical. I had my breakfast and just lazed around for a while. At about 1030 I decided to test out the shower. My mum had thought it was just a mains-fed shower but I discovered it’s electric, the thermostat is on the right hand tap and is actually marked with specific temperatures.
We’d decided today to go to the Rest Home for Old Horses, we didn’t want to do loads and that seemed like it would be fairly leisurely :-) It would’ve been leisurely if we’d managed to get there without getting lost – about a million times!!!! (Ok I exaggerate but it felt like a million!!) We originally missed the first turn onto the B road so obviously after that the instructions I’d written out were totally redundant!
We ended up going into Douglas to get out again but even that wasn’t simple. We ended up in a one-way system at the back of the courts. I stopped in a private car park so we could consult the map but that was useless cos we had no way of finding ourselves on the map so I carried on driving randomly. I then stopped again on the prom cos at least then we could locate ourselves. I found where we were and bravely chose my new route. I knew we needed the A5 and thought I could work out how to get there. The signs started saying for A5 follow the airport symbol and then it turned into follow A6 – I got very concerned and pulled into a garden centre car park. It turned out we actually were in the right place cos the A6 leads to the A5 and we eventually found the horses’ home.
The horses were right by the car park but we didn’t go to them straight away – we went to the gift shop to buy some food for them. Once I had my supply of food I went out to the horses and they were lovely. Most of them didn’t really want to be stroked though – they just wanted food haha. I fed lots of horses and walked up and down the fence with all the various horses, at one point I decided to feed 2 horses at once hehe.
Once I’d emptied my bag of food we decided to go to the little café on site and the sandwiches weren’t too badly priced so we had lunch there. We sat outside and there was a real manx cat wandering round and I made friends with it. It even jumped up on my knee :-) I know it was more interested in being friend cos I had a tuna butty but I don’t care – I still got a cat on my knee :-)
While mum was in the lunch queue she’d heard people talking about the donkeys and she realised there was another bit we hadn’t seen so we went out to the back and found there were more horses and another section with the donkeys in too. There were also some horses in this section that were behind 2 fences with signs on saying we weren’t allowed to feed them – don’t know why. The donkeys were down at the bottom of the path and we didn’t have any food for them but other people did. The coats on the donkeys were a lot softer than the horse hair and there was one donkey that looked really old and frail.
Once we’d been in the gift shop after seeing the donkeys we went into Douglas, that was easier to find than the horses’ home cos obviously it’s a much bigger place and well signposted. We wanted to go to the tourist information place so we followed the signs for the boat because the tourist info was in the sea terminal building. We found the place easy enough and there was a reasonably priced car park nearby.
We paid for 2 hours parking and then headed into the tourist info place. I was looking for a decent A-Z map book but the man behind the counter said one doesn’t exist any more :-( He said there used to be one but they stopped printing it and he didn’t know why – he said it was much better than what you can buy now. He also said you can’t get lost on the Isle of Man – he hadn’t been in the car with us a few hours earlier!!!!! I did buy a new map – an OS map with plenty of details on, bigger than the one we’d already bought.
We then headed off towards the main shops cos there were a few things we needed / wanted. We found a main shopping street with plenty of standard shops you’d expect to find. We went into a ‘bits n pieces’ shop and a big supermarket – we bought a couple of ready-meals for tea and some other stuff before finding our way back to the car.
We got back to the cottage easily because we just used the instructions we’d got from the cottage owners haha. Once we got back I decided to go on the TomTom website to see if I could get a new map of the Isle of Man for my machine – what a surprise it doesn’t exist!!!!!!
Since we’ve been back we haven’t done much except eat our tea and watch telly – pretty much what we’ve done every night here so far.
2020
hmm I’m starting this blog tonight at the same time as last night, oh well.
I slept in the other bed last night and it was much better in that the light didn’t wake me up but I did have a stiff neck when I got up this morning :-S I’ll have to see how I am tomorrow morning – and if I have a bad neck again I might swap back to the other bed :-/
I got up later today – 0930 although I had gone to bed later last night so that was logical. I had my breakfast and just lazed around for a while. At about 1030 I decided to test out the shower. My mum had thought it was just a mains-fed shower but I discovered it’s electric, the thermostat is on the right hand tap and is actually marked with specific temperatures.
We’d decided today to go to the Rest Home for Old Horses, we didn’t want to do loads and that seemed like it would be fairly leisurely :-) It would’ve been leisurely if we’d managed to get there without getting lost – about a million times!!!! (Ok I exaggerate but it felt like a million!!) We originally missed the first turn onto the B road so obviously after that the instructions I’d written out were totally redundant!
We ended up going into Douglas to get out again but even that wasn’t simple. We ended up in a one-way system at the back of the courts. I stopped in a private car park so we could consult the map but that was useless cos we had no way of finding ourselves on the map so I carried on driving randomly. I then stopped again on the prom cos at least then we could locate ourselves. I found where we were and bravely chose my new route. I knew we needed the A5 and thought I could work out how to get there. The signs started saying for A5 follow the airport symbol and then it turned into follow A6 – I got very concerned and pulled into a garden centre car park. It turned out we actually were in the right place cos the A6 leads to the A5 and we eventually found the horses’ home.
The horses were right by the car park but we didn’t go to them straight away – we went to the gift shop to buy some food for them. Once I had my supply of food I went out to the horses and they were lovely. Most of them didn’t really want to be stroked though – they just wanted food haha. I fed lots of horses and walked up and down the fence with all the various horses, at one point I decided to feed 2 horses at once hehe.
Once I’d emptied my bag of food we decided to go to the little café on site and the sandwiches weren’t too badly priced so we had lunch there. We sat outside and there was a real manx cat wandering round and I made friends with it. It even jumped up on my knee :-) I know it was more interested in being friend cos I had a tuna butty but I don’t care – I still got a cat on my knee :-)
While mum was in the lunch queue she’d heard people talking about the donkeys and she realised there was another bit we hadn’t seen so we went out to the back and found there were more horses and another section with the donkeys in too. There were also some horses in this section that were behind 2 fences with signs on saying we weren’t allowed to feed them – don’t know why. The donkeys were down at the bottom of the path and we didn’t have any food for them but other people did. The coats on the donkeys were a lot softer than the horse hair and there was one donkey that looked really old and frail.
Once we’d been in the gift shop after seeing the donkeys we went into Douglas, that was easier to find than the horses’ home cos obviously it’s a much bigger place and well signposted. We wanted to go to the tourist information place so we followed the signs for the boat because the tourist info was in the sea terminal building. We found the place easy enough and there was a reasonably priced car park nearby.
We paid for 2 hours parking and then headed into the tourist info place. I was looking for a decent A-Z map book but the man behind the counter said one doesn’t exist any more :-( He said there used to be one but they stopped printing it and he didn’t know why – he said it was much better than what you can buy now. He also said you can’t get lost on the Isle of Man – he hadn’t been in the car with us a few hours earlier!!!!! I did buy a new map – an OS map with plenty of details on, bigger than the one we’d already bought.
We then headed off towards the main shops cos there were a few things we needed / wanted. We found a main shopping street with plenty of standard shops you’d expect to find. We went into a ‘bits n pieces’ shop and a big supermarket – we bought a couple of ready-meals for tea and some other stuff before finding our way back to the car.
We got back to the cottage easily because we just used the instructions we’d got from the cottage owners haha. Once we got back I decided to go on the TomTom website to see if I could get a new map of the Isle of Man for my machine – what a surprise it doesn’t exist!!!!!!
Since we’ve been back we haven’t done much except eat our tea and watch telly – pretty much what we’ve done every night here so far.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
IOM day 2
Sunday 1st august 2010
1855
Well we’ve had a busy day although it’s been different to what we expected / planned.
Last night when I went to bed I realised that I’ve got light coloured curtains in my bedroom :-( grr I have blackout curtains at home!!! There was a brown top cover thing for the bed so I put that at the window and figured that would sort it. I then looked up and noticed there was a skylight window to let all the light in :-o I had read something in the guestbook about poles for the skylights so I explored in the wardrobe and found a pole to shut the blind on the skylight – was so relieved to find that, I’d have been soooo annoyed to get woken up by the light every morning.
I got up at around 8am, didn’t set my alarm, that’s just what time I woke up. I got up very relaxed and had breakfast. When mum got up we were discussing what to do today and I was irritated by my IOM-less satnav and mum had a brainwave – you can downloads maps onto the TomTom – great idea, except I realised I’ve got no USB cable with me :-( So it was back to the map I bought on the boat and google maps / AA for directions.
While I was getting washed and dressed we had a visit from the owner of the cottage just to check everything was ok and we found everything. My mum asked her could we have the heating on cos we were cold last night but everything else was fine :-) I deliberately came downstairs while the lady was here just to see if it was the same woman who was a nuisance yesterday – it wasn’t so nuisance woman must be one of our holiday neighbours.
We eventually decided on going to Ramsey to the Grove Country House and museum, mainly cos we wanted a supermarket and the cottage guest book said there was a supermarket in Ramsey open till 5pm.
We headed off towards Ramsey at about 11am with plans and directions etc. Everything was going well, we got near Ramsey and there were signs for the place we were going to but the road right near it was blocked off for roadworks and we couldn’t work out how to get too it. After driving round aimlessly for a while we decided to abandon that idea and go to the wildlife park we’d seen earlier on.
When we got there my mum was trying to go in without even paying – duh!!! I paid for both of us and the lady on the desk said there was an ‘animal encounter’ starting in 5 minutes so we headed off in that direction.
When we got there the lady had just started her talk and had Giant African Land Snails that she was talking about and handling and said she’d bring them round so we could hold them as well if we wanted. Nobody actually wanted to hold the snails haha. She also brought out millipedes, cockroaches, a lizard and a snake. Apart from the snail, I held all of the animals that we were allowed to – we weren’t allowed to hold the lizard or snake but we were allowed to stroke and feel them.
By the time ‘animal encounter’ was finished it was about 1240ish so we decided to go to the café for lunch. It was an expensive lunch – about £15 for the 2 of us :-o It was nice though :-)
After lunch we started wandering round looking at all the animals. In quite a lot of the enclosures there were animals roaming free and often they were quite tricky to see. As we went into the lemur enclosure the lemurs were roaming free and one managed to get out into the corridor we’d just come from :-o we couldn’t leave the door open cos the other lemur was trying to get out as well hahahaha, Whoever went into the bat corridor next was going to get a shock when they encounter a lemur haha. We spent another couple of hours wandering round and aiming for penguin feeding time at 1515.
We watched the penguins being fed with quite small fish and there was a seagull that had decided to muscle in and I think that got nearly as many fish as the penguins haha. Immediately after penguin feeding time it was pelican feeding time so we followed the keeper across the path to the other enclosure.
We had a bit of a rest after the pelicans and tried to work out which bits we hadn’t seen yet – there were a couple of enclosures we hadn’t been in and I was determined to see it all. My mum had more or less had enough by that time so when it got to the final enclosure my mum sat on a bench while I completed the park.
On the way out we bought a few bits and pieces and were pleasantly surprised at the price – only £3 for a magnet, badge and keyring, we thought it would be much more expensive in a place like that.
We needed to go to the supermarket for a few bits and pieces so we went back to Ramsey cos we’d seen a bit shop earlier in the day and if that wasn’t open (cos it was getting on for 5pm) I knew there was supposed to be 2 co-ops open one till 6 and the other till 9. Luckily the supermarket we’d seen earlier was open till 6pm :-) In the fruit and veg section in that supermarket you have to weigh and price your own produce – I had fun with the scales hahahaha
Today we knew exactly where to turn in for the cottages – there’s a set of red & white squashy crash barriers meant for the TT right at the bottom of the lane so we can use that as our landmark haha
When we got back we found that the heating was on :-) I’ve also swapped my stuff onto the other bed ready for tonight. For the rest of the evening we’re just going to chill, watching telly and eating :-)
Back tomorrow * wave *
1855
Well we’ve had a busy day although it’s been different to what we expected / planned.
Last night when I went to bed I realised that I’ve got light coloured curtains in my bedroom :-( grr I have blackout curtains at home!!! There was a brown top cover thing for the bed so I put that at the window and figured that would sort it. I then looked up and noticed there was a skylight window to let all the light in :-o I had read something in the guestbook about poles for the skylights so I explored in the wardrobe and found a pole to shut the blind on the skylight – was so relieved to find that, I’d have been soooo annoyed to get woken up by the light every morning.
I got up at around 8am, didn’t set my alarm, that’s just what time I woke up. I got up very relaxed and had breakfast. When mum got up we were discussing what to do today and I was irritated by my IOM-less satnav and mum had a brainwave – you can downloads maps onto the TomTom – great idea, except I realised I’ve got no USB cable with me :-( So it was back to the map I bought on the boat and google maps / AA for directions.
While I was getting washed and dressed we had a visit from the owner of the cottage just to check everything was ok and we found everything. My mum asked her could we have the heating on cos we were cold last night but everything else was fine :-) I deliberately came downstairs while the lady was here just to see if it was the same woman who was a nuisance yesterday – it wasn’t so nuisance woman must be one of our holiday neighbours.
We eventually decided on going to Ramsey to the Grove Country House and museum, mainly cos we wanted a supermarket and the cottage guest book said there was a supermarket in Ramsey open till 5pm.
We headed off towards Ramsey at about 11am with plans and directions etc. Everything was going well, we got near Ramsey and there were signs for the place we were going to but the road right near it was blocked off for roadworks and we couldn’t work out how to get too it. After driving round aimlessly for a while we decided to abandon that idea and go to the wildlife park we’d seen earlier on.
When we got there my mum was trying to go in without even paying – duh!!! I paid for both of us and the lady on the desk said there was an ‘animal encounter’ starting in 5 minutes so we headed off in that direction.
When we got there the lady had just started her talk and had Giant African Land Snails that she was talking about and handling and said she’d bring them round so we could hold them as well if we wanted. Nobody actually wanted to hold the snails haha. She also brought out millipedes, cockroaches, a lizard and a snake. Apart from the snail, I held all of the animals that we were allowed to – we weren’t allowed to hold the lizard or snake but we were allowed to stroke and feel them.
By the time ‘animal encounter’ was finished it was about 1240ish so we decided to go to the café for lunch. It was an expensive lunch – about £15 for the 2 of us :-o It was nice though :-)
After lunch we started wandering round looking at all the animals. In quite a lot of the enclosures there were animals roaming free and often they were quite tricky to see. As we went into the lemur enclosure the lemurs were roaming free and one managed to get out into the corridor we’d just come from :-o we couldn’t leave the door open cos the other lemur was trying to get out as well hahahaha, Whoever went into the bat corridor next was going to get a shock when they encounter a lemur haha. We spent another couple of hours wandering round and aiming for penguin feeding time at 1515.
We watched the penguins being fed with quite small fish and there was a seagull that had decided to muscle in and I think that got nearly as many fish as the penguins haha. Immediately after penguin feeding time it was pelican feeding time so we followed the keeper across the path to the other enclosure.
We had a bit of a rest after the pelicans and tried to work out which bits we hadn’t seen yet – there were a couple of enclosures we hadn’t been in and I was determined to see it all. My mum had more or less had enough by that time so when it got to the final enclosure my mum sat on a bench while I completed the park.
On the way out we bought a few bits and pieces and were pleasantly surprised at the price – only £3 for a magnet, badge and keyring, we thought it would be much more expensive in a place like that.
We needed to go to the supermarket for a few bits and pieces so we went back to Ramsey cos we’d seen a bit shop earlier in the day and if that wasn’t open (cos it was getting on for 5pm) I knew there was supposed to be 2 co-ops open one till 6 and the other till 9. Luckily the supermarket we’d seen earlier was open till 6pm :-) In the fruit and veg section in that supermarket you have to weigh and price your own produce – I had fun with the scales hahahaha
Today we knew exactly where to turn in for the cottages – there’s a set of red & white squashy crash barriers meant for the TT right at the bottom of the lane so we can use that as our landmark haha
When we got back we found that the heating was on :-) I’ve also swapped my stuff onto the other bed ready for tonight. For the rest of the evening we’re just going to chill, watching telly and eating :-)
Back tomorrow * wave *
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