Isle of Man Diary (20th July 08 - 26 July 08)

**alexmarsh9** · 07-23-2008, 03:24 AM

I am going on holiday so I thought it would be fun to let you WF members know what I get up to on my hols. I moved to the Isle of Man, I lived here for about a year but then I moved back to England.

The following documents different activities that our family have done throughout the holiday.

Accompning me on my ventures:

Mother a.k.a 'Mum'
Mum tends to be shouting at Ged when he is driving, put it this way, she is a terrible passenger driver. Some of her most know phrases include: "No I never!", "No, that way!" and "Here, let me drive and you can navigate".
On a whole, Mum can be a fun person to be with and she will always try and see a good side to everything.

Gerard a.k.a 'Ged'
Ged is my Mum's partner. He is the man of the house. Ged enjoys golf and he recently got me into it. Ged is a strange person because sometimes he can be serious and other times he can be having a laugh and joking about. Some of his most common phrases include: "Get out you daft bat", "Shes a battle axe" (often refering to my mother), and "Your off your tree". Overall, Ged can be a pleasant person to be with, most of the time hes up for a laugh, and he can be rather funny!

Hayley a.k.a 'The dreaded sister'
Hayley is 16 now. She is a 1 in a million kind of person. She is very strange yet funny and she always comes out with random things. Sometimes she can be the most annoying person in the world yet other times she can be a laugh. Hayley's most common phrases include: "Stop it!", "Shut up!", "Mum, tell Alex to..." and "Oh my god, I can't be assed!". Overall, Hayley can be annoying, but who isn't? She would probably help me if I was in trouble in some way, and try her best to help me. Hayley comes in handy because she can do my geography coursework.

**alexmarsh9** · 07-23-2008, 05:41 AM

Day 1 "Off we go!" (20th July 08)
We all had our belongings packed at around 3 PM, Ged managed to fit his golf bag into the boot (trunk). We have three cats so we asked our next door neighboor to feed them while we were away. As it reached around 3.15 PM, we where all ready to leave.

We departed Chorley (Lancashire) and headed towards Liverpool in which we would catch our ferry to Douglas (Isle of Man). A few hours later, we reached the ferry terminal and awaited the ferry, the 'Sea cat 2'.When it arrived, we drove our car onto the ferry and found seats next to the window. Every so often we would go up on deck to have a look at the sea, it was very windy so we couldnt stay out very long. The sea was also moderatly rough. The crossing lasted around 3 hours.

When we docked in Douglas, at about 10 PM, we made our way to Glen Maye because Ged's sister, Christine and her husband, Nick had let us stay with them during our time here. 20-30 mins later we arrived and we where welcomed by Nick and Christine and after about 3 hours we went to bed, as we where all very tired.

**alexmarsh9** · 07-23-2008, 05:41 AM

Day 2 "Peel" (21st July 08)
We woke up around 10 AM. The weather was warm and sunny. My Mum and Hayley planned on going to meet some old friends so me and Ged decided we would go for a walk along the coast. So, we left the house we where staying at and started to walk down the glen, 5 minutes into the walk we came across an amazing waterfall (below), that flowed down towards a river of clear water.

This walk is stunningly beautiful, with the river cascading down the rocks in a series of waterfalls, and flowing along a narrow gorge hung with ivy and other climbing greenery. We stood for a few minutes quietly by the side of the river and we could see the trout swimming in the clear pools.

About 30-45 minutes later we walked out into a little bay on the coast where the river joins the sea. The footpaths where rather high up and Ged was nervous

. After about 30 minutes of stunning views, to our surprise we noticed about 6 sheep perched on a steep cliff, poking out from the coast. Every time we both looked at the cliff we noticed that the sheep where disappearing, one by one. After 10 minutes of discussing what we think happenned we reached where the cliff started so we decided to walk out to the end to see if we could see the sheep. To our surprise, the sheep had hid around the other side of cliff. Me and Ged had a laugh about this.

Then we decided to carry on with our walk, on our way back up the cliff, Ged placed his foot on a thorn bush, thinking it was grass and his leg disappeared into the bush. Hearing a yell of pain, I quickly turned around and tun over to aid him. I pulled him out of the bush and he had suffered no more than a few cuts and scratches.

After having a joke about it we carried on towards our destination, Peel, about 3 miles down the coast. We later reached the bottom of Peel hill, we decided to climb up this in order to see some spectactular views. When we reached the top, we where not let down. The views where tremendous. I was amazed to have seen Peel again, as I used to live there. It is a great place with great people. After stopping for some food, and a little something to drink we headed down towards the beach.

(Below: Peel Castle)

When we reached the bottom, we walked along the promenade taking in the warm and sunny atmosphere. We stopped at a cafe and had lunch where later we met up with my Mum.

We then went to Niarbyl, there are many rocks by the sea where we climbed and had a good time. After that, we decided to hit some golf balls into the sea, I don't think we where allowed to do this so we quickly fled.

We later picked Hayley up as she was visiting her friend. When we arrived back at the house, we all got cleaned up and got changed as we where all going out for a meal.

We went to a Chinese restaurant which overlooked Peel harbour. The meal was very nice and it had a great oriental atmosphere.

We then got back to the house and chilled out before going to bed.

**alexmarsh9** · 07-23-2008, 05:50 AM

Day 3 "King Edward Bay" (22nd July 08)
Today me and Ged went to play golf at King Edward Bay Golf Course.
My Mum met up with some old friends.
Hayley spent a day at her old friend's house also.

I really enjoyed playing golf. Although, I don't think I am good enough yet to play properly. It was a very tough course for beginners I think. I am going to get some practice in at the range before I come back

(Below: Me playing golf with Douglas bay in the background)

(Below: Me playing golf with a scenic view in the background)

I think Ged really enjoyed playing. I think he played very well, but, as I said, it is a difficult course.

My Mum came to meet me and Ged on the 16th hole to give me my trainers as my new golf shoes where rubbing my feet.

(Below: Me and Ged after we had finished playing)

After we had finished the course, me, my Mum and Ged went to get some good old chips!

I was really hungry so I ate them all

When we got back to the house, I was really tired so I took a nap for a few hours. When I woke up I had some spaghetti bolognese.

We all then went to bed.

**alexmarsh9** · 07-23-2008, 05:50 AM

Day 4 "Derby Haven" (23rd July 08)

Today, I woke up at around 10 AM. Me, my Mum and Ged decided we would take a look at the scenary in the more southern parts of the island.

We first travelled to Derby Haven, a small bay in the south-east part of the island. The weather was very misty and overcast but it was warm.

(Below:Me on the rocks at Derby Haven)

(Below: Me at a historic building in Derby Haven)

As we walked down nearer to the ocean, we noticed something in the water.
It turned out be be a small basking shark. It swam around in the bay for about 30 mins.

(Below: Our basking shark sighting)

Next on our agenda, we visited Castletown. Castletown is a very historic town as it dates back to 1090.

The weather now had become very hot and was very sunny.
We had a sandwich for lunch as we took in some of the specacular views from the shore.

(Below:Mum and Ged with the Castletown harbour)

After our venture through Castletown we all chose to go and have a look at the Calf of Man, An small island located at the south-west area of the Isle of Man.

There was a lurking mist throughout the rocks and cliffs which all added to the effect.

(Below: A example of something which happens very often)

After our day out we rounded it all off with A nice meal at The Marine Hotel on the promenade in Peel.

The meal was excellent. My portion was too much so I only ate about half of it!

After the meal, we took a stroll around Peel castle and the breakwater.

When we arrived back at the house we all went to bed as we where very tired.

I am very much so looking forward to tomorrow. Me and Ged are supposed to go on a 'pitch and putt' course and we are going to go karting at Onchan.