W is for WAVE! (Isle of Man 2011 Part 2)

Sunday during TT week is known as Mad Sunday. The activities seem to take place at Ramsey and as has become the norm, we met up with our friend Jane, a blogging friend of many years. (Infact this photograph was indeed taken by Jane.) We headed over to Parliament Square which leads up to the Mountain but the Mountain Road was closed due to an oil spill. In all the 4 years we have been visiting the island the closing of the Mountain Road has become common place. Oil spills are one common cause, but more than normal it is through road traffic accidents, often involving motorbikes. The mountain route forms part of the TT course and during the TT it is one way, so many bikers love to do a few laps of the course itself. I have been round it a couple of times but prefer Jon to drop me somewhere whilst he goes for a gentle tootle!!! (Wink!)

We headed down to Peel, after waving goodbye to Jane and after a while headed back to Port Erin.

Monday was race day so we took our place at Bradden Bridge

The sun was shining and we witnessed a great day's racing, seeing Michael Dunlop take a win.
Tuesday was a special day for a special person! To read his mum's account and see the video visit Shrinky's blog here

A wonderful time was had by all - and hope to repeat it next year!

For more ABC fun visit the link here

Isle of Man 2011 Part 1

We did it with the weather yet again! An early start meant we left our house around 8.45am on Saturday 4th June. The weather was just ideal for the journey to Heysham via Northallerton, Bedale, Leyburn, Hawes, (yes I did wave Weaver! lol), Ingleton, Kirby Lonsdale, Lancaster. The ferry crossing was a longer one, taking just over three and a half hours. We sat on deck and the breeze and grey clouds fooled us - days later we would realise we had really caught the sun.

This was to be the third year in a row we were to stay in Port Erin. We came here, for a short trip out in 2008 and we fell in love with it straight away.!

We arrived in Douglas and eventually as the bikes drove off the ferry we turned left and took the "All Other Rotes" journey out of  Douglas. As we headed towards Castletown the memory of the same journey from the last 2 years skipped into place. Taking the signpost to Port Erin, we soon found ourselves riding along the seafront and eventually turning into Port Erin, straight down Station Road to the promenade, where our hotel is situated.

The sun was warm on our faces as we made our way to the reception. The receptionist recognised us from 2010 and informed us we are automatically booked in for next year. As 2013 is our silver wedding we have booked a room. Each year our room number drops - apparently the better the view, the lower the room number. 2011 - Room 12, 2012 - Room 8, 2013 - Room 4! Way hay!

V is for Vertigo!

If you have vertigo, your surroundings will appear to be moving vertically or horizontally, or you may feel that you are spinning.

The effect of vertigo may be slight and barely noticeable, or it may be so severe that you find it difficult to keep your balance and perform everyday tasks.


Phew! We are back and indeed I am identifying with some of the symptoms above! lol! As ever we had a wonderful time in the Isle of Man and I am in the process of sorting out my many photographs. Holidays are a wonderful tonic and it was good to have a break. We return home to pick up the gauntlet of DIY and have a time schedule to meet. Jon is busy at work and there seems so much to do.

I loved the excitement of the people on this ride at Douglas fair - not that you would get me up in one of these things - this is only one small part of the TT week - lots more going on which I will share later.