After another whirlwind of packing activity, my latest group and I found ourselves down at the Albert Docks in Liverpool.
The destination - a new one for me - was the Isle of Man.
A good sized ferry pulled up and literally, thousands of motorbikes disembarked as the TT races have just finished. Soon enough we were heading across the water to Douglas. Made camp just after dark.
In the light of day, the following morning, the aftermath of the TT races soon became apparent. Those bikers sure know how to party. The recycling area at the campsite was beyond full!
As this was to be a 'acclimatisation' day, we spent many fruitful hours, shopping for expedition supplies, seeing a few sights and learning what we could about the island. For example, I never even knew they had their own cash!?
I'm with a group of lads who are doing their Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award. The psych for all things motorbiking (hence our current expedition location) is high and I'm learning lots from them. Everyone was overjoyed when we found we could do a lap of the TT race course in the minibus! I suspect we didn't break any track records. The whole island is motorcycle mad. There are grandstands on every corner and all the walls and lampposts are cushioned with pads and hay bales. It all looks exciting but it's impossible not to notice the amount of memorials and flowers which seem to be on every other bend.
As part of our island tour, we went to the most northerly tip of the island, where wet could see the Lake District and Scotland on the horizons.
After a look around Peel Castle on the west coast, we finished our day with some 'extra-curricula' numeracy lessons in the 'Old Creek Inn' in Peel. 'Learning outside the classroom'...
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