A Very Different A3!
⬅ previous ⬆intro next ➡Day 8 - Thursday 7 September
It's my birthday, so I'm having an outing! Ok, so not much different to if it wasn't my birthday, but I don't think Amanda's laid on a surprise party with hundreds of guests and professional caterers and musicians and everything; not really our thing.
Much of the temporary spectator seating for the TT races is still in place.
As are the protections for the riders. Really? Hit that at 200 mph and it's going to hurt, bit of padding or no bit of padding. And this is a lot more padding than some road signs have.
We're not staying there, we're not visiting there, but who could resist a sign like that?!
Moo.
We're heading towards Ramsey, the island's second biggest town, and shortly outside is our first stop, Milntown Gardens.
The house reminds us a little of Strawberry Hill, but it's not open, only the grounds.
The gardens aren't spectacular, but they're pretty enough for a little stroll around.
We do like these multicoloured flowers.
And they have a small motor museum.
Into town we go, but it turns out there's not a huge amount to be seen.
This bridge is probably the most interesting thing. It can rotate to open for ships to pass, but doesn't while we're here.
Now we retrace our route, but on the way back we'll be visiting the Curraghs Wildlife Park.
Before we can do wildlife, though, we have to do lunch.
Hello wildlife! We think wildlife might fancy our lunch too, but sorry wildlife, you're out of luck.
Ok, you need to know what you're looking for here. It's a wallaby; supposedly there are quite a few here, but there's a lot of space in this fenced-off section of woodland and they aren't easy to spot.
The emu isn't so shy.
The Eurasian Lynx was once native to Britain, but has long been extinct in the wild. He's a bit bigger than my friend from yesterday but adopting much the same pose.
Siberian Chipmunk, a type of squirrel.
Feeding time for the penguins.
It's a pity the weather hasn't been as good as yesterday. It's been a bit dull and we've had a little light rain, but the park is definitely worth a visit.
Hey, it's an improvised birthday cake!
And that's it. I am now officially another year older.
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