Somewhat fuzzy start to the day. It was our last night at Peel campsite last night and we celebrated with dinner out at the Boatyard restaurant. A particular fave of ours. Also stopped off at the Miller’s T’Ale micropub and stayed for longer than planned after getting into conversation with some of the punters.

Today we move to Douglas where we have an Airbnb for a couple of nights. We have tickets for the Nile Rodgers and Chic gig in town tonight, are in Ramsey to watch the Senior TT on Friday and back in Douglas in the evening for the Steve Gibbons Band gig.

Our ferry is unreasonably early on Saturday morning so we figured it made sense to have the campervan loaded in advance and ready to go. Check in closes at 7.15am if I remember correctly so we will have breakfast on the boat.

It’s been a truly great trip so far. We’ve learnt a lot about our new campervan, Jade and have been lucky with the weather. I’m currently sat in front of the van with a cup of tea brought out by the fair Anne. There is gentle snoring emanating from one of the French guys’ tents.  All is well.

It’s mostly blokes in the campsite which has, unusually, resulted in there often being long queues in the gents whilst Anne has been in and out of the ladies in no time at all. The blokes are a mixed bag. I’ve been watching one who must be in his fifties meticulously brushing his long blonde hair. Personally I think I need a haircut if I can grab hold of it at the back 🙂

Also some have been making an effort to shave whereas stubble is part of the deal for me when camping. Perhaps I’ll have a shave for Nile 🙂

It’s a good morning to be shifting our base as the rain is supposed to keep off until later and we will want to get the awning dry before packing it away. Otherwise we keep everything in handy bags and boxes and it should just be a case of chucking it all in (stowing it carefully in) the van. 

Need to clean out the BBQ. We bought a small portable one for £12 before coming away and it did the job for us.

Camping is all part of the TT experience. There is nowhere near enough hotel/B&B accommodation on the Isle of Man to accommodate all the fans and camping is the only option for most. The other constraint is whether you can get a ferry booking. Most of the slots are sold out the first morning they go on sale a year or so in advance so if reading this post makes you feel like booking a van and going next year you really need to be planning for 2024 instead.

The photo btw is Giacomo Agostini who was watching yesterday’s racing from a garden opposite our friends’ Paul and Wendy where I was standing. If you don’t know who he is you should google it 🙂