As I mentioned, we have a bus strike happening over here. I've not really been back on the Island long enough to know the rights and wrongs of it, but for sure it's a big pain.

We went to Port Erin on Wednesday to sign the last of the house-purchase paperwork. We had to go early, as there weren't many options on the skeleton service that's still running. And because of the limited return possibilities, there wasn't really time to enjoy the day. A coffee while we were waiting, the business itself, a quick trip to a couple of shops -- and then it was time to go home again.

We had also planned to go to Ramsey, to check out a couple of furniture stores, but we felt guilty at potentially depriving workers of seats on the limited bus supply, so we'd held off. Then came the news that if this action doesn't succeed, there'll be a further rolling sequence of five-day strikes. Blow this, we thought. If we wait for the dispute to be sorted, we'll wait for ever. We're going to Ramsey...

So we did. Today.

Felton's turned up trumps on one or two kitchen items, but we had no joy on the furniture front. Still, we had a very pleasant day out, and appreciated the change.

The weather was nice enough to sit and eat our packed lunch on the prom, and after all the busy-busy, it was quite a treat to just enjoy the fresh air, and the sights and sounds of the sea (including what must the Island's most raucous gulls).


We walked back to town via the Mooragh Park. There's an experiment under way at the moment, which involves leaving the boating lake drained for longer than usual, as the exposed muddy areas provide a great habitat for birds. Promoters of the change are encouraged by the big thumbs-up from the birds. A spokesman for the Manx Wildlife Trust noted that they'd responded quickly to the new opportunity: "Within hours of the water level being lowered, we were already seeing impressive numbers of waders and gulls feeding on the newly exposed muddy areas."

They certainly add interest to the views of the park:







And, finally, we were back in town, with just enough time to run in and out of a few bric-a-brac shops on the high street.

The bus home went via Peel, so we had quite a scenic circuit for our money.

Rinse and repeat...