Setting Off

While I actually like Birkenhead (you have to see the Giant Grasshopper, and the historic warships, and of course the view across the Mersey), the docks aren't very nice, so no pictures!

Suffice to say that I got on board the Ben-My-Chree (which means something in Manx but I wouldn't know what), had a pretty smooth sailing, and arrived in the dark in Douglas without mishap, other than being sat next to a rotund gentleman who insisted on showing me his photos and telling me all sorts of (possibly false) stories about the island. Apparently there is some sort of Island mafia which runs everything, and it's cheaper to buy Manx food in Liverpool than on the island. Presumably due to the aforementioned mafia.

(At £15 each way, this ferry is probably the cheapest way to get out of the UK. It was a bit slow, because they'd manage to collide the fast boat with an oil tanker...quite an achievement. They did it in the Mersey, so it's not like either of them was even moving quickly.)

written by  martin_b on March 11, 2007 from Birkenhead, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Isle Of Man Coastal Path
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