Port St Mary to Port Erin

This was probably the best day on the whole trip. It was only a short walk, round the bottom of the island (6 miles or so), but very dramatic.

First stop is the Chasms. Now, I don't like heights, so the idea of 300 foot precipitous cliffs...well, you can see the stress in my face in the shots below.
But I can't deny how awesome a place it is: gulls nesting on the almost sheer cliff faces just look like dots.

A couple of minutes later I realised why it is called the chasms: there's a piece of land just along from these pics, maybe football pitch sized, which is in the process of falling off the cliff, and is covered in, well, chasms, so deep you can't see the bottoms (but you can hear the birds that are nesting way down there). It struck me that while the odds of a bit falling while I was there were slim, it wasn't worth taking chances, so I gently circled round.

Just along again is this cool stone circle.

It has slipped down towards the sea, which makes for great photos from above, but sadly one day it will be lost entirely. The gear is from a party of climbers (this was actually perhaps the busiest day on my walk: I saw the caretaker, the climbers, and later some birdwatchers. No walkers though.)

Next on the agenda was The Sound, the southern tip of the island. There's a big island called The Calf Of Man, just off the end, so big I struggled to take a picture! These are my best tries at the whole thing;

The Sound itself has some very dramatic little inlets, and a huge vein of quartz running right across it. It's also a nature reserve, because of all the seabirds around, and way back in the Iron Age there was a promontory fort here, which I guess most visitors miss.

This is also a critical bit on the Coastal Path, of course: as far South as I can go, and still feeling pretty fresh.

Oh, and the other thing here is the second best restaraunt I found on the island. You can tell it's good: it's miles from anywhere (the population of The Sound is zero), and on a weekday lunchtime it's full. The fish soup was the best I've ever had.

Anyway, by this time I was almost blase about fabulous views, so although it was excellent walking, nothing else until we get to Port Erin.

I thought I'd seen some good beaches on this trip, but this one takes the biscuit. Really crowded though, have a look.

There were 5 or 6 people on it at some points, almost unbearable.

Port Erin also has a lighthouse, a bookshop, a chipshop, and an arts centre, with a rather nice bronze door.

No, I didn't take a picture of the chipshop.

And even the sand is cool...

Port St Mary to Port Erin

Port Erin, Isle of Man