Sea Day (North Sea)

10th August

At least our second day in isolation was nice and sunny.

Liverpool (UK)

12th August

Sailing into Liverpool we passed this oil-rig.

Pulling into our berth.

At breakfast time we were released from isolation. In time time to go ashore. The Royal Liver Building opened in 1911. With its two fabled Liver Birds, which watch over the city and the sea.

Salthouse Dock.

Royal Albert Dock.

The obligatory photo of the Fab. Four.

Just along from the Fab. Four. We have Edward VII.

After a cloudy start the day finished nice and sunny for sail away.

Dun Laoghaire (Ireland)

13th August

This is the port for Dublin.

In the morning we had a walk round and had lunch in Dun Laoghaire before joing our coach tour of Dublin in the afternoon.

St. Patricks Cathedral Dublin.

Bronze statue of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness who between 1860 and 1865 paid for major reconstruction of the Cathedral.

The Liffey river with the Guinness Brewery on the right.

The Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden of Ashtown Castle near the Phoenix Park visitor centre.

This is the Post Office which was the rebels' headquarters for most of the Easter Rising of 1916.

The Custom House.

Silicon Docks. So called because Google, Facebook, Twitter and other High-tech. companies have their European Headquaters here.

Douglas (Isle of Man)

14th August

Neil posing on the wet seafront in Douglas.

Statue of the Bee Gees who were born on the Isle of Man.

Inside the Victorian Tramcar we rode to Laxey on. There was to be 35 people on the excursion but only 16 turned up. So plenty of room for everyone.

The track ran alongside the road. A rainy view of the coast.

At Laxey we had to change tramcars. We travelled up from Douglas in this one. We chose the enclosed carriage of the two.

And this is the one we travelled in to the sumit of Snaefell Mountain.

After leaving Laxey the tramcar stopped to take photos of the Great Laxey Wheel built in 1854. The largest working waterwheel in the world. It was used to pump water from the Laxey mines.

The old sumit hotel, now a restaurant claiming 2036 feet high. New measurements put it at 2037 feet high.

View from the sumit looking towards Douglas.

The Tramcar to take us back down arriving at the sumit.

At Bungalow station we changed to a double decker bus to take us back to Douglas. From the top of the bus I took this photo of our empty tramcar passing a full one heading up to the sumit.

Another view from the bus looking towards Douglas with out ship in the background.

Douglas as we prepare to sail.

Holyhead (Wales)

15th August

Beautiful morning for our arrival in Holyhead.

After a coffee Jeremy took us to see St. Cybi's church. The original church was built about 540. This church was built between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Trearddur Bay where we had window seat for lunch at the Ocean's Edge Restaurant.

Greenock (Scotland)

16th August

Greenock.

James Watt was born in Greenock in 1736.

Wellpark Mid-kirk. Built in 1760.

Greenock Municipal Buildings.
Photos taken as we walked round Greenock.

Portree (Isle of Skye)

17th August

Early morning in Portree. Looking across salmon farms.

Portree dock is by the coloured houses on the right.

Not much room for coaches as we leave the dock for our Isle of Skye tour.

Isle of Skye countryside.

Here is the Skye Museum of Island life. Reconstruction of Crofter's Cottages.

Two photos taken inside one of the cottages.

The view from the museum.

Back in Portree we were dropped in town and had to walk back to the dock.

South Queensferry (Scotland)

18th August

We are on our Felkirk Wheel and Sterling excursion. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.One of the tourist barges entering the wheel.

The Falkirk Wheel.

Two barges in the lower gondola with the gates closed.

The gondola with the two barges is now near the top of the wheel.

A short trip from the top of the wheel are two more locks to raise the barges to the level of the Union Canal. The tourist barge is too big for the locks.

After turning round we head back to the Gondola for our decent to the lower level.

View from the Gondola at the top of the wheel.

These are the Kelpies. Mythological transforming beasts that posses the strenght of 100 horses. These sculptures by Andy Scott are 100ft high.

It was late as we headed back to the ship but we had a stop at Sterling Castle to take a couple of pictures.