This was published 7 years ago
The stunning Isle of Man is a step back in time
By Steve Meacham
Port Erin.Credit: Alamy
Something's wrong, surely.
Silver Explorer, our "ultra-luxury exploration ship", was supposed to dock at Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, before dawn.
But now we're steaming south in gathering wind and an angry Irish Sea. Soon Denise Van Sever, our Captain's Choice tour manager, is on the ship's tannoy. Conditions were too rough, she explains, for the Silver Explorer (made for Arctic and Antarctic cruising) to pull alongside the ferries at Douglas.
Douglas.Credit: Eyebyte / Alamy Stock Photo
Instead we'll anchor in sheltered Poolvash Bay and brave a wet transfer to Port St Mary by rubber zodiac.
The only problem, Denise tells us, is that our day will now be back to front. What had been planned for the morning will now be transferred to the afternoon, and vice versa (and she's hastily rearranging our ground transportation now).
This becomes most obvious when we board the vintage carriages of the Isle of Man Steam Railway. The pretty green steam engine is pointed backwards, as it always is on the return trip to Douglas.
Silver Explorer goes on a voyage of far flung British isles.Credit: Michel Verdure
The 25-kilometre journey from Port Erin is rightly regarded as one of the island's chief tourist attractions, carrying 100,000 passengers a year though lush, green hills and valleys lined (this superb May day) with bluebells, snowdrops and custard-yellow gorse.
We feel we've gone back in time, too, when we visit another Manx highlight: the time capsule that is Cregneash, a village preserved as it was around 1900.
Harry Kelly was a fisherman and native Manx speaker who lived exactly the same way his great- grandparents had lived, in the same cottage.
Never married, with no children, his was the first home in Cregneash to be mothballed for posterity in the 1930s. Now the entire village is owned by Manx National Heritage, with volunteers dressed in period costume and demonstrating such crafts and skills as spinning, dancing and harvesting.
At Calf Sound, one of the best dive sites in Europe, we pose for photos looking over to Calf Island, spotting Manx shearwaters and seals in the crashing waves below.
Then we head to Castletown, the Manx capital until 1869 and dominated by Castle Rushen, one of the best preserved medieval castles in Europe.
With two hours free for lunch, I wander around charming Port St Mary and end up at the Fish House, a restaurant/fishmonger in the high street.
Baked callig, Manx for pollock, is on the specials board today – a meaty, line-caught fish supplied by a local fisherman.
With 45 minutes to spare, I pop into a pub to sample a local beer. Three ancient Manx men are perched on three ancient Manx stools, like the three Fitzroy stalwarts in the Jack Irish TV series.
Since they're talking about the strange ship that has appeared overnight, I tell them we're mainly Australians.
"Then let me tell you my one Australian joke," the oldest says. "What's the difference between an Australian and a bowl of yoghurt? At least the yoghurt has some culture!"
I'll bet none of this trio has ever been off the island. But even though the Isle of Man isn't part of Britain (it's a self-governing Crown dependency with its own parliament, low-tax regime and the world-famous cross-country motorcycle race), at least they know how to sledge Australians.
In the afternoon, we're visiting the Lady Isabella waterwheel at Laxey, a former mining village 13 kilometres north of Douglas. I'm not looking forward to it, even though I know it remains the world's largest, built in 1854 by engineer Robert Casement to pump water from what were then thriving lead mines.
How wrong I was. The Great Laxey Wheel is stupendous: a red, white and black monument to Victorian confidence and technical excellence. There's no reason for the wheel to be this big (22 metres in diameter) or the aqueduct to be this long, except to show off the Isle of Man's contribution to the Industrial Revolution.
On the way back to our ship, we stop at St John's, site of Tynwald Hill where the island's government enacts laws each July 5, marked by an annual fair.
Our guide did his best to explain the complicated Manx parliamentary history, which dates to at least 997 AD.
Australia's federal, parliamentary, bicameral, constitutional monarchy is kindergarten by comparison.
TRIP NOTES
MORE INFORMATION
Isle of Man Tourism: visitisleofman.com
GETTING THERE
Manx Ferries runs regular ferries to Douglas and Larne from Heysham, Liverpool, Belfast, Dublin and Birkenhead (manxferries.com).
Five airlines (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Citywing, easyJet and Flybe) serve Ronaldsway Airport from various British and Irish cities (manxflights.com).
TRAVELLING THERE
Captain's Choice 17-day Bespoke British Isles tour visits the Isle of Man aboard the MS Hebridean Sky, as well as London, Portsmouth, Kirkwall, Edinburgh and the Outer Hebrides. From $22,270 per person, twin share, it departs Australia on June 4, 2017. Details: 1300 176 681 or captainschoice.com.au.
Steve Meacham travelled as guest of Captain's Choice.
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