On the 16th of July, I went on a family holiday to the Isle Of Man with my parents. Overall, the week wasn't great. You can read more about that in my Dealing with negative mental experiences post, which went up yesterday where I explained why I struggled to get through the week. However, I don't want you all thinking it was a terrible trip with no positives! It definitely wasn't! There was lot's and lot's of positives for sure!
One of the best things about the Isle Of Man is the scenery. OMG, it is stunning, beautiful, words can't describe it! It's the prettiest place I have ever been! We got to visit so many amazing places which I loved. You know I love photography, so I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to take lot's and lot's of photos, over 1000 to be exact. Yes, I went overboard, but I wanted to make sure I captured the perfect shots to treasure these memories forever!
Photography acted as a massive distraction for me when I was struggling during my holiday. When I had my camera in my hand, I was distracted from all the terrible intrusive thoughts inside my head. I also got the opportunity to use some of my filters and lenses which I haven't used in ages, which was so much fun! I hope you enjoy looking at my photos! It's a long post, so ya better grab a hot beavage and get comfy.
On Sunday, the first thing we did was catch a tram up Snaefell, which is the highest point on the Isle Of Man. The scenery was absolutely stunning from the top, we picked the best day to go for sure, I got lots of lots of photos from all angles possible. After having a bite to eat, we headed back down the mountain.
When we got back down, we walked to the Laxey wheel. Which is basically, this big red wheel which does something with water I guess, I don't know sorry; I wasn't that interested in its history. We got to go all the way to the top and even though I thought I was going to die, I did it! We then went into a mine which was pretty fun!
Afterwards, we drove down the road and visited a little beach called old Laxey. It's a super pretty beach and very peaceful!
Where we were staying, near a place called Jurby there was a beach we could walk to in the evenings. It wasn't the best beach ever, but it was so long and most nights we were the only people on it, which was pretty cool!
The next day, the first place we visited was this little folk village called Cregneash, which had lot's of little houses set up to show how people on the island used to live. It was actually pretty interesting and very adorable. We also saw a Manx cat. Manx cats are native to the island, and they don't have tails! They are so cute!
Next, we visited a little place called Port Erin and took lots of photos of all the lovely buildings and the sea.
On Tuesday, we headed to a place called Peel! Funny name, I know! But OMG IT WAS STUNNING! The sea was so blue and beautiful. I am so happy I managed to capture the true colours of the sea using a polarising filter. While at Peel, we visited the castle, which was really fun to walk around and experiment with my camera.
We then headed over to this really cute place called Niarbyl, which looks a lot like Scotland to me! There wasn't much there to do, but it was lovely to visit nonetheless.
Later that day, we went to the most southernly point in the Isle of Man, at a place called Sound where you can see the Calf of Man, which is another island off the Isle of Man, but no one lives there. At Sound, there is a fantastic cafe, which serves some of the best food I have ever had!
On Wednesday, we went on an electric tram, this time from Ramsey to Douglas which is the capital of the island, although you wouldn't think so because it's so quiet. The ride up and down was very pleasant. We walked up the seafront and then got the horse tram back, which is something I had never done before, so that was exciting.
On Thursday, we did exploring to lots of little places around the island, one of my highlights was visiting the waterfall. This waterfall was so beautiful and gave me a perfect opportunity to use my neutral density filter, which is why in the photos you can see the water is blurred, but everything else is in crisp focus. It was so much fun to play around with my camera! Also please excuse how pale I look in the photo below, I was not ill, we just had the flash on because of the low light.
One of my absolute highlights of the trip was visiting the wildlife park on Friday morning. I took a lot of photos, many of which I am really proud of because I think they turned out really well. I fell in love with the animals especially the prairie dog. Come on, how can you not think it is cute?
One of the last things we did, was visit the northernmost point of the island, at a place called Point of Ayre. There was a beautiful lighthouse there which was a lot of fun to take pictures of and again experiment with my camera.
Lastly, I thought I would just share with you where we stayed for the week. We stayed in this two bedroom cottage, which is actually a converted barn. It had upstairs living, so we slept downstairs which was so fun! It was so cute and had everything we could ever need and more! I wish I could stay in this cottage forever.
We visited some other places as well, and I look a lot more photos, but as this post is getting pretty long already, I thought it would be best if I just showed you some of my highlights from the holiday. Although my mental health gave me a rough time, being in such a beautiful and scenic place helped calm me down at times and taking all these photos, helped a lot!
I hope you enjoyed looking at my photos. Have you been on holiday yet or are you going next month? Where have you been or where are you going? I would love to know in the comments below!
Thank you for reading, as always x
