Peel

To visit the Isle of Man is to take a step back in time. Stone walls, neat white cottages, flower filled gardens, tidal fishing harbours all set against a mellow green countryside. Almost every vista could be right at home on a postcard or chocolate box. Bazflyers of course like to unearth a story wherever we go and in this regard the Isle of Man is nothing short of a rich treasure trove. 

Nowhere on the Isle of Man is far from the sea. As a result seafarers, ships and wrecks have dominated the island's long history. Peel is a small harbour on the west coast facing Ireland and home of one of the island's three volunteer lifeboats, a lifeboat famous for what is generally regarded a very daring rescue. 

This occurred during a violent storm on the 7th October 1889. A Norwegian schooner had lost its rigging and was floundering off the coast of Peel. It was feared all on board would perish but a volunteer life boat crew from Peel braved the elements. They rowed to the rescue and over several hours saved 23 crew and passengers. Among those saved were the captain's wife and baby daughter. History records that on landing the baby ashore there was a request for a lady to step forward and care for the infant until the mother regained her strength. Something akin to a rugby scrum then allegedly took place as ladies vied for the privilege of caring for the infant.

In honour of the daring rescue, the Norwegian Government conferred the highest honour they could upon the lifeboat crew. 

The little west coast town of Peel

The modern day Peel lifeboat 

Houses in a Peel street

Flowers in a boat

Isle of Man

The Island of Man sits neatly in the Irish Sea midway between Scotland and Ireland. The island is not part of the UK or an overseas colony. It shares the same unique status as Jersey and Guernsey in the English Chanel. It is a self governing 'Crown' dependancy.....just the sort of place us Bazflyers would visit and we're certainly pleased with our decision.

Perhaps the Isle of Man is best known around the world for its legendary motor bike event, the Isle of Man TT. First held 108 years ago the race is staged on public roads. This year's two week event begins on the weekend and with race day preparations already deployed we drove our hired Ford Fiesta around the 60 kilometre course. Sedately of course....

New Zealand riders have a long history of participation in the TT. New Zealander, Bruce Anstey, has nine TT wins to his credit and holds the outright lap record at an average speed of 212.9 kph. His unofficial top speed was recorded at 332 kph...!

Watch this: http://youtu.be/OmNXCJt7K3Q

The intensity of this race at such speeds defies our comprehension. Through quaint settlements, down narrow country roads edged with hard stone walls, a mountain section where the road tops 1300 feet and altogether more twists and bends than a plumbers nightmare. No wonder the TT has claimed the lives of 240 riders.

The annual influx of people for TT week exceeds 40,000. Fortunately we will be departing the island for Dublin as the advance crowds arrive. Nevertheless, there's already many motor bikes on the roads and campers in the fields which help contour up a sense of the excitement to come.

The circuit as it descends down from the mountain section towards a fast right-handler

    

Bazflyers on the TT circuit

A popular viewing spot....with refreshments on hand

Looking down on the mountain course

Old timers

Streets of London

Founded by the Romans over two thousands years ago, London is recorded as the most visited City on the planet. During the past weekend Bazflyers, along with Bill and Kate, were among the many people visiting this mega city. Greenwich, Bow Street, The Strand, Covent Gardens, Big Ben....whether names on a Monopoly Board or straight out of a Sherlock Homes novel the familiarity of London always seems unnerving.  

Tea Time

HWho could imagine a cup of tea some hundred and fifty years ago inspiring the design and construction of fast sail boats. Back then tea came from China and the first shipment to arrive in London each season would fetch premium prices. The lure of this premium resulted in the famous tea clippers and the fastest of these tall masted sailing ships was the 'Cutty Sark'. 

Ironically, the reign of these beautiful, fast and efficient sailing ships was halted as a result of two significant developments. Steam powered vessels negated the reliance on wind power and the Suez Cannel was opened in 1869. Winds through the shorter Suez route did not favour sail and by 1877 clippers comprised only one in nine ships arriving in London with tea cargos. Seven years earlier there had been fifty nine.  

Saturday, after a tour inside the British Parliment, it was time for high tea on the terrace at Westminister....magnificently pre-organised by Katherine.

Rigging on the Cutty Sark sitting high and dry alongside the Thames at Greenwich

And more rigging....

School's in at the Cutty Sark

Taking tea at Westminister Terrace alongside the Thames

Mad Hatter's tea party display at the Chelsea Flower Show

Duxford

Established during WW1, historic Duxford Aerodrome not only served as one of Britain's oldest airforce stations but is also home to the country's largest aviation museum. Conveniently located on our route to London a visit here was simply a given. Moreover, it was practice day for the VE Day commemoration airshow being held over the weekend. What a special treat...perfect weather, no crowds and lots of action. The iconic signature of a Merlin engine in flight is adrenaline to every aviator and even capable of stirring the blood of anyone fortunate to be nearby. We wandered among the magnificent collection of aircraft while in the sky above were Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs....each rehearsing their individual show-day routines. Yes...it was our lucky day!

Hurricane being towed back to it's hangar 

Beautifully restored Hawker Fury being prepared for a further flight

A pristine example of the P51 Mustang

A Hastings - It says something when one can claim to have travelled in one of these

Reflections

Bazflyers have given a big-tick to Iceland and hopefully one day would like to drop by again to explore more of the country's fascinating landscape. However, it is now time to leave, head to Glasgow and then drive further south to the relative familiarity of Kate and Bill's cottage nescelled in the tranquility of Everthorpe in Yorkshire.

We first visited the UK in 1979 and at the time remarked on how familiar the English countryside seemed which on reflection might have been expected. Our post war upbringing in New Zealand was filled with strong connections to what was often referred to as 'the old country'. Our nation's early settlement and a stoic adherence to all things English meant post war New Zealand was in many ways even more British than the United Kingdom.

Our school text books, images on calendars, biscuit tins, comics and bed-time stories, all were directly uplifted from the UK. Then there were the aunties and uncles who had not migrated and still lived in England or Scotland. Their mailings were frequently accompanied by various magazines and pictures. Not to mention the aged fleet of British motor vehicles that populated our roads.

New Zealand's umbilical cord is still attached to the UK and testimony to this is no better underlined than the witness accorded to Prince Harry's current visit down-under. Perhaps in time the cord of birth will wether to the point where the 'old country' is no longer relevant to life in New Zealand. However, for as long as a Kiwi can visit the UK and feel a certain affinity, there will likely remain a subliminal attachment. Not such a bad thing....we think! Here are some English countryside photos taken around Everthorpe.....

Icelandic

Bazflyers think the Icelandic language must have some of the most unpronounceable place names on the planet. At least it seems like that for a monolingual touring Kiwi. Fortunately, most Icelanders are not monolingual and seamlessly transition between their own colourful tongue and English. When asked they are ever willing to assist with Icelandic pronunciation of place names. 

We quickly assimilated that any word ending with "foss" was related to the name of a waterfall of which there are many. Here is a photo of Gullfoss.

Pingvellis ( pronounced 'Thing-vellis') is a UNESCO World Heritage site and location of the longest running Parliament in the world. It is also a memorable geological landscape.

Geysir is actually the source for the English word "Geyser" and is pronounced precisely the same. An English word right out of the Icelandic dictionary....!

Reykjavík

"Reykjavík is the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. The Bazflyers together with our friend Bill flew Icelandair B757 out of Glasgow and two hours later landed at Reykjavík's impressive new international airport. In fact as we are discovering there is much to be impressed about Iceland. For example at this time of the year daytime lasts for 24 hours.

Impressive by any standards is the Harpa. An architectural masterpiece situated on the  Reykjavík waterfront and serving as a concert hall and conference centre. 

Then there is the Hallgrímskirkja, an inspirational Lutheran church. Construction began in 1945 and took 22 years. Situated in the centre of Reykjavík, it is one of the best-known landmarks and visible throughout the city. 

Also SOLON has a shop....now that's seriously impressive!

Then there are the many corrugated iron clad buildings.....

.....and the scenic harbour.

Strandarkirkja

The Bazflyers are touring in Iceland. On our drive from Reykjavik to Nonni's B&B at Hella, we spied a solitary church in the distance sitting all alone on the south coast of Iceland. This turned out to be the beautiful Lutheran church at Strandarkirkja often referred to as the 'miracle church' in Iceland.

The church's story is that one night a group of sailors were attempting to navigate back to Iceland in a storm. The southern coast of Iceland is notorious for its hidden reefs and rough waters. The distressed sailors prayed to God for a safe return and vowed to build a church wherever they landed. When they ended their prayer an angel, seemingly made of light, appeared before their bow. The angel guided them through the rough surfs and led the crew into a bay where they made a safe landing. The sailors, made good on their promise building a wooden church at the site and named it Strandarkirkja.

Strandarkirkja is reputed to be one of the richest churches in Iceland from the donations of locals and other people hoping to have their prayers and wishes realised.

 

York

Last night turned into an early morning, or perhaps more correctly, a late morning. In the company of Kate and Bill the Bazflyers deferred sleep last night to watch the UK election results unfold on TV. Some limited sleep ensued and then with everyone satisfied with the election outcome it was a jaunt down the old Roman road to the city of York.

York was founded in 71AD by the Romans and named 'Eboracum'. In the Middle Ages it was an important wool trading centre and seat of the northern Church of England. The latter is represented by the Minister that still today presides over the city. Constructed in stages over a period of about 200 years the York Minister is one of the great cathedrals of the world and the largest gothic church in northern Europe. It is impressive...!

The Bazflyers have been to York on at least two previous occasions. However, any visit to York is not complete without walking through the 'Shambles' a maze of twisting, narrow lanes that make York so charming. These are arguably among the best preserved medieval streets in the world. Now which Bazflyer on a solo mission got lost and had to use GPS technology to find the designated meeting spot...?

    York Minister

   In every way the Minister is a most impressive structure

   Some of the many 'buskers' in the city

   The Shambles

Moving On

There's the saying, "all good things eventually come to an end," and so did the Bazflyer's time in Turkey.  The move to our next destination involved three flights, three time zones, eight hours warming airport seats and an hour forward into summer time. The sight of Kate and Bill waiting at the small Humberside airport terminal was a welcome relief after the interrogating scrutiny of an officious female from HM Customs. Instinct kicked in dictating this as one of those occasions for strictly "yes" or "no" responses.   

If it hadn't been for Anzac it is doubtful we would have ever visited Turkey. We now know what we would have missed. A modern Islamic country built upon ancient civilisations. Turkey shares boarders with no less than eight countries the security of which probably underpins the expansive network of newly constructed motorways cris-crossing the countryside. Even small rural airports we encountered had military length runways. Makes a whole lot of sense...! 

We were not prepared for the sight of high snow covered mountains, expansive fertile plains supported with ample water reticulation, geothermal power generation and examples of stunning modern architecture. Turkey clearly has many challenges ahead but given the optimism and commitment of its people the country stands as a jewel among its neighbours.