Goodbye beautiful, rainy, stormy Isle of Man and its friendly Manx people. Would I walk the Raad ny Foillan again? No. Would I walk certain stretches again? Definitely. Would I come back again? Absolutely.

I walked around the harbour and looked back at Derbyhaven and Langness I had walking in the storm my first day. Castletown is pretty, so many beautiful old houses. It was raining again and I got sprayed with salt water as I walked the quay, waves clashing against the walls.

I treated myself to an expensive last night at The George, which is the only place to stay in Castletown anyway. It's the posh pub I had my costly vegetarian burger on my first night on the island.

Approaching Port Soderick, shortly before arriving, there was a grassy and narrow path, then down many steps to the beach and through Port Soderick Glen before reaching the road again. When I got to the main road, it started to rain heavily and knowing that it would be another 3 miles at least on the road before the nicer walk started, I spontaneously put my thumb out and the first car that came stopped. That was the end of my walking, my friendly driver dropped me off at Castletown, where my journey began ten days ago.

The road I walked on for miles, it was a quiet road, at some point closed to vehicles. I approached Port Soderick under grey skies, in strong wind.

Looking back at Douglas after a long walk out of the town. It wasn't raining yet, so I set off on the last stretch of the Raad ny Foillan even though I knew I would be walking on tarmac a lot.

I got thoroughly wet anyway, walking along the long promenade in Douglas, in search of my Airbnb. It never stopped raining until shortly before dawn, when I walked around the town to get food. Douglas is big and I couldn't warm to the town at all. It wasn't a very good day, I didn't like the place I was staying and had bad food. The only positive thing was the Manx Museum. I hadn't booked my last night, had considered two nights in Douglas. But I decided to stay at Castletown, where I would be walking to the next day. My last day on the Isle of Man.

I waited a while, hoping that the forecast might be wrong and then took the pretty and old electric tram again, this time to Douglas.  

Yesterday, I didn't walk. I couldn't get myself to walk in the pouring rain all day. I stayed in bed late, contemplating the rain from the comfortable bed in the lovely Shepherd's Hut.

Lovely views from the summit but it was insanely windy. I was glad I hadn't walked up as I had initially planned. Instead I gave my feet a rest.

Then I decided to take the old electric tram up to Snaefell, the highest point of the island. Very touristy, very enjoyable.

I walked around Laxey a bit, noticing some curiousities...

Not to mention the fact that a cat that doesn't even belong there has a dedicated bed. Probably the most chilled and photographed cat on the island. The light was amazing, I could have sat there all day, watching the tide come and go.

Today was a chill day. I didn't walk and had no plans for the day. I stayed in bed late, drinking tea and watching the rain. Then I strolled down to the beach and had breakfast in The Shed at the far side of the promenade. An absolutetly lovely place.

Laxey Harbour. It's a very pretty place, different than the other towns, special somehow. I had dinner at an Italian restaurant, the only place I was able to get food at all. La Mona Lisa is nice, a bit posh and - not at all typical for Italians - only had two vegetarian options I didn't fancy. So it was pizza, which was good.

This is the lovely Shepherd's Hut I am staying tonight and tomorrow. It's at the Old Laxey Campsite, where I appear to be the only person.

Then came what I consider one of the most beautiful stretches on today's walk and the entire Raad ny Foillan - Dhyrnane. I met a couple from Laxley there and had a nice chat. They were seal spotting but there weren't any about.

After Port Mooar - where wooden pathways were recently installed to make walking easier - unfortunately the road walking started. Long extremely tiresome  climbs and descents on roads were followed by a long walk down to the sea through woodland along Glen Cornaa. There - knowing that the rest of the more than 4 mile walk into Laxey would be on roads, I decided to cheat. I hitched a ride from a couple at the tidal lake at the beach up to the main road. Then after another long walk on tarmac and a short stretch on grass I hiked again after seeing the busy road with no pavement I would have had to walk on. Luckily, the people of the Isle of Man are very nuce people. The first car stopped and let me out clise to the campsite where I would be staying tonight.

Can you believe it? Some Hertha fans must have walked the entire path too, the stickers are actually everywhere.

Suddenly, a fine tall tree in the middle of the path - you do not see that often.

Walking towards Maughold Head under sun and clouds, the water in beautiful shades of blue. Shortly after, a sign warns of rough walking to come (blackberries included). Surprising as there had been no previous warnings on the Raad ny Foillan even though the walking was much harder.

The beach at Port E Vullen is impassable at high tide. The rocks on the beach have eroded into strange shapes but are easy to walk on.

Looking back at Ramsey from the path and towards Maughold Head. I left in cloudy but dry weather after a good breakfast, mostly on the road out of town, then on narrow grassy paths along the sea.

Goodbye jelly beans, the yellow one is not ear wax. I walked into town to get food, not easy on a Monday. Not easy on a Sunday. Generally not easy. I had at butternut squash lasagne at "Good Stuff", and it was good, but it was a really small portion and cost 15 pounds (!), a glass of wine cost 8.50 pounds.

Baie Mooar, my B&B for tonight. It is without doubt lovely, high-end and professional, beautiful house and rooms. It is also pricy, with a hefty supplement for a one-night stay. And I do not feel welcome, I might not be the kind of guest they want. I'd swap it any time for Dalby Hub, Westlodge and Moorecroft, but it was the only place available at the time of planning my walk.

Finally at Ramsey, looking back at the endless shingle beach I had to walk, the land slide at the far end. I thought I'd never get to Ramsey, it was tiresome walking for what seemed hours and hours, I was truly fed up when I arrived at the promenade.

I walked and walked along the beach until I reached what looked very much like a (recent?) landslide. I was glad that the tide was what it was, it would have been absolutely impossible to get around it had it been higher. It was like walking on clay, soft and strange.

I was in very good company though, I again saw loads of seals who - again- followed me along the beach, popping their heads out and bobbing up and down in the sea. They are very curious and observed me, looked straight at me.

It was another day of long, long beach walks, often very hard on shingle and big stones, some times easier on hard sand, especially as the wide went further out.

The lighthouse and foghorn at The Point of Ayre, where I waited a while for the high tide to come and go out again because it is very difficult to walk along the beach at Shellag Point at high tide.

I got a lift back to Bluepoint this morning to avoid the additional 3 mile walk on the road, I then walked on a grassy path next to the beach through a vast nature reserve until reaching the Point of Ayre.

Meet Cynthia and Graham, a lovely couple from Yorkshire who are housesitting in Andreas. I met them at Bluepoint yesterday, where I had agreed with my B&B hosts to be picked up. They had walked down to the beach from Andreas and said it wasn't far. So we walked back together, which I later regretted - not the company but the walking. We took a - not exactly flattering - selfie in front of my B&B Moorecroft. It is an exceptionally clean and comfortable B&B, but more than that Sarah and her husband were extremely warm and welcoming and went out of their way to make me feel good. I even got a tasty and healthy cooked meal because the local pub and store were closed.