A new day and a new morning. I was agog to reach Seahouses to start my bird-watching adventure. Of course, breakfast was free at the hotel I was lodged at. I quickly got ready and went down to be allotted a table all for myself. Michael's wife (I can't remember her name) was the one coordinating the breakfast service. She did have all the politeness that hosts do, but I do think she is a bit impatient and suffers fools badly, as she made me out to be one. I was simply asking her nicely where I was to be sat, and what was there for breakfast. She sounded a bit terse, but it could be my own perception that was a bit off.
In any case, the breakfast was scrambled egg with salmon, toast with butter and jam, and tea. It was quite filling, actually. I had already brought all my stuff down to the restaurant so that after breakfast, I immediately set off for the nearby bus stand to catch the next bus that would take me to Seahouses. This town is about 10-11 minutes away by bus and the journey is quite picturesque. I happily arrived at the quaint town and walked a short distance to the seafront, where I located the ticketing office of William Shiel's boat trips - the one that I had booked my journeys with. My plan was to do three journeys - but the pelagic tour that I had set my heart on was not available as it only starts operating from late July each year; hence, I was going to do the Inner Farne island tour today and the Staple Island tour the following day. I purchased my Inner Farne ticket and then went around the place to browse the pier where our boats would finally depart from. I walked into the local office of the National Trust - this was a makeshift kind of small kiosk on the pier. I was greeted by one of their volunteers. I was informed that their annual membership would allow me to visit over 600 sites all over the UK absolutely free of cost, and I would also get to park my car free at each of those resorts/places. Now, I do not have a car, and I am unlikely to go country trotting to that extent, but the amount is so low that it makes sense to take an annual membership. Thus, I became a member of the Trust - paying nothing today, but aware that my membership fees would be debited monthly from my current account. I was given a sticker which would make my landing on Inner Farne free (the normal rate for a non-member is £ 9.00).
I was taking a few pictures of the Farne islands from the pier and suddenly, my camera battery ran out of power. I had not been prudent enough to charge it the previous night and I thought I had no spare battery, so I ran helter-skelter to find me a way to either charge my battery with the charger I had with me (it turned out to be the wrong kind of charger) or to buy a new battery (which I could not do, as there was no place in Seahouses to buy it from). Eventually, when I boarded the tour, I could not use my DSLR camera at all. I did not even carry it with me. I just left it with the people who were minding the National Trust kiosk. All the pictures I took were with the mobile phone camera. I present some of them to you.
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| Male Eider in eclipse |
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| Inner Farne island from the pier |
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| A closer look at the Inner Farne island |
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| Eiders (there were many) |
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| Shore line |
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| Arctic tern, fiercely protects its babies/eggs |
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| Puffins, resting on the green areas |
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| Holes in the ground where puffins nest |
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| Shags - adult and babies |
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| Shags, cormorants, gulls etc |
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| Razorbill |
I returned to my room at Beadnell towers by the afternoon, It is quite a cozy place and I enjoyed the evening very much. For dinner, I went down once again to the restaurant. Initially, I just whiled away some time by ordering a coffee and sipping it ever so slowly so that the time kept elapsing. After I had a feeling that I had sat for a long enough time, I ordered some dinner and a non-alcoholic beverage and enjoyed it.
Presently, I joined the land of the dead as I retired back in my room and went to sleep. The next day, given the right opportunities I would be visiting a couple of new places before I boarded any form of transport that would return me to Blackpool.
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