which, as i mentioned in the previous post, didn’t involve walking at all! well, not walking on the pembrokshire coast path, but we did hike around the area around Martin’s Haven, where we took a boat ride out to Skomer Island.
we had gotten to Martin’s Haven early to walk around the “town,” but then it wasn’t a town at all, so we walked all around the beautiful hills for about an hour, and then sat by the water and ate our cheese sandwiches and watched all the people coming to get on the boat.
we didn’t get in line for a while, because it was chilly and windy and we figured it would be even more so out there in the line.
so when we finally did join the queue, we were pretty far back, and the boat was tiny, so we didn’t get to sit on the benches which circled the deck that you could lean on. instead, we sat on the big containers full of life jackets in the middle, touching toes with the people across from us in the other seats.
it was packed, full, even though, as i wrote previously, there was little chance of seeing a puffin at all.
the company that booked out trip, macs adventures, had for some reason scheduled this day off from walking even though it was just the second day, and in their literature they said we could book a trip out to Skomer Island if we chose to do so. i did lots of reading about it, and we were going to take a trip out and then spend a couple of hours on the island walking around it.
but in planning our trip i just didn’t want to commit to this, and i talked to jim about it and he pointed out that we’d just be doing more walking and probably seeing the same stuff as on our walks. so i decided to just book the trip that sailed out to the island and circled around it and came back. it was an hour ride in total. here’s Skomer Island.
hnmmm, it woulda been quite a walk up those stairs onto the island. and not much to do there except walk around.
since we weren’t seeing anything extraordinary out there in the water, the captain passed around this photo he’d taken – this seal had climbed into the boat and made himself comfortable! that would have been a funny sight, and if i hadn’t told you, you’d have thought this happened to us! so if you’re just skimming the photos and not reading, you’ll think the seal was enjoying the ride with us.
can you spot the seals out there on the rock? at this point the water was a little choppy, but not crazy.
more seals…
there were quite a few people with small children on the trip, as well as some older people, and a guy with his very old and kind of blind dog. he held the dog during the voyage, and the dog seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly. that was really sweet, and of course made me miss Mollie.
a bird flew right over our heads to check us out…
…and then it landed right on top, which was entertaining.
as i wrote before, though, Skomer Island is one of the rare places in the world where you can spot puffins, which look the most adorable and friendly birds on the planet. the woman back at the ticket place had told us that ten days prior there were TWENTY ONE THOUSAND puffins on the island, which is why people arrived there at four in the morning and stood in line for hours in order to see them.
and now there were only about four left.
so everybody on the boat was looking around like crazy, trying to see one of the four, and finally a woman next to us said she saw one flying, and kevin saw it, too.
here’s what i saw.
i did eventually see a black bird circling in the sky, but it could have been any kind of bird. oh well, it was nice to be out on the water in a little boat.
when we returned to our b&b, we decided that trips like this were good for families with tiny children who couldn’t walk the coast path, and for others who weren’t able to manage it.
we had some time to kill in the afternoon, and went down to the one tiny shop and bought some fruit and this very critical thing…
…it’s a dish rag, and i bought it to use as a wash cloth, because i was in desperate need of one! for some reason, our first two b&b’s didn’t have any wash cloths at all. we bought almost no souvenirs during this trip, but i have to say this was one of our best purchases. hmm, now i’m wondering where i put it?
here’s our teeny tiny room, which is why we hung out in the nice lobby on the couch, chatting and writing.
no worry about trying to figure out where to go for dinner again, since the Lobster Pot pub was the only game in town. kevin had fish and chips, and i got a moroccan tagine, which was ok…
…but once again, the highlight of our meal was the sticky toffee pudding. mmmmm. this time we got it with cream instead of ice cream, but concluded that this was maybe just a bit too sweet. but still, so delicious. i must try making it soon!
there were frequently old video games in pubs; i think this one might have been centipede, which used to be my favorite game.
in the lobby of the b&b was this fabulous old thing…the b&b owner, john, inherited it from his aunt, because when he was a kid she gave him the job of thoroughly dusting every nook and cranny. it’s a pulpit, but i forgot to ask john more about it before we left the next morning. luckily, we’d be back to get our car in a few days, and i could ask him more then…
meanwhile, amy sent me these pictures from back at home, where the kitties were managing to keep up their strength despite missing us terribly!
we watched tv for a bit before bed – there was a dart tournament on! i don’t recall ever seeing a darts tournament here on TV, but then again, we don’t have thousands of sports channels.
in the morning we’d get up and hike nine miles.
ok then,
mrs. h.