The most annoying thing about the Scillies is how difficult they are to get to. Distant islands far off the Cornish coast are a remote destination to a boy from Ipswich. To get all the way to them meant travelling a long, long way, both difficult and time consuming. If you're a conscientious traveller like myself, and don't want to drive and instead taking public transport, then it can be very difficult. The sheer number of things to take into account is bewildering. Another factor to throw into it all was the annoying hassle of train strikes, which happened on the 6 and 7 of October. That meant the journey I would have completed in one day by train, was now split into two when having to take a coach. Even in the 21st century, a time when we should be having holidays on the moon, things are slow. We have not advanced for fifty years at least.
The first day was the easiest, a journey from Ipswich to London. Because I had an early morning coach journey on Friday 7, I got a coach the day before to Victoria on the 6th. On that night, in London, I got a "pod" in a local easyhotel. With not much to do I walked the streets, of the area, Vicotria and Chelsea and I got a RING NECKED PARAKEET for my effort, a first for the year, and a real London specialty. There is a pair in Ipswich but I managed to miss them this year.
Friday loomed, which meant a ten jour coach journey down to Penzance. Now this seems really, really long, and it was, but it really did take that amount of time to get there. Getting out of London, we hit RED KITE country, there were simply loads, I'm not used t that sight in Suffolk, but it'll soon get that way. It took five hours to get to Plymouth, straight down the motorways where we stopped for half an hour. It then took another four and a half hours to travel to Penzance, going through all the windy Cornish lanes, and old towns not made for coaches. Along the way several RAVENS were of interest, again a bird that has exploded in population but is still scarce in Suffolk. When I eventually arrived into Penzance, tired and bored, I stayed at Hotel Penzance, which was cozy, but unbelievably hot.
Onwards to the third day of travel, it probably would have been quicker in the 19th century. An early morning dawned, as the sun rose behind St Michael's Mount, getting up early to get the ferry, the Scillionian III, which left early at 9:15. Thankfully, the sea was as still as a millpond which made the journey hassle free. On the boat, the majority of tourists were birdwatchers, dressed in greens and browns, with a pair of binoculars and maybe a telescope for those more dedicated. Like me they were heading to the fabled lands of the Scillies, on the hope of capturing that epic lifer. It also meant bird watching was good from the boat, as there were many eyes, and there was usually someone shouting out what was seen.
With the water so calm it was a good time to observe the sea birds, ones that had left the mainland to spend the winter out at sea. Numbers weren't particularly high but there was a good variety. Of note were a pair of POMARINE SKUAS, one a pale bellied the other dark, and a pair of MANX SHEARWATERS kept pace with the boat for a while. A single tiny GREY PHALAROPE was left behind in the ship's wake, a little dot in the great ocean. The most numerous bird was the GANNET, such a majestic bird, and the sight of them dive bombing into the sea is a something I can never get tired of. There were big flocks of GUILLEMOTS and a single PUFFIN was of interest, as its my first ever October record. A single male EIDER was seen at Penzance, where TURNSTONES and ROCK PIPITS were seen in the harbour.
Although the birds were good the most exciting sightings were the several pods of COMMON DOLPHINS, breaking the waves, with several jumping fully out of the water, easily seen from the boat. There was a shout of 'minke whale!' but I didn't see it.
The Scillies came into view, gradually, with some people pointing out the garrison, with plenty of SHAGS drying themselves on the rocks. We arrived at Hugh Town, the main town on the Scillies at midday, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, like a summer's day, shorts weather even, it felt like an English paradise. Collecting baggage dumped on the quayside, I made my way to the guesthouse, a walk to the edge of town, ten minutes at most. Arriving at the guest house I had to stop to admire the views from the there which looked across the circular, boat strewn bay to the main part of Hugh Town, a view that was breathtaking.
The guesthouse was called the Mincarlo and things were pretty laid back, there was no one to greet us and we just let ourselves in. I had a nice little single bed with again great views from the little window. We all met up at half three to finally see who was with us on the trip. It was a pretty decent group of people, but as per the rules of my blog I will now write about people, only about birds, the countryside, just nature in general.
So all the hard work was over, and now I was on the Scillies, I could finally relax and just enjoy the holiday, which I did, very much. Be prepared for some very thorough posts of my trip to these fabled isles later on.
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