Visiting Lundy Island - part 2

The weather on day three didn't exactly turn out how we were expecting.  Instead of the hot, sunny day that had been described by the weather forecast before we left for Lundy, we had a very cool fog.  There was actually something a bit mesmerising watching the mist rolling across the field through the tent door and, I have to admit, it was a welcome break from the heat we'd been having so far.

It did slightly change our plans though as there was no point in going to the Halfway Wall to watch Puffins again if they were just going to be hidden by mist.  Instead, we decided to first go to the church, a pretty little thing with a number of boards providing information about the social history of the island, before heading to the Battery we'd missed on day three.  We figured that, based on the locations of the newer lighthouses, it was probably not as misty closer to the sea where the Battery was located, and we should still be able to get a good view of seabirds from there.

It turned out to be a really lovely spot to sit watching the birds flying in and out, with the fog above us and a great view of the sea spreading out in front of us.  The Battery is actually a fog signalling station that was built in 1863, with cannons being fired every ten minutes during foggy conditions

We spent all morning just sat there watching the seabirds and we finally got a good view of some Fulmars flying by us (a bird I absolutely love).  As we sat there the sun began to burn off the fog and by the time we had returned to the tent for lunch, it was completely clear again.  

We had wanted to have a look at a section labelled on the map 'earthquake' and where the ground had been split open a bit like a book, so we did that on the way back.  It was an interesting site to look at with all the ridges and drops, and the little bowl at the end that we sat in for a bit gave us an opportunity to see a Kestral fly by.

After lunch, we had a beer at the Marisco Tavern and spent the rest of the day just pottering around, relaxing, and generally just enjoying doing nothing on our holiday.

Despite the glorious sunshine returning, day four was a bit of a sad day as we really didn't want to leave Lundy Island and the enjoyment of having so few people and so much wildlife around us.  We spent the morning packing up our things and I have to say that the tent was particularly quick and easy to put away.  

We decided to treat ourselves on the last day to a cooked breakfast, which we had at the Tavern, before heading back to the Halfway Wall to carry on watching the Puffins again on our last day.  One of the best bits here was actually seeing the Ravens as we walked up to the wall.  And I finally plucked up the courage to actually give watercolours a go again.  Definitely not the best thing I've ever done, but it's a start at least.  

We then headed back to the Battery to have lunch and enjoy the view one more time, this time with the sun.  Along with the sea birds we saw yesterday, we got a good view of some Gannets flying and fishing, as well as a Harbour Porpoise - which was pretty amazing.  Unfortunately, there were more people this time as the ferry had come in that day, so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first. 

It was then time for us to start making our way back down to the quay to catch the ferry, but we wanted to take our time as we wandered down and went for a swim on the beach beside the quay.  It was absolutely freezing, but I managed to stay in the water a bit longer than before despite not having my wetsuit on.  However, we warmed up quite nicely afterwards doing a bit of rock-pooling, something you should never grow out of.

The ferry home was a much calmer affair than the one in.  We had decided to sit inside this time and I was glad to get out of the sun for a bit as we had basically been sitting in it all day.  It also didn't stop us from seeing the Common Dolphins again, jumping alongside the ferry, and a number of Razorbills, Guillemots, and Puffins.  

The drive home was a long and late one, made even more unpleasant by the fact that we didn't really want to be heading in that direction.  However, we'll definitely be heading back to Lundy Island at some point - hopefully in the not so distant future, and I would recommend visiting there if you get the opportunity.  Our bird tally in those four days was a pretty good one and they really didn't require that much effort to see either. 

To find out more about Lundy Island you can either go to the National Trust site here or The Landmark Trust (which is where you can also book accommodation) here.

I'm not sure if there'll be a blog next week as I have a few things going on, but I will do my best.