Bass Rock; Isle of May; Holy Island
By 06:00 Endeavour had made the short sail from our dock in Leith to arrive at the spectacular Bass Rock. This is a great volcanic plug, which is now the third largest gannet colony in the world. Our captain skillfully navigated the ship around the impressive craggy structure enabling us to appreciate just how many of these great, white sea birds nest and live on the sheer sides of Bass Rock.
After Bass Rock, during breakfast, we moved a slight distance East to the Isle of May, our first landing of the day. As we approached by Zodiac we could see the short but rugged cliffs around the island, home to many species of seabirds, but there appeared to be little else on the small island. We were wrong! After a tricky but successful scramble ashore we were met by the two wardens of this nature reserve who gave a briefing on behaviour in this important and fragile place and then took us off on a guided tour of their temporary home. The thick grass struck us all and lush vegetation on what, from the sea, appears to be no more than bleak rock. We also soon realized that the island is teeming with life, mainly birds – puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, eider ducks, razorbills, and cormorants - but also hundreds of fat, contented looking rabbits. For the puffin fanatics amongst us this was a rare treat with the colourful little birds waddling around their grassy burrows and flying overhead, all hurriedly and busily going… somewhere!
We had to be extremely cautious, even on the paths, as the many nesting eider ducks were almost invisible at first sight. They glanced upwards at us, looking rather bored, but did not abandon the important nest. One path led to the high cliff face where thousands of pairs of guillemots and kittiwakes were at home. Our eyes were assaulted by the stunning visual image, our ears were assaulted by the noise of all these birds ‘talking’ at once but the greatest assault was probably on our noses!
After lunch we had moved South to our afternoon excursion point – Holy Island, Northumbria. David was about to give a briefing on this important ecclesiastical site when our attention was diverted by an unusual spectacle – a Royal Air Force Air-Sea Rescue helicopter was hovering off our starboard bow. David graciously gave way to the RAF and the briefing was temporarily abandoned while we all rushed on deck, clutching cameras and yelling over the noise of the rotors. What was going on? Tom then announced that the crew of the helicopter had asked permission to practice lifting a person off a ship. For the next twenty minutes we were treated to a noisy but up-close demonstration of how an RAF helicopter can place a crewman on the deck of a ship and equally skillfully pluck him off again and winch him up and into the great yellow belly of these indispensable machines. It was a truly amazing to witness this at such close range. Hopefully none of us will ever need to use these life-saving services for real but seeing how adept this aircrew was at its job left us feeling totally confident in its ability.
Once the brief visit by Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force was completed David regained his composure and explained the significance of Lindisfarne to us prior to departing the ship. The Zodiac ride to shore was long but with the wind – always a good thing! Once ashore we walked at our own pace and inclination to the abbey ruins, abbey gift shop, tiny hamlet or simply along the shore to the castle. The abbey at Lindisfarne has direct connections to one of our earlier ports of call – Iona. Whereas the abbey at Iona has been restored the one on Holy Island is in ruins. However it was clearly of a much bigger size and more elaborate architecture. The neatly tended graveyard and the tranquility of the site afforded a chance to quietly contemplate the life the early monks led but nowadays without the constant fear of a surprise raid by the pirates of the North, the Vikings.
The drive back to ship was long, slow and wet but, paradoxically, filled with laughter, whoops of delight as yet another wave drenched the huddled occupants, and comfort at the thought of a warm shower, a cup of coffee and the evening recap.
This had been one of the fullest days of the expedition so far and left us with many very varied memories, impressions and contemplations. It was a delightful day, in delightful places and with delightful company.
By 06:00 Endeavour had made the short sail from our dock in Leith to arrive at the spectacular Bass Rock. This is a great volcanic plug, which is now the third largest gannet colony in the world. Our captain skillfully navigated the ship around the impressive craggy structure enabling us to appreciate just how many of these great, white sea birds nest and live on the sheer sides of Bass Rock.
After Bass Rock, during breakfast, we moved a slight distance East to the Isle of May, our first landing of the day. As we approached by Zodiac we could see the short but rugged cliffs around the island, home to many species of seabirds, but there appeared to be little else on the small island. We were wrong! After a tricky but successful scramble ashore we were met by the two wardens of this nature reserve who gave a briefing on behaviour in this important and fragile place and then took us off on a guided tour of their temporary home. The thick grass struck us all and lush vegetation on what, from the sea, appears to be no more than bleak rock. We also soon realized that the island is teeming with life, mainly birds – puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, eider ducks, razorbills, and cormorants - but also hundreds of fat, contented looking rabbits. For the puffin fanatics amongst us this was a rare treat with the colourful little birds waddling around their grassy burrows and flying overhead, all hurriedly and busily going… somewhere!
We had to be extremely cautious, even on the paths, as the many nesting eider ducks were almost invisible at first sight. They glanced upwards at us, looking rather bored, but did not abandon the important nest. One path led to the high cliff face where thousands of pairs of guillemots and kittiwakes were at home. Our eyes were assaulted by the stunning visual image, our ears were assaulted by the noise of all these birds ‘talking’ at once but the greatest assault was probably on our noses!
After lunch we had moved South to our afternoon excursion point – Holy Island, Northumbria. David was about to give a briefing on this important ecclesiastical site when our attention was diverted by an unusual spectacle – a Royal Air Force Air-Sea Rescue helicopter was hovering off our starboard bow. David graciously gave way to the RAF and the briefing was temporarily abandoned while we all rushed on deck, clutching cameras and yelling over the noise of the rotors. What was going on? Tom then announced that the crew of the helicopter had asked permission to practice lifting a person off a ship. For the next twenty minutes we were treated to a noisy but up-close demonstration of how an RAF helicopter can place a crewman on the deck of a ship and equally skillfully pluck him off again and winch him up and into the great yellow belly of these indispensable machines. It was a truly amazing to witness this at such close range. Hopefully none of us will ever need to use these life-saving services for real but seeing how adept this aircrew was at its job left us feeling totally confident in its ability.
Once the brief visit by Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force was completed David regained his composure and explained the significance of Lindisfarne to us prior to departing the ship. The Zodiac ride to shore was long but with the wind – always a good thing! Once ashore we walked at our own pace and inclination to the abbey ruins, abbey gift shop, tiny hamlet or simply along the shore to the castle. The abbey at Lindisfarne has direct connections to one of our earlier ports of call – Iona. Whereas the abbey at Iona has been restored the one on Holy Island is in ruins. However it was clearly of a much bigger size and more elaborate architecture. The neatly tended graveyard and the tranquility of the site afforded a chance to quietly contemplate the life the early monks led but nowadays without the constant fear of a surprise raid by the pirates of the North, the Vikings.
The drive back to ship was long, slow and wet but, paradoxically, filled with laughter, whoops of delight as yet another wave drenched the huddled occupants, and comfort at the thought of a warm shower, a cup of coffee and the evening recap.
This had been one of the fullest days of the expedition so far and left us with many very varied memories, impressions and contemplations. It was a delightful day, in delightful places and with delightful company.
