Isles of Scilly

Day 2 - Fri 13 July 07

Slept fitfully last night, it was either too hot or too cold. Woken by the attendant at about 07:00 with a cup of tea and a biscuit. The weather is, well, overcast, but that's what the forecast predicted. The train arrived spot on time at 08:00 and I had enough time to have a quick look around the harbour area of Penzance.

There's a school party queuing to get on the boat, but I manage to slip past them and I'm one of the first to get on the boat. The wind is really blowing, so I take everyone's advice and head down to the bottom of the boat to find the berths. I get one around the corner and out of the way.

Rough crossing on the Scillonian

As soon as we're out of the harbour we're being pushed around. I've got a pretty good set of sea legs, but I have to admit that I threw up, I'm just glad that didn't have a fry up in Penzance! I spend the rest of the journey lying down on the bunk. I think my iPod realised where I was as although it was on shuffle I got "talk to me like the sea", "Passenger", "Pirate Agro", the Beach Boys, and the theme for the Shipping News.

Disembarked, and the weather on the islands is worse than the mainland, and it's raining quite hard. I take a quick stroll around Hughtown and walk up to my B&B, getting soaked in the process. I knock on the door, but there's no reply, being the curious type I walked around the back, and found a note pinned to the conservatory door.

It seems that Sam my landlady had come down to meet the Scillonian III but I'd managed to miss her. Oh Well.

Standing Stone

Had a quick shower and then headed out to the see the stone age village just around the corner. Weirdly it reminded me very much of Easter Island - maybe it's just the weather! Walked down the coastal path and found a restaurant so I got out of the weather and had a late lunch. After that I head back into Hughtown and have another poke around, the place isn't exactly huge! Due to the weather be boat sailed an hour earlier than normal, and the place is now empty as the day trippers have gone.

I walked up to the Garrison, and the old star fort at the top of the hill is a hotel, a real quaint place, but it appears all the rooms are in the modern annex out the back. By the time I'd got to the most northerly point of the Garrison the rain had started again. On the way back you can see that Hughtown sits on a tiny strip of land that links the main island to the Garrison, and there are beaches on both sides of Hughtown, so you can follow the sun.

Into the Coop to get some provisions and just caught the tourist info centre before it closed. I wanted a taxi to get back up to the B&B, but the lady behind the desk said that she'd drop me off, she just had to find the last few hotel rooms for the 67 people stranded on the island as the Helicopter wasn't flying!

Her car was just around the corner, and unlocked with a whole load of stuff in it - I guess crime isn't a big deal on the islands. As we drove through the town Sophie was waving at everyone, well, it is a small island, and everyone knows everyone else!

Back to my B&B, to watch a bit of telly, wash some clothes, and try to dry out my very damp boots!