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After a frustrating first half of the trip where we were marooned in Exeter by storm, Callum, would today be the day we finally reached the Isles of Scilly? The forecast looked excellent so we were hopeful. The plan was to get to Exeter Airport for 9:30 and catch a free transfer to Newquay where we had been squeezed onto the 11:50 flight.
My alarm went off at 7:30AM. It was a cloudy murky start but looked better to the West where we were headed. After getting ready and packing up we headed to breakfast at 8AM. After more hot food, cereal, croissants, a fresh waffle, tea and drinks, we returned to the room at 8:30AM where we rested for a short while. We went back down at 8:45AM with our luggage to check out and wait for the shuttle bus which arrived just before 9AM. It took 5 minutes to get to the airport where we made ourselves known to the assistance desk who took our names and told us to take a seat. The bus was already here. We just needed to wait for Skybus officials to arrive and send us off. Someone already on the bus called us over at 9:20AM and we promptly boarded. We set off bang on 9:30AM. It was a straight forward drive along the A30. It was grey damp and drizzly with hill fog and low cloud, especially downwind of Dartmoor. The scenery was pretty though with rolling hills, fields and autumnal trees. Into Cornwall it was clear at lower levels. We crossed from Devon into Cornwall at 10:18AM. Once we got West of Bodmin the sky got brighter and dryer, and close to Newquay the sun was poking through small holes in the cloud. We arrived at Newquay Airport at 11:03AM. The weather looked good for the flight from here.
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| Leaving The Hampton on the shuttle bus to the airport. | The drive from Exeter to Newquay. Glad the drizzly hill fog near Dartmoor and Bodmin cleared to clearer air nearer Newquay. | Arriving at Newquay airport. | ||||
It appears our flight was at 13:25 not 11:50. So we had over an hour to wait for checkin to open. I updated Bellrock with the latest flight time. Skybus kindly gave us £10 vouchers again for lunch so we went and bought some sandwiches, crisps and a cookie. We ate while waiting for checkin to open and drunk the drinks that we bought with the last vouchers in Exeter. Checkin opened at 12:25PM and by 12:45PM we were past security and waiting for the gate to open. Then at 1:10PM we got called forward to view a safety briefing on a screen before boarding.
We boarded an Islander Twin Otter DHC-6 at 1:20PM. We grabbed the front seats right behind the cockpit and had great views of the propellors and the pilots at work. They powered up on time at 1:25PM. It was a lovely smooth flight. We were soon above the low cloud and at just 4000 feet it seemed more like 30,000. I could see below us a glory. Too soon it was time to descend through the cloud layer to see the sea below and the Isles of Scilly come into view. We got a great pilot's eye view of the runway as we landed just before 2PM.
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| Our plane: An Islander Twin Otter DHC-6. | On board the plane right behind the cockpit. | Powering up for takeoff. | |||
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| In the air at last over Cornwall. | Soon we were between cloud layers (approx 2000 foot cloudbase). | Cockpit view skimming the clouds. | In between the clouds. | Another cockpit view at about 4000 feet. | |
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| Enjoying the flight. | A glory was visible below us. | Cockpit view above the clouds. | Above the clouds at 4000 feet. | Descending back into the clouds as we approach the Scilly Isles. | |
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| Below the clouds the sea becomes visible. | First view of Scilly through the cockpit. I think it is probably St. Mary's with St. Agnes in the background. | Tresco and St. Martin's from the East, with the Eastern Isles in the foreground. | From left to right: St. Agnes, St. Mary's, Samson, Bryher, Tresco, St. Martin's from the East. Eastern Isles and other smaller uninhabited islands also visible. | A closer look at St. Mary's with the airport visible in front of Hugh Town. | Closing in on the airport. |
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| On final approach. | At last we set foot on Scilly! Better late than never... | |||
Being a small plane and airport we got our luggage very quickly. The shuttle drivers made themselves known to us quickly too and soon whisked us to the hotel at 2:10PM. We checked in and relaxed for a short while and got our bearings. It seemed to be a nice place.
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| Boarding the shuttle bus. Hugh Town visible in the distance. | Driving to Hugh Town. | Our room in the Bell Rock Hotel. | |||
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| Our bathroom in the Bell Rock Hotel. | The view from room 2 of the Bell Rock Hotel in 2 directions from the main room and the other way from the bathroom. | Looking at the lounge and reception areas as we head out to explore. | |||
At 2:30PM we set off out and about. We went to Porthcressa beach and the tourist information office first. I bought a nice map of the islands. We also looked in a few shops before heading towards the police station and the start of the Garrison Walk.
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| The Bell Rock Hotel from outside. | Looking up and down Church Street. | Porthcressa Beach. | Looking Southeast along the coast towards Peninnis Head. | |
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| Looking Southwest towards the Garrison peninsula. | Plants grow here that don't appear on the mainland due to the oceanic climate. | Walking to the tourist information centre. | Juvenile Herring Gull. | Walking Northwest along Silver Street. | |
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| Sparrow. | Looking around the shops in the centre of Hugh Town. | Walking up Garrison Lane and past the Police Station. | More tropical looking Scilly plants. | ||
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| More tropical looking Scilly plants. | Garrison Lane. | More tropical looking Scilly plants. | Looking down towards the harbour from Garrison Hill. | A Collared Dove. |
We started going anti-clockwise around the garrison walk. Up garrison lane we went first, pausing at the Star Castle and had a look around. Renée had a lemonade in the bar in the dungeon. Then we continued around route, taking in the views from the batteries with cannons. Towards the end in particular it was a great view back to Porthcressa Beach.
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| Views from around the gate at the junction of Garrison Lane and Garrison Hill. | More Scilly flora. | ||||
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| The Star Castle. | The view across St. Mary's Pool. | Looking down at Hugh Town and Town Beach. | A Skybus plane departing the airport. | |
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| The entrance to the Star Castle. | A nice island vista to the North, in the direction of Samson. | Exploring the alleyways in the Star Castle. | A lemonade break in the Star Castle's dungeon bar. | ||
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| The gardens on the upper levels. | A cool looking plant. | ||||
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| Garden with a view by the castle. | More nice scilly plants. | Newman's Battery. | Walking along the Garrison Walk. | Shag on a rock. | |
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| Nice tree. | Portrait with a view. | Passing a display of cannons on the Garrison Walls Walk at King Charles's Battery. | |||
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| Cannon eye view out to sea. | More views across the rocks to the West and Northwest. | Watching an Oystercatcher forage for food. | |||
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| Following the path onto higher ground with nicely sculpted trees. | Enjoying the views from the Westernmost point of St. Mary's near Steval Point. | Many of the sea rocks are covered in Shags / Cormorants. | Continuing Southeastwards along the wall to Colonel George Boscawen's Battery. | ||
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| Bartholomew Battery. | Scilly flora. | Woolpack Point Battery. | A Rock Pipit and a Song Thrush inside the battery. | |
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| Renée just inside the entrance of the Woolpack Point Battery. | Woolpack Point Battery. | Female Blackbird foraging. | Exploring the structures at Woolpack Point. | ||
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| Meadow Pipit. | Looking East the rocky Peninnis Head can be seen. | Some nice 'old man's beard' growing on the wall. | A Common Gull resting on a rock. | My only shot of a fast moving Wren darting around the bushes. | |
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| Female Blackbird. | Morning Point Battery. | Looking at the rocks covered in Shags / Cormorants. | |||
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| Looking North back to Porthcressa Beach from Morning Point Battery. | Renée photo op at Morning Point Battery. | Exploring the Morning Point plants. | Male Blackbird. | ||
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| Setting off back towards Hugh Town. | Succulent plants growing on a wall. | The path back to Hugh Town along the Eastern side of the Garrison Walk. | Views of Porthcressa Beach and Hugh Town from Upper Broome Platform. | ||
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| Upper Benham Battery. | ||
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| Starlings on a wooden pole. | Sally Port. | Garden Battery and a great view over Hugh Town. | ||
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| Garden Battery view over Hugh Town and St. Mary's Pool. | Scilly flora. | Higher Battery and a good view of Town Beach. | |
At 4:15PM we descended back into Hugh Town. We looked around the pier and checked out some restaurant options. We then got back to the hotel at around 5PM.
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| Calico Jack's had a nice window display. | The Mermaid Inn and the path to the pier. | Exploring the pier. | The boat information board. | |
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| Views across the harbour from the pier. | Looking at the main pier building and its clock from the short Southern arm of the pier. | ||
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| Looking across to Porthmellon Beach. | Panorama from by the pier building. | The lifeboat station between Town Beach and Porthmellon Beach. | View from the Western end of Town Beach. | The Atlantic Inn, another potential dinner place. |
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| Looking around at the bottom of Hugh Street. | Gift shop window display. | Panorama half way along Town Beach. | The Stone Shop and Scillonian Club entrance. | |
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| Walking back towards Porthcressa Beach along Buzza Road where the library and Becky's Scilly Cakes are. | Inside Becky's Scilly Cakes. | Dibble and Grub was another food option. | |||
We rested for a while rather exhausted and I took a look at the weather. Tomorrow was looking nice so we planned to go to St. Martin's. We went out at 6PM for food. Renée didn't fancy the Mermaid Inn so we looked at the Atlantic pub. It had a really nice restaurant area so we went in at 6:10PM. We both ordered Fish n Chips with onion rings and garlic bread on the side to share. It was delicious! By 6:30 it was already getting dark under the thick cloud cover. We could see small bats flying around the beach, probably Pipistrelles eating the insects that congregate around the seaweed, of which there was a lot on the beach after the storm. We were in no rush so we rested a bit while we waited for the bill. We paid up at 7:05Pm then headed back to hotel.
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| Nice palm tree at the Western end of Church Street. | The Church Street / Lower Strand junction looking back towards the hotel. | Nice pre-sunset views to the Northwest from the Mermaid Inn and pier entrance. Samson, Bryher and Tresco are all visible in the background. | |||
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| Settling into a nice corner table in the Atlantic Inn. | Our table view across Town Beach. | Water and menus. | Delicious fish and chips! | |||
Back in the hotel we had a quick look downstairs at the dining room then returned to the room at 7:18PM to watch TV and retire for the night. At last we got to sleep in the Isles of Scilly and were looking forward to a few decent days of exploration and fun.
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