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I woke up too early at 5:30AM but I managed to snooze until 7AM. The alarm went off at 8AM. I had forgotten my camera battery charger so I'll have to hope the spare battery lasts ok now. We went for breakfast at 8:25AM. Renée tried the smoked salmon and eggs this time while had the usual veggie breakfast. At 8:50AM we returned to the room to rest for a bit before setting off at 10:30AM.
After a brief wrong turn and doubling back we found the path at the end of Porthcressa Beach. We followed the path along the coast up above the rocks and cliffs. Once past an allotment and a patch of bracken it opened onto open grassland and rocks. Above us the sun was trying to shine through the high cloud above. Peninnis head was lovely, like a giant's playground of rocks and boulders. Behind us was a good view back to Hugh Town and in front the lighthouse was visible. Around us were all these towers of crazy rocks towering like cathedrals and stacked on top of each other like giant play blocks. Soon we reached the Southern tip and walked past the lighthouse. Just after this point I got buzzed by a Red Admiral butterfly seemingly flying from the sea (or may have been on a rock nearer the sea). At 11:30AM we got our first good view of Old Town Bay somewhere near or just after Pulpit Rock. We followed the path into Old Town Bay. I noted my camera lens fogging up near Gull Rock in the high humidity. But I managed to clear it again.
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St Mary, the Virgin Church at the end of Church Street. | The path at the end of Porthcressa Beach. | Admiring the view of Porth Cressa as we head Southeastwards along the path. |
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The path briefly diverts inland around some allotments before returning to the shoreline through a large patch of bracken. Nice views back towards Hugh Town on the way. |
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To the Southwest St. Agnes can clearly be seen. | Looking ahead along the path to large rocks and boulders in the distance. | Shags / Cormorants on the rocks. | Female Stonechat. | A closer look at the distant rocks. |
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More nice views as we continue towards Peninnis Head. | Big towers of rocks. |
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Big towers of rocks. | Looking back to Hugh Town. | The lighthouse appears amongst a giant's playground of rocks and stacked boulders. |
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More rock stacks. | The Peninnis Head lighthouse. | Some of the rocks had spectacular shapes to them. | The most spectacular big towers of rocks. Renée is a useful indicator of scale in the second picture. | Our first view of Old Town Bay as we round Peninnis Head. |
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Looking back at the lighthouse as we head towards Old Town Bay. | The view of Old Town Bay gets more spectacular as we reach the best vantage points. | On the far side of Old Town Bay is the airport where we arrived on Scilly. |
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Old Town Bay from the best vantage point. | From here the path descended through a gap in the rocks. | A Robin on a rock. | A closer look at a moss and lichen covered rock. | The path towards Old Town. | More cool looking lichens. |
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Approaching Gull Rock. | Looking back at Peninnis Head. | Gull Rock. | A closer look at other walkers at the vantage point on Peninnis Head. |
At 11:43AM we paused at a bench on the edge of Old Town Bay. The Sun was slowly getting stronger as the cloud thinned a bit. We looked at the map and decided to head to Longstone Café as it was in the middle of the island and there was a slim chance of seeing a clouded yellow butterfly there as it had been seen there by a birder we chatted to on The way to Peninnis Head. Then we would make a beeline for Juliet's Garden above Porthloo Beach for tea. We proceeded to walk across Old Town Beach. Renée said it felt like walking on sugar. We passed the Old Town Café at 11:54AM and proceeded up Old Town Lane then crossed Caen Friars Lane.
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Entering Old Town Bay through a gate and looking back at Gull Rock. | A cemetery visible over a wall. | Setting off across Old Town Beach. |
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Old Town Beach. | The sand was like 'walking on granulated sugar' Renée reported! | The far side of Old Town Beach. | Heading Northwards up Old Town Lane inland. | Passing by a chicken farm. |
The path ahead wasn't so clear and we briefly ended up in a daffodil field. But after a short backtrack we found our way to Carreg Dhu Garden. That was a pleasant garden which was nice to walk through.
On the other side of Carreg Dhu Garden it was a short walk up the lane to the Longstone Café, where we arrived at 12:20PM. We bought some water bottles and had a rest. It was a good place to hydrate and recharge. We didn't eat as we were targeting Juliet's Garden for that. By now the sun was weakening again and nothing much was flying. I took a look around but no Clouded Yellows to be found. Maybe it had moved on anyway. It was a nice walk either way.
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The path to Carreg Dhu garden, with daffodil fields alongside. | The Southern entrance to Carreg Dhu garden. | Entering Carreg Dhu garden. |
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Walking through Carreg Dhu garden. |
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Entering Longstone Café. | Having a short break at the café. | The sea is still visible from the centre of St. Mary's. | An inquisitive Female Blackbird. |
We resumed our walk at 12:35PM. We carried on through Holy Vale and over High Lanes, Telegraph Road and Porth Loo Lane as the cloud thickened and eventually dropped into Juliet's garden at 1:05PM.
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The path to Holy Vale. | Holy Vale. | Some nice autumnal colours. | Which way to go next Renée? |
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Heading out Northeastwards along a nice narrow country road. We passed the winery entrance and some pretty trees. | More Scilly flora. | The grape vines of the winery. |
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More nice Scilly flora. The gnarly tree had these beautiful tubular flowers on it. | A road junction, Scilly style (High Lane and Pungies Lane). |
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More scilla flora. | Following High Lane Westwards towards Juliet's. | Horse. | High Lane, Telegraph Road, Porth Loo Lane and we arrive above Juliet's Garden. | Above Juliet's the view back to Hugh Town is already spectacular. |
The view as we approached Juliet's, and from the outdoor benches in the garden, was spectacular. We had a great view of Taylor's Island, and across Newford Island to Hugh Town and the surrounding bay. Renée ordered a cheese and pickle sandwich and I ordered a cream tea with a fruity scone. They were delicious! Soon enough a flock of very tame sparrows descended and surrounded us. Renée had to shield her food. She did find that they liked cheese as they ate some she put out for them. Crumbs of my scone they took readily out of my hand and even landed on my hand to eat. At one point there were 6 or 7 birds on the table and between my tea pot and tea taking crumbs. I got some video of the sparrows pecking my scone plate clean of crumbs. Once we finished they lost interest and descended on another table with food. We wanted more so Renée ordered a Summer Fruits Crumble with Custard and I had a slice of chocolate fudge cake. We ate up before the birds noticed. (After we finished a bird did take an interest in the remains of the custard!) After paying up we departed at 1:55PM.
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Juliet's Garden and its spectacular view. | Already there are signs of how tame the birds are as a Song Thrush perches on our table. | Enjoying the view from our table. | Dog sculptures. |
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The garden from by the building. | Inside the building. | Tea time with a view. | It's not long before the Sparrows notice we have food and descend en masse! |
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Apparently Sparrows like cheese. | Renée shielding her plate from a hungry Sparrow. | And cue lots of Sparrow closeups. |
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Scilly Sparrows Click on the above link to see a YouTube video featuring the Sparrows. |
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Helping me to ensure no crumbs are wasted! | Dessert! | Soaking in that amazing view. |
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Soaking in that amazing view. | This Sparrow loves custard! | My cake crumbs didn't go unnoticed either. | One more view of the Song Thrush as we depart. |
We followed the road down to Porthloo Beach. A birdwatcher was there and we got chatting. The Peninnis birders said a Yellow Barred Godwit bird had been seen. But it wasn't there now. I had a good look though before we moved on Southwards. We took to the coast path where the beaches were too rocky but we walked Thomas Porth and Porthmellon beaches. Then we headed along Church Road and Church Street back to the hotel at 2:30PM.
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I like these spiky succulents. | Someone's been making art out of chicken wire. | Passing some bird feeders on the way to the beach. | Porthloo Beach. |
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Porthloo Beach. | Taylor's Island. | Newford Island. | Looking across St. Mary's Pool to Hugh Town from Porthloo Beach. |
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Following the coastal path back towards Hugh Town. | Thomas Porth. | Following the coastal path. | Porthmellon Beach. |
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Porthmellon Beach. | More Scilly flora. |
However I wasn't ready to finish yet so we went to Porthcressa beach and had a nice wander. There were quite a few birds at the other end past some rocks, but no Godwit. We returned to the hotel at 3PM.
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Going back past St Mary, the Virgin Church. | A Hummingbird Hawk Moth in Hugh Town! | Ducks on Porthcressa Beach. | Walking along Porthcressa Beach. |
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Turnstones. | Rock Pipit. | Female Stonechat. | Oystercatchers. |
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Renée relaxing on a rock. | Turnstones. | Views from just past the sandy area into a rocky patch (Peninnis Head side). |
After dropping our gear, a short rest and a quick change to swimwear we headed to the pool at 3:25PM in our jelly shoes. As we passed reception we looked at the evening menu and decided to eat in, and booked. We also obtained towels and robes which were great. (The receptionist also told us that a downed power line at Ealing Broadway had severely disrupted GWR services. We hoped that would be fixed by Friday!) In the pool there was condensation dropping from the ceiling but it wasn't too bad. The water was pretty cold but once we eased in it was ok. We had fun swimming around and having fun before we got out at 4:05PM. The towels and robes dried us off and got us back to the room nicely. After a good wash we relaxed. I enjoyed a hot chocolate and went through my iPhone pictures, clearing out HDR duplicates and duds.
We went downstairs to the dining room just after 5:50PM for the meal. We sat in the bar and looked at the menu while we waited for the dining room to open for dinner at 6PM. Renée opted for the mushroom soup and I had cod goujons to start with. Renée ordered chicken tikka curry and I had sea trout for mains. The food was delicious. Renée was full but I could have done with a bigger portion. It was good though and I would be fine until breakfast. We finished and returned to our room at 6:35PM to watch TV and retire for the night.
The alarm was set for 7:30AM as we planned to go to Tresco tomorrow and the first boat looked to be at 10AM.
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