| Isle Of Lewis Summer 2008. Flowers, Birds,Archaeology |
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| Day
1: ULLAPOOL - Cruising to Isle Martin |
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I
really wanted to travel to Lewis but the ferry was full so I decided
not to waste an opportunity and booked a trip on the Summer Queen
Cruise to the Isle Martin. At 2.30pm we set off and within an
hour we were already rounding the Isle sighting fulmars in their
rocky cliff side homes. |
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Also
present were huge great black-backed gulls swooping around the
boat rather threatingly. |
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As
we rounded the mainland facing side of the Isle we caught our
first sight of a common seal colony on the mainland shore below
Ben More Coigach. |
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| As we got closer most of the seals seemed used to the prying eyes and stared at us with a seeming look of disconcert if not indifference | |||||||||||||
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Some
say such sightings of seals were the origin of the mermaid myth. I could understand this as we moved towards a seal sitting proudly on a lonely rock. It reminded me of the little mermaid in Copenhagen. |
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Further
around the shore even more seals were basking |
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All
too soon we headed back to Ullapool past a salmon farm where herring
gulls were pinching fish food. |
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| Every now and then the odd shag sped low past the vessel with scattered groups of guillemot floating carelessly along the way. | |||||||||||||
| As
we approached our mooring a juvenile herring gull stood alone on
the pebble beach. I'd like to think it was there to welcome us home
but I know it was after a free feed. |
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Back
to the B & B for a slight refreshment or three. |
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