Isles of Scilly - Tresco

It was Monday morning and a brilliant blue sky day. After spending two days on the island of St Mary's, I thought it was time to visit another island. Most of the boats leave St Mary's for other islands around 10.15 to 10.30 each morning. When you get down to the harbour area there is a blackboard which tells you which boat is going to which island that day. You buy your boat tickets in advance and then just decide which island you will visit when you get down to the quay. I think this red one coming in was our boat for the island of Tresco.As we left the quay, I noticed the Scilly lifeboat moored up in the harbour. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in Britain is solely funded by donations from the public and is manned by volunteers. They all have other jobs which get left standing when an emergency comes up. They do an amazing job and I can't praise them highly enough!A website which might be of interest is www.simplyscilly.co.uk this gives you a great overview of the various islands.

The boat trip to Tresco takes about 20 minutes. Because of the tides, we arrived at one quay and would be picked up later in the day from a different quay further up the island. Below is a view from Tresco over to the island of Bryher. Apparently on a low tide it is possible to wade over from one island to the other. This is something I haven't tried up to now and am not likely to as I can't swim! (-:Here is another view over to Bryher from New Grimsby quay.I've just now realised that I've not put these photos in the best order, but never mind! (-: After spending a couple of hours on the island finding and watching various birds that we'd been hoping to see, my friends decided they fancied walking the north part of the island for the rest of their time on Tresco. I on the other hand was in the mood to just find somewhere to sit and stare and soak up the ambiance of the place. So, saying farewell to my friends I ambled slowly towards our pick up point for later in the afternoon. I found my spot to sit and soak up the sun and sea at New Grimsby quay.

There would be two chances in the afternoon to get the boat back to St Mary's. At 2.30 and at 4.30. I knew my friends would be getting the 4.30 one back and I had about an hour or so till the 2.30 boat came in.

When I got to the quay the tide was well out so I had the opportunity to watch it gradually come back in (very relaxing).As I sat there on a comfy granite boulder (and yes it really was comfy!), I managed to get a shot of this Greenshank as it flew past me to settle on the far side of New Grimsby bay.I liked this succulent type plant that had nestled in amongst the granite boulders. It obviously doesn't need much soil to thrive!The colour of the exposed seaweed was fabulous. I haven't mucked about with the colour of these photos at all.There was also that wonderful briny smell of seaweed to enjoy too! On the beach this big beast of a Great Black-backed Gull gave me a steely glare! I'm not sure he was too keen on having his photo taken!Out of order I'm afraid, but here is a dodgy digiscoped photo of a Long-billed Dowitcher taken earlier that day. This is a vagrant to our shores. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo when he was awake.Back at the quayside, this was one of the local's fishing boats. I just liked the slightly rusty old look to the boat and that little sail stuck up at the back.This small rowing boat was waiting for the tide to come in too. Back in 2002 on a previous trip to these islands, I and my friends 'twitched' a Baltimore Oriole in a boat like this, but that's a whole 'nother story! (-:This last photo was taken back on St Mary's. It was on another day and the sky had a very brooding look to it. As I was looking out towards the island of Tresco the sun happened to come out and shine just on that part of Tresco where the lighthouse was. It made for a lovely photo opportunity I think. As usual, most of these photos would be better if clicked on to enlarge.