Wednesday – now with photos (not of dolphins)

Was supposed to be Dolphin Day.

After my initial contact number for Shearwater boat cruises had proved no good (boat not working) I was given a mobile number and the name ‘Jason’ which sounded a little dodgey and I suspected the dolphins might be inflatable ones. I did leave a message on his voicemail but he never called me back. I then found a leaflet in the Porthmadog tourist information office and booked a trip with Tony. The leaflet promised ‘a good chance of seeing dolphins’ so whilst I appreciate they are wild animals and not that big in a rather large sea I was really quite hopeful of spotting one or two.

I had to ring Tony in the morning to check his boat was okay as he’d been having problems with it (sabotaged by dolphins maybe?) but when I spoke to him he said although it was ‘a bit choppy out there’ we’d still go. There was a map on the leaflet but it wasn’t very helpful and in the end Tony rang us to guide us in. We stopped on the way to get some travel sickness tablets ‘just incase’ – Ady has had seasickness before in small boats, I’ve never really been on one for any length of time and the kids had never done it before but have both suffered with car sickness before. As it turned out we needn’t have worried about that at all.

On the way out it was indeed very choppy but the kids declared it ‘like the best rollercoaster ride ever!’ complete with salty spray to soak us. On the way back it was calmer and so lulling that Ady and both children dozed off. I would have done too but I was ever alert for a dolphin sighting to the bitter end!

So, no dolphins. However (with a big nod to Joyce for the ‘however’ technique) we did have a fab day anyway. The boat trip was ace, we all really enjoyed that :). It was a 90 minute boat trip from Pwllheli, 3.5 hours on Bardsey Island and then 90 minutes back again. The boat was fast, exhillarating and lots of fun :).

When we arrived at the island we were greeted by the eerie sound of seals singing. In my single mindedness about dolphins I’d failed to realise we would see seals. There must have been nearly 100 seals basking on the rocks in the sunshine, calling to each other and leaping off into the sea. Scarlett was delighted and said it almost made up for no dolphins. I’ve never seen seals in the wild before and it was lovely 🙂

We watched them for a while and then debated how to spend our time on the island. We’d been given a sheet with information about the island, the wildlife, a map and several suggested walks. One was climbing the mountain which we didn’t fancy, one was round the coast and one was taking in the various landmarks. We set off for a walk around part of the coast as we were on a thinner strip of the island with just a field seperating the two sides of water. Over on the east of the Island was a lighthouse, farm and residences that people live in year round – there is a farmer and a warden who live there all the time, seven holiday homes that you can rent for weeks at a time and various houses and shops and workshops that people rent for short or long term lets, mostly during the summer season.

Davies was complaining of being cold and was struggling a bit. It never came to anything and we assumed it was just tiredness as he slept for a while on the boat on the way back and seemed fine after that but it did mean he was slower to walk around than we’d have liked and not up for as much wandering about as we may otherwise have done.

There were several shops or ‘siops’ on the Island including a couple that just had honesty boxes for anything you bought. One sold handmade felted and knitted bags, rugs and purses made with wool from the Island, honey from bees kept on the Island, things carved from wood, made from shells, painted landscapes all of the Island. We didn’t buy anything but it was all nice stuff.

We ventured further up the hill more into the middle of the Island in search of toilets and chatted to a woman who rents a workshop and house for 8 months of the year running art and craft workshops and selling things she has made. She was quite a character, well into her 50s or even 60s, clad in rainbow coloured clothing and making paper from recycled waste paper as she chatted to us. She said she loves the island and feels it is a very spiritual and creative place. Certainly judging from all of her artwork and creations she is inspired by being there.

She told us a little of the set up there and we chatted to her about water (from a well), electricity (only in the last year and not to all the properties) and making supplies last for the duration of your stay (she’d run out of tinned tomatoes!). We liked it there a lot and could well imagine a weeks break there. It would be nice to go with someone else too we decided but couldn’t quite decide who our ideal holiday companions might be…

We had a look round the tiny church, which doesn’t have electricity and is lit by candles. Scarlett liked the long handled snuffer for the chandelier.

We walked back down the hill and sat and ate our picnic in the company of a turkey who had wandered over from a nearby garden to beg for scraps. We had an hour left but Davies wasn’t really up for too much walking about and so we decided to go and sit on the cliffs and watch the seals in the sunshine, which was a very lovely way to spend a Wednesday afternoon :).

On the boat trip back, which started with a dingy ride to the catermaran as the tide was low and it couldn’t get to the shore, we said goodbye to the seals who chased us a little way out and were told it was probably far too choppy to spot dolphins but if we did to shout and they’d stop the boat so they would come over. I spent the whole journey ever alert while the other three napped but alas I saw nothing :(.

Back at the shore we decided to track down a McDonalds which was handily located next to a Tesco so we fed the children and got ingredients for a stir fry for us before heading back to Shell Island. While Ady and I ate Marcus and Michelle took Davies and Scarlett with them and Chloe to see the causeway flooding and making Shell Island really an island for a brief time. Scarlett efficiently paddled with her trousers rolled up but Davies managed to get shoes, socks and bottoms of trousers very wet 😆

I lit a fire and Ady and Davies had a game of badminton. Another nice evening :).