Puffin Paradise

Holy puffins batman!  Did we ever find what Alyssa has been dying for!  She has been wanting to see a puffin since she spotted all the cute stuffed birds in Iceland and now in England.  Someone from the hostel told us about Skomer Island and how cool it was to see all the puffins.  Turns out is a bird sanctuary that you can take a boat to and hike around the island.  We had to get up earlier to get out there to ensure a seat on the boat as its

first come, first serve, no reservations.  So with a carload of sleepy girls we set off south to find a puffin or two.  We managed to catch the 10:30 boat across with the weather not looking too great.  Rich forgot his coat and had shorts on so he was thinking it might be a long day in the wind and drizzle.  Luckily Alyssa found an emergency poncho that they sold at the registration place so Rich grabbed one of those.  Somehow Alyssa talked him into getting a pink one so needless to say we couldn’t lose Rich!  He got some pretty funny looks from people which made it even funnier and we all had a good laugh.

Across on the boat and there were puffins everywhere, on the water, dotted along the cliffs, it was puffin haven.  There are a number of different sea birds along with gulls and cormorants.  The total colony of puffins is around 21,000 and Alyssa even had one run between her feet to get across one of the trails.  The sun decided to come out and there were beautiful views all around the island with its dramatic cliffs and the sea crashing below, something that I’ve always pictured when I think of England and all the old war movies I’ve seen over the years.  We were back on the boat around 3:30 and back to the hostel for a bit of mellow time before dinner.

Alyssa has discovered chess which Rich introduced her to yesterday and since then she has beat us both.  So I had to pull out the crib board and managed to skunk her in that!!!  Also worked on some of the blog and photos and it was time to hit the pub with the kids.  It was the old local pub with the low ceilings and thick stone walls.  Had dinner and a few pints of local beer and man, were we stuffed.  Back to the hostel for a chess play down between Rich and I and it was time to crash.  Another phenomenal day!