Day 18: Weren't you with us last year?

Our last full day in Lerwick started very leisurely.  In fact, nothing of note happened until about 2, when Elizabeth Angus asked if she could come by and say farewell.  She didn't arrive until shortly before 3 and it allowed me to rectify something I haven't done this whole trip: get a picture of Elizabeth, Mum, and Dad together.

Elizabeth had a secondary reason to come over and that was to keep Mum company while Dad and I went off on a Noss boat tour.  Mum, given that she turns green at the mere mention of a boat, was to be left behind.  Now Dad and I did this tour last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I wanted to take him again.  One quick cab ride down to Victoria Pier and instead of us being waited for by the boat, we were the ones waiting.  Given the swells and tides today, trips were taking a little longer than usual, but that's fine by us.

Our preferred choice of tour was Seabirds-and-Seals, firstly because the boat had a cover on it, because chasing birds without a some sort of covering is not the best idea.  Secondly, it has a cabin and bathroom in case we wanted to take cover or, well, to put it bluntly, pee.  We like our amenities.  Fortunately, this trip had been rescheduled from last week, which worked out for the best because Dad's now over his cold.  It's hard to enjoy pretty birds with a head cold.

We were able to get on the boat and our preferred seats.  They are the seats just under the cover to protect from bird bombs, and just far enough away from the edge of the boat that it keeps the spray to a minimum. 

 

It was a beautiful, bright sunny day, and we were told we were going to go along the north of Bressay, rather than the south, which we did last year.  Due to swells last year we didn't make it around the far side of Noss (which is a nature reserve) either, and we would this time.  It was like a whole new tour!

First, I got views of Bressay I have never seen before.

We also got to the seabirds (on the Seabird) faster and soon there were gannets and guillemots and great skuas galore. 

Dad and I kept commenting on how much the guillemots look like penguins, and thus a group looks like a flock of penguins all hanging out.  Penguins has a double-meaning in our family and all I have to say is Gerry, don't you agree about the penguins?  (Hopefully Gerry reads this blog.)

I tried to take the best pictures I could, but, as has been established, I don't do photography for a living.  This is evidenced by the lousy pictures of seals I'm about to include.

Doesn't that second seal look like "paint me like one of your French Girls," or, likewise, Marat, in the painting about his death?  What I'm trying to say here is that this seal has some serious drama vibes going for it.

After we went around Noss, our captain, Brian, took us out farther to see so that our host, Marie, could feed the birds.  Watching gannets dive is an amazing sight, but they are much too quick doing it for my photographic abilities.  The gannets are obviously used to getting fed this way as about a hundred of them were following the Seabird hoping for a free snack.

For the longest time, one great skua did keep following us with the never-ending hope of a snack. It was rewarded with a cookie.  I have to say, that was a lot of effort for one cookie.

I think only that great skua and Cookie Monster would've held on that long for one cookie.

We paused in the Sound of Noss for a coffee and cookie break.  I'm surprised the great skua didn't turn up for it.  It was at this point, Marie asked me if we took the tour with them last year.  Considering how many people she deals with a summer, she has a really good memory.

We got told how to take a walk on Noss (never on Monday or Thursday) and saw the house of the wardens who live there throughout the summer.  No one else lives on Noss throughout the year.

Personally, it sounds like a sweet job: monitor the birds, make sure the island stays environmentally friendly, and hopefully pick up the one not so well seal we saw to make sure it gets care.  (I didn't take a picture of that seal as it didn't feel right.  I don't want my picture taken when I'm feeling poorly either.)  Our host, Marie, assured us she'd report the poor thing.

As a tour group, we were polled if we wanted to deal with the slightly rougher swells and go around the south side of Noss, or head back on the calmer north route.  We were unanimous about going the south way, which I have so say is the calmest and most agreeable vote the world is going to see this year.

This part of the trip was more familiar to Dad and me, as this was the route we took last year.  Still, I had to take a picture of Giant's Leg.

Unlike last year, it was too rough to sail through.  

Finally, on this part of the trip, I got to see a shag.  They're such funny-looking birds, like someone brought a Dr. Seuss drawing to life.  I would include a picture, but all the ones I took turned out blurry so I won't force them upon you.  Instead, I'll include this link so you can see how silly they look.

After the south end of Bressay, we sailed past the lighthouse, which was built by the same people who build Muckle Flugga.  To be honest, I think Dad like Muckle Flugga better though the one on Bressay is still a very nice lighthouse.

Finally, we came into sight of Lerwick, and I got to take a picture of Bain's Beach from the opposite way.

Sadly, on this trip I didn't get any pictures of arctic terns or puffins, though we did briefly see them.  

We pulled into Victoria Pier within about 10 minutes of the Seabird needing to head out on it's last tour of the day.  

As it was such a beautiful day, Dad and I decided to try walking home, so, of course, I had to document it.  For instance, here's Dad in Market Cross:

Next, here is Dad on the side of Bain's Beach which is far more familiar.  Those black blurs in the background are arctic terns.

I also managed to catch the Seabird heading back out to Noss.  I hope Brian and Marie had as good a tour that time as we did.

Just before we made it home, the cat that greeted Mum and me in the windowsill yesterday, greeted Dad and me in the street.  We knew it was there long before we saw it because every bird in the area was screaming a warning of danger, danger Will Robinson.  Plus, yesterday's cat brought a pal this evening.

Of course, we had a quiet evening of dinner and packing, and you could be forgiven for presuming that, not only because I just typed it, but also, because that's what we usually do after a busy afternoon.  Nope.  Not at all.  Elizabeth had left some of her mother's knitting from the 1920s for me to look over (her mother knitted for competitions) and came back with even more this evening after dinner.

If I could knit like that, I'd enter every competition ever and have the level of confidence of the gull that pooped on the inside of the taxi door from Friday. 

She only stayed for an a couple of hours, but still, it was sad to see her go as it really wraps up our trip to Lerwick.  It started with Elizabeth, and ended with Elizabeth, how appropriate.

Stats:

Dogs: 1

Guillemots: 2000

Gannets: 3000

Great Skuas: 4

Puffins: 12

European Shags: 10

Seals: 4

Cats: 3