We booked a
sea safari, a rib-ride round Puffin Island. It was a bit like pre-booking the
Snowdon Mountain Railway and when the day arrives, so do the clouds. Clouds
didn’t obliterate our view but, despite ‘waterproofs’ and thermals, the rain
and the speed made us wet and very cold. Upon reflection we should have taken the
slow boat from Beaumaris, with the cover over the back, and maybe a gin and
tonic or a hot mug of soup; but then we’d have missed the thrills and spills of
the ride itself.
We saw
plenty of seals, a few puffins and on the return, several porpoises swimming north
up the Menai Strait. The sea was perfectly calm making it easy to see the fins
parting the water. Views of the nesting birds were good but nowhere near as spectacular
as when I visited the island with the RSPB the previous May. This is what it
looked like last year:
Anglesey Sea
Zoo was great, a wonderful insight into local marine life; good to see such
emphasis on local species and their conservation although I felt a bit guilty
about the lobsters pre-booked for that evening. I’m sure our lobsters, which were
very tasty, were sustainably harvested.
Newborough
Beach and Llanddwyn Island were stunning in the sunshine. £4 to park seemed a
bargain for the experience on a sunny afternoon. Coastal wild flowers were at their
best and the paths, buildings and monuments looked well cared for. Two people
riding horses on the beach added to the idyllic picture. Lots of people out
with dogs, several off the lead – this despite signs saying no dogs at this
time of year. Who enforces this regulation?
Our hotel
had a sun drenched balcony complete with a greeny yellow moth on the decking. The
following afternoon the drenching was by rain and the resourceful moth had
retreated beneath an overhang in the wall.
Before the
rain came we took a coastal woodland walk around a section of Red Wharf Bay;
woodland flowers are so much more advanced compared to upland Snowdonia.
