Sunday 10 May 2015

An Anglesey Visit

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.

No visit would be complete without popping in to see the terns at Cemlyn. We crunched along the shingle, the wind and the rain on our backs, until we were opposite the breeding island.  The ardour of the males was in no way dampened by the weather. Let’s hope they have a good season.