Holiday – Narrowboat Firecrest

Castles, Beaches, and Family fun

Several of the family have springtime birthdays, so it’s not uncommon for us to gather together to celebrate a “royal birthday,” mine was the significant one this year so I got to choose the location.

One place we’ll never get to on board Firecrest is Northumbria, and a place I’ve always heard good things about is the Northumbrian coast. I chose to rent a house in Alnwick. (Of course when we made this choice we thought we’d be cruising over the leeds and liverpool canal, which meant it wasnt quite such a long drive, but there you go, plans change) The Physicians House in Alnwick sleeps 10 so plenty of room for my closest family and friends and ideally located for us go off and do our own things during the day and gather to eat drink and make merry in the evenings.

This was just the start of the merriment, I can’t post photos of what came next

Alnwick itself is a perfect little market town, protected by its castle,

And birthplace of Henry Percy, who became known as Harry Hotspur, because of his speed when it came to doing battle with the marauding Scots. (also known for his part in the downfall of Richard II, his part in Shakespear’s Henry IV part 1, and for his family lands being the site of a certain London based football club.)

The castle is open to the public, but our packed weekend meant we just didn’t have enough time to visit it. Instead we took a short drive out to Craster and walked along the beach to see the dramatic Dunstanburgh castle. Turner had a similar idea but he thought it needed to be a bit more dramatic when he painted in in 1798

I’m not sure that I agree.

Due to its isolated location, it wasn’t maintained and fell into ruins after the war of the Roses (1455-1487)
Nowadays it’s home to the seabirds.

I’ve always loved being by the sea, and one of my favourite childhood pastimes was playing French Cricket on the beach. In those days it was usually with a pieces of driftwood, but Amanda had come prepared.

The Alnmouth Beach French Cricket Team 2025

Diana and Chris had also come prepared with some silly races

I think we provided entertainment for the whole beach

But we generally just enjoyed being a family all together

We went on wild walks through the rock pools

Bamburgh castle was magical

Sea mist rising from the hot sand in front of the castle

I even learnt to fly, albeit only for a few seconds

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks

Whilst we couldn’t squeeze in a look inside Alnwick castle, we did go into the gardens with its amazing water features and scary poison garden

It was hot enough to eat lots of icecream but we were too full of maltezer birthday cake,

It was a truly memorable weekend, and I wish I could have included so many more of my friends and family

Eric and I will return to Northumbria, in a smaller property for a proper explore in years to come but for now, I am a happy 60 year old and I have a rail card.

Many many happy memories, thanks everyone.

Addendum to Iceland part 2, the main event

Today was the day we had been looking forward to for several months.

We were going to land on Skomer Island and go puffin hunting. Clad in our most waterproof clothes we set off on our 15 minute boat trip, determined to enjoy our day.

No sooner had we left the boat when the puffins were hopping up the stone steps with us. Posing for photos.

We were welcomed onto the island by the assistant warden, who told us it was a good day to see puffins because, unlike us, they enjoy a bit of wild weather. Our main instruction was to stick to the paths because most of the birds on the island live in burrows only a few inches under the ground, and whilst they didn’t want any twisted broken ankles, they really didn’t want any squashed puffins. It was roughly 4 miles to walk around the island,

Skomer had been inhabited by farming families up until 1950s. The earliest archeology dates back to the iron age and there was clearly some historical structures still standing.

Nowadays there’s a year round warden and seasonal researchers studying the wildlife. Most people visit the island on a day trip. The puffins are also just visiting, and make their annual visit between April and July. And we were treated to far more than just the puffins, the island was covered in beautiful bluebells and I imagine there will be more flowers and heathers throughout the season

And the scenery was spectacular

But it was the puffins we really wanted to see

There are roughly 40,000 puffins visiting Skomer each year and I think we saw most of them

We were given clear instructions to stick to the paths so we didn’t damage the puffins burrows, the puffins were free to wander, and we really did have to be careful not to tread on them.

It was fascinating to get so close to these comical little birds

It was build a nest day for the puffins so they were hopping around collecting bits of vegetation

We didn’t just see puffins, but guillemots as well,

I wasn’t going to risk getting any closer to check which bird they were

And razor bills, I think

One reason the birds thrive on skomer, is because there are no rats, we left the island very happy even though we felt like drowned rats at times.

some information sites we used for our trip

there is a live webcam for puffin watching on skomer.

some interesting facts about puffins

boat trips to skomer

Welsh wildlife Trust

Addendum to last years trip to Iceland, part one

After the disappointment last June when Amanda (my sister in law) and I had our whale and puffin watching excursion cancelled,

All togged up but our trip was cancelled at the very last minute

we promised ourselves we’d go to see some British puffins this year. And oh boy did we see puffins, we felt like mini David Attenboroughs.

And as we can see this little puffin is busy lining their nest with bracken

We booked ourselves an AirBnB in Milford Haven. Not your usual chocolate box seaside holiday destination, but actually there’s a very nice promenade overlooking the harbour that draws the eye away from the oil and gas refinery. Its all newly built and above the shops and fancy restaurants there’s some rather nice apartments.

The view from our appartment

We were all set for our trip to Skomer Island. We’d booked 2 trips, the first was a sunset cruise around the island. We togged up very well cause although the sun was shining, the wind was also competing for supremacy.

We were amazed by the number of puffins we saw both flying and bobbing around. My camera skills and equipment doesn’t quite make BBC standards for wildlife photography so you’ll just have to believe me that there were not hundreds, but thousands of these comical little birds, entertaining us, crash landing into the sea, cause they arent the most graceful fliers.

And we didn’t just see puffins, but many other seabirds as well, kitiwakes, manx shearwater, gannets, gulls, storm petrel, fulmar, guillemots and razorbills. Or at least according to our very informative guide we saw them all. We also saw a peregrine falcon, a blackbird and a Robin.

Puffins in the water and I think kitiwakes on the cliff

And we saw common grey seals and harbour porpoise

Apparently the week before there were over 200 seals on this beach

It was an exhilarating trip

We got what we wanted, we saw puffins the sunset and Wales

The next morning our beautiful view was somewhat obscured,

But it didn’t dampen our spirits because one of us had a birthday to celebrate

One thing we discovered, that as a tourist, the Pembrokeshire coast is heavily geared towards outdoor attraction (and quite rightly so) we drove over to St David’s and enjoyed the cathedral but the rain was coming down in barrel fulls and even exploring the little streets wasn’t much fun. Outdoor attractions need sunshine, cause despite there being lots of castles in the area, non of them still have a roof.

And of course as soon as we called it quits and trudged home for a nice meal in one of the fancy restaurants,

the sun came out and provided a bit of a sunset

And we went to bed looking forward to the night day tomorrow

The Journey Home-Iceland part 7

a delivery of flowers from my mum and Mike wishing us a memorable holiday

What a fantastic holiday, Iceland really is a place I’d like to go back to, more things to see and do and more things to see and do again, But Amanda and I had 2 whole days of cruising left to enjoy, and yes I’d quite happily become a continual cruiser on a bigger ship than Firecrest. But what’s to stop me having crispy bacon, pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast every day on Firecrest?

Just because we could…and I didn’t have to make it myself

And I’m not sure I would really want a dining room quite this big

And I discovered the pleasure in having a pedicure, we’ve been back in England 3 weeks now and my toes are still sparkley

We tried to persuade the sommelier to come home with us to keep the fizz flowing

We were supposed to be heading for a game of table tennis but when someone stops you with a glass of fizz you don’t say no

Infact Julius our lovely cocktail waiter told us he could cook and clean and quite fancied coming home with us

Amanda was very tempted to smuggle him out

I’m not sure I smile so much when it rains so much in an English summer

Standing over the great divide, between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates

And it was very disappointing when our whale watching trip got cancelled at the last minute

So disappointing, all dressed up and nowhere to go

But we really did get to see some magnificent sights in Iceland.

The rain didn’t dampen our spirits

Dressing for dinner was fun

And cocktail of the day was a must, although we tried to hold off until 5pm when we had a plate of canapés delivered to our cabin

And nothing beats live music

It’s been hard to pick out the best bits, I think perhaps Goðafoss was my favourite waterfall

The lupins were my favourite flower on the island

lovely Alaska lupins, brought in to help reduce the soil erosion

The sunsets were memorable

And the company was the best,

I wish that Amanda had been able to share this with David as they’d planned back in 2022, but his memory travelled with us and this holiday was dedicated to him, his love of life and his love for Amanda. Thankyou Amanda for letting me share it with you.

The Golden Circle-Iceland part 6

There are many “must do” sights in Iceland and when we were planning our trip, visiting the golden circle, the 140 mile spectacular route was one we had to see, and didn’t we just pick the day with the weather.

But nothing was going stop Amanda and I making the most of every single minute, including shrieks of amazement when our tour bus was leaving the industrial harbour and I saw a Firecrest painted on the side of unit.

The Firecrest might be the smallest bird in England, but that’s definitely the biggest bird I’ve seen in Iceland

Luckily the perceived wisdom about the weather in Iceland is to “hang about 10 minutes and it will have changed completely”. So as our tour bus arrived at one of the magnificent waterfalls, the mist parted to reveal Gullfoss, “the golden waterfall” Of course being part of the must do tour of Iceland meant we weren’t the only ones enjoying the view.

Gullfoss could be counted as two significant waterfalls, each worthy of a million photos

Back in the early 20th century an enterprising English man wanted to buy the waterfall from its owner, Tomas Tomasson, a sheep farmer. The plan was to use it to generate hydro-electricity. However Tomas refused to sell “his friend” but did agree to lease the land. This led to years of legal battles, because there was a loophole that Tomas hadn’t forseen. His daughter, Sigríður Tómasdóttir fought hard and sacrificed much, she frequently walked the 62 miles into Reykjavik to After much expense and uphill struggle, to the point where she threatened to throw herself into the falls if construction started, Howell pulled out and in 1929 Gullfoss returned to the custodianship of the Icelandic people. Sigríður is recognized as Iceland’s first environmentalist

I wonder if I have a bit of Iceland in my heritage, wearing plaits.

But there’s no way I’m going to throw myself down there no matter how special it is.

We could have stayed and marvelled all day at Gullfoss, but our excussion was ready to move on. We didn’t have time to visit the Langjökull Glacier,

it was only after a closer look that we realised it was ice not cloud

We fancied something a bit warmer so it was off to visit geysers

Our geyser is Stokkur, and you can see the comparison to other globally famous geysers

With dire warnings not to go into the water as it was coming out of the ground between 80 and 100°C we all dutifully stood around the discreet barrier

And were rewarded with several very dramatic expulsions of water and steam as Stokkur revealed its glory

It’s little brother, appropriately named Little geyser was spluttering mud most of the time

Again as we have seen throughout our visit, despite it being height of tourist season and the number of visitors, we never really felt the crowds spoilt our own enjoyment.

We had one final location to visit on our golden circle tour. Þingvellir, (thingvellir)This area is strangely unique as it forms both part of Iceland’s political heritage, and a significant geological feature. The newly arrived settlers gathered together at this site to decide how to live as a community. The Alþingi, general assembly was founded in 930 and continued meet until 1798, it is still revered as a national shrine.

However impressive the sense of pride the Icelanders have of their country, we were fascinated by the fact that these rock formations were actually part of the earth’s tectonic plates. On one side we were able to reach out and touch the Americas,

Yes it was raining again, but who could resist touching America

whereas on the other we were in no-man’s land for the eurasion plates were now some 4km away and shifting by 2.5cm a year.

Thankfully thats only 0.07mm per day and we didn’t think the ground was going to swallow us up before we got home.

I’m glad we couldn’t see what we were walking over

We made it safely back to our ship in time for an early evening departure from Iceland. As we said our farewells we cruised past the Imagine Peace Tower, the right hand small white structure on Viðey Island. It is a memorial and symbol of international peace, erected by Yoko Ono in 2007,

the Imagine Peace Tower
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine_Peace_Tower

on significant dates it is lit with 15 searchlights and prisms that appear to create a tower of light reaching 4000m into the sky

Reykjavik-Iceland part 5

Another early morning treat when we threw open the curtains, our very cartoon volcano on the horizon. Thankfully it wasn’t an erupting one.

And being up early we saw the pilot arrive to guide the ship into Reykjavik Harbour.The skyline was full of promise of an exciting city to explore

We decided to forgo the organised excusion to the famous Blue Lagoon, Back in March I had shared the locks on the Hatton flight with a family who turned out to be travel writers, I flippantly asked for any tips about Iceland and was told I must visit the Sky Lagoon, it being newer, a better location, smaller and less busy closer to Reykjavik, and cheaper to boot -with more extras. And after hearing our fellow passengers accounts it seems we chose well. Needless to say you will have to form your own picture of Amanda and I bathing in the thermal waters of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean, of course with a cocktail in hand, before we entered the 7 step spa ritual with its sauna, again overlooking the ocean, the salt scrub and whale music, (don’t picture us leaping into the ice cold plunge pool, that wasn’t so pretty) etc.

https://www.skylagoon.com/

I could say that’s it for our trip to Reykjavik, but fortunately it wasn’t. With our radiant skin and chilled out minds we followed our taxi drivers recommendation and found ourselves a cafe serving proper icelandic food. And we sat on the pavement eating soused herring on ryebread

After lunch we followed the rainbow road up to the magnificent Hallgrímskirkja, which although the most impressive of buildings, isnt the Reykjavik cathdral but the parish church. To me its sleek modern architecture summed up how artistic and stylish this island is. And interestingly it is known in English as the Church on the Hill, which is also what the Church our father in law was minister at for many years.

my photos don’t do justice to the scale of this elegant building, known in English as the Church on the Hill

And standing watch outside is a monument of Lief Ericsson, the explorer credited with discovering Iceland in the 10th century

Perhaps not all of Iceland’s art is quite as stylish

But I did like the piles of rocks all along the shoreline

We perhaps didn’t make the best of our day exploring Reykjavik, there were many many more attractions that we could have visited. But we had booked ourselves onto a whale watching trip at 3pm so we only had two hours between the spa and what was to be the highlight of our trip. We got ourselves all togged in the gear

And we’re just heading down to the awaiting RIB…..

This was to be a joy ride extraordinaire

…..when our excitement was shattered. The sea conditions had worsened and the waves were now over 2m so our trip was cancelled. To say we were gutted was an understatement. Although with that sort of swell perhaps our guts were secretly relieved. Although it was still only 4pm the last, courtesy bus back to Borealis was at 5. We could have found a taxi and stayed out longer but our spirits were dampened, until of course we got back to the ship, and were met by our favourite waiter, Julius, who gave us a hot toddy before we boarded.

We like to think we were his favourite passengers

all the crew were lovely on board, they were mainly from the Philippines, they all spoke excellent English, and nothing seemed too much trouble for them. We quickly got to know who worked where on the ship, and madam Cheryl and madam Amanda were always greeted with a smile. We’d recommend Fred Olsen as a cruise operator any day. The little extras always made us smile

(And Hi to Steven the cyclist who stopped to say hello yesterday, who let us know he was enjoying the blog- thanks Steven we appreciate knowing)

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