The boat trip to Holy Island was going to be a highlight of our trip. We found the excursion website to be impossible with which to book online, so arrived early at a packed Seahouses (at the rear of an overflow car park) and stood hopefully at the booking office window. “Sorry”, we were told, “it’s full”. She even rang and checked for us, then Neptune must have smiled on us, as the phone rang and suddenly they’d had a cancellation.

We mooched about to fill in the time till departure (sorry Seahouses but unless you want to stuff yourself silly there isn’t a lot to do) and then we assembled in the green ticket line. The weather was beautiful, the sea calm and we sailed out of the harbour, firstly for the Farne Islands and their extensive sea bird population, then Lindisfarne.

Truthfully, we were a bit deflated on exploring Lindisfarne. It has a certain mystique but also an eerie empty feel, which may have been caused by high tide and most of the tourists leaving before they were cut off. For the most part it was closed and far too late to easily get a hot meal. Ok, two huge toasted teacakes helped stave off the pangs of hunger.

We boarded for our return trip in gusting rain, which made the sight of Bambrugh from the seaward side even more foreboding. I think we could be referred to as ‘weatherbeaten’ when we got back to Seahouses and we decided to drive on to Berwick for a meal before returning here. We really enjoyed the day and it was an unforgettable experience, though for both of us it was something to be ticked off the bucket list rather than to be repeated.

Tomorrow, we drive back to my Mum’s. Though not before a diversion to look at Hadrians Wall and Corbridge.