Isles of Scilly! Day 1: St Mary's and St Agnes

The first big trip of the year, and with any luck a chance to visit a huge number of islands in a very short time, that's what we wanted from Scilly, and it absolutely delivered. Just me and Liam, meaning nobody along for the ride to get in the way of pure, non-stop island bagging. After an evening drive from Bristol to Penzance and a few hours kip in the backpackers hostel (very reasonable rates!) we were up at half five for boarding onto the Scillonian III. Dolphins off the starboard bow (but the camera was as blurry as my eyes and failed to catch them) as we passed Land's End into open waters, then a couple more hours sleep in the cafe below deck to give us some energy for the day ahead. 

We duly arrived into bustling Hugh Town at around half nine, via Rat Island (1) where the ferry docks, onto St Mary's (2) and eventually found our way to the top of Garrison Hill and to our home for a few days at the campsite. Tent pitched double-quick and back down to the beach to rack up a couple of easy tidal islands before lunch. 

St Mary's from Garrison Hill

Liam under an arch

First up was Newford Island (3), technically private according to a painted rock, but we hoped the owner wouldn't mind if we just jumped on for a moment to get a snap.

Newford Island from the beach

Standard Issue "I'm on a new island" pose

Next was Taylor's Island (4). nothing particularly remarkable, some rocks which at high tide are cut off from the main beach. Something of a warm up.

Taylor's Island and Causeway

Back to "Mainland" St Mary's

With choices to make as to which islands to do when, after a swift lunchtime pint we ended up choosing to go to St Agnes on the afternoon sailing, but managed to agree we would stay longer and come back with the folk on the supper boat at nine. This meant a full seven hours of exploring time.

Leaving St Mary's Quay

The boats around the "off islands" are pretty awesome, with a slick system of tickets and regular and well advertised sailings, they do make it easy to make the most of the archipelago.

The Turks Head, St Agnes

After about twenty minutes on board the cruiser we landed on St Agnes (5) and immediately and unsuspectingly found ourselves at the pub, the Turks Head, and our favourite in Scilly, just as a proper rainstorm started. Nothing to do but take shelter with the first of many pints of Cornish Rattler, and engage the other visitors in talks of other islands they'd been to and how they'd got there. It's certainly true that if you go to an island, people talk about other islands all the time. 

Well the rain didn't really abate, but our spirits buoyed by the cider, we decided to make a run for it and try to get a quick lap of the island in, and see what we could see. We passed the bar to Gugh (pronounced Gyooo, so we learned) but the tide at this point was too far in to cross, so we carried around to the south of the island and the dramatic and desolate Wingletang Down.

Some Rocks on Wingletang Down

Some more Rocks on Wingletang Down

After a long walk over the moors we came on what looked like a simple promontory, but on closer inspection there was definitely water all around, which meant only one thing. Unfortunately the water was quite deep and the waves were quite powerful, so a quick hop and skip over wasn't really an option, but we didn't let that deter us, the tide was on it's way out. Twenty minutes watching wave after wave it at least looked like it had gone out a bit, so we gingerly (and probably irresponsibly) stepped out over the wet boulders. It was a bit hairy, and the picture probably doesn't do it justice, but we made it, and later found out that it had a name, Castle Vean (6) was conquered...

The tide retreating around the base of Castle Vean

It was around this point that we realised we were in deep, this wasn't just a nice little holiday, it was a mission, and we were ready to go the extra mile for extra islands bagged. Moving on, after a minor detour past some Scilly cows and directions from a farmer we got to the south western corner of St Agnes, firstly to   a beach full of piles of rocks, to which we added our own (except mine fell over), and then the 'world famous' Troy-Town maze. Some guidebooks say it's an ancient construction that will energise your soul, but another one said it was made by a farmer who was bored. Either way it wasn't a very hard maze, and we both made it to the middle!

The man-made piles were pretty but they couldn't match the grandeur of the natural formations

Troy Town Maze - Liam nearly at the end!

On round and past the Troytown campsite we came to the North-West corner of St Agnes, and two more tidal islands to reach. The tide was very much in our favour, and there were rocky causeways to pick our way over firstly to Burnt Island (7), and then out further still, just as the waters receded, to another tiny patch of vegetation atop the rocks, adorned with what looks like just one side of a giant house, but I understand is a daymarker, light a lighthouse when it's not dark. I'm not 100% on the name of this second island, or if it even has one, but the one map we saw had the name "Tins Walbert" (8) on it around the end of the causeway, so I'll go with that. Either way we got there, took a photo, and walked back again

Me on Tins Walbert. Tired? Perhaps, bored? Certainly not!

A little bit of early evening sunshine

After all this excitement we'd still left ourselves a few hours before the boat back to St Mary's, and we'd left ourselves and excellent little island to spend it on. Gugh (9) is reached across a tidal sandbar from St Agnes and is technically the sixth inhabited island of Scilly, with 2 people reporting at the last census. Large enough for a proper explore, but not big enough to deter tired and aching bodies, it was the perfect end to the first day, with just time for one last little drink on the beach next to the Turks Head before the boat came to take us back to the campsite. Nine islands in a day, and a new record for us, but for how long would it stand with two full days on Scilly ahead of us...

Liam strides confidently along the sandbar to Gugh