A Day of Wonders. 12c Sunny.

Last evening was hilarious fun. Richard had a long sleep, I think his new relationship has exhausted him. Roger started us off with his gin & tonics. Sally calls and Richard disappears for a long while! Olly tried out a new mind reading tick on us all called The Twins. The gin hits Olly who rarely drinks and he has a laughing fit! We have a very relaxing supper of Olly’s special recipe smoked Mackerel pâté, toast & salad followed by Janet’s new recipe Easter Pudding which we called her left over hot cross bun dish. Served of course with cream. No calories there then. Here ends another fun packed day.

Easter Monday is a lovely bright start to the day. We are instructed by Mr Silly to be ready by 9.30am to walk the short distance to the quay to catch the boat to Tresco. A short queue and we are on the boat and off. A fair mix of ages, I am surprised by the number of young people and dogs. One couple telling us they brought their large dog over on the small plane similar to the one we arrived on. A 20 minute journey, very calm waters and we are on Tresco. I am glad the steps are easy as the last boat I alighted from I made a very undignified exit as the step was huge! We walk along a smooth concrete path through picturesque hilly heathland , crossing the heliport arriving at Tresco Abby Gardens http://www.tresco.co.uk where we start with a welcomed coffee. I love watching people of different ages and so many ways of dressing. As we wait for dear Richard to queue for coffee the multitude of amazing garb people wear never fails to amaze me. I hate to think what they think of us! One guy has a felt hat, his wife a rotund lady has a knitted dress and thick tights of various colours that clash, the next chap a short guy who is obviously full of himself, a puffed out chest, has a pirate scarf on his head. A family of five, a couple with three little girls all with amazing plaits in their hair . A young glam couple with a huge hairy wolfhound. And so on. In the courtyard out side the coffee shop we are gob smacked to see a tame ish pheasant just meandering amongst the crowd. I try and take a photo but a young child tries to chase it. Roger swears! Onwards through to the gardens which are exquisite, we take many many photos. After an hour or so we think we must make our way to the main event that brings us to the real reason we are here. The low tide event. This is a unique Scillonian experience and pop up festival of food and drink. Every so often extreme Spring Tides mean the watery barrier between the two islands of Tresco & Bryher falls away for a few precious hours, exposing the sea bed giving a unique opportunity to walk across and sample the delights of the other island , accompanied by the smug feeling of somehow beating the elements. We have the most amazing time. It’s still very watery so we remove our shoes and sox and paddle across through the warm pools and seaweed. Mr Happy was unhappy with this. He thought it would be cold but it was beautifully warm. We reach the party through crowds of families, excited children to-ing & frowing, there is live music, food stalls in upturned boats , booze stalls, lobster pot making, lots of merriment. We enjoy a freshly made lobster sarnie and a spicy lobster topped Bloody Mary ! Richard accidentally drops his prime piece of lobster on the sand and promptly washes the sand off in the sea puddles! It’s a short visit as the tide looks like it’s coming in and I’m worried about my slow movement through the puddles avoiding crabs on my tootsies. Back on dry shores we find somewhere to perch to remove the sand from our feet and put shoes back on. Back on the walk back to Tresco quay for our boat back to St Mary’s. We pass the heliport again , see a landing, disembarkation & taken off at close range. Very exciting as Olly & Janet are returning to the mainland by chopper. It’s a different boat back, completely open, good job not raining, we chat to the skipper whilst waiting for sailing times learning all about Island life. On the way back to the lodgings we do a spot of shopping, Richard is anxious to find a souvenir for someone special wink wink. Back at HQ we sit in our sitting room watching the bay and the boats. In a week or so the island hosts the gig racing World championship. Every evening teams row around the bay practicing. It’s fascinating to watch. Olly plays ELO Mr Blue Sky which is very appropriate. It makes a change from his constant singing. I’ve never met such a happy individual never a dull moment with the dear Olly Day about. We discuss where coconuts come from. Everyone says the obvious place but Olly suggest Aldi! The silly jokes flow. Someone suggests a spot of supper. I notice we did 14000 steps today by 3pm.

After a superb supper of fish cakes from the local co op and Janet’s fab salad, a bit of cheese , copious amount of red wine, the evening takes a turn, Olly plays a wonderful video clip of his amazing mum explaining how she needed to remove her 51 year old Burco tumble dryer from the shed as it had packed up and the new one was arriving soon, bless her she seemed oblivious on how wonderful that something should last that long, we watch Olly Alexander who I love, a bit of Paul Weller – more wine, the jokes get ruder and ruder, Richard takes his second tumble over the low couch that he perches on, Olly get a terrible bout of cramp , ends up in agony on the floor so first aid by Roger who insists he does inversions which apparently cures everything, somehow the fire blanket gets dislodged and the whole party gets hysterical ! I have never laughed so much at so much stupidity in my life. I pity the guests in the accommodation below us and it is now gone midnight once again a late night and judging by the bottle count possibly a bad hangover.