Back to the island

Yesterday my dad, the boy and I walked over to my favourite place in the world. Holy Island. I love the place and helped out at a summer camp there and can't wait to go back this summer.

It is a tiny island that is off the North East coast of England, known as Lindisfarne or Holy Island it is where there was priory (well still IS a priory but it is a bit in ruins) and the monks who wrote the Lindisfarne Gospels completed them. It is where a whole load of famous Northumbrian saints resided, has a castle, the most beautiful beaches, DEVIL'S DROP! (a huuuge sand dune you can roll down- although you should be prepared to feel very sick and dizzy afterwards!), a myriad of birds and wildlife. You get the most stunning views of Bamburgh too. If you are ever driving up the coast to Edinburgh go! It is fabulous.

Holy Island is cut off from land by the tides twice a day so we had a very early start to make sure we could walk across the exposed sand and get back in time! After bacon sandwiches cooked on the beach and with wellies on we started to follow the posts in the sand that guide the way across the causeway. We encountered the first watchtower which is there for people to climb up if the get caught out by the tide. My legs hurried up a bit at this point. Walking along the sand on a beautiful spring morning, knowing that hours before there had been sea was such an amazing experience.

We got to the island after me playing about with seaweed and generally being a goofball and went to the most gorgeous cafe (www.pilgrimscoffee.com) It was so lovely and we cosied up the the log fire for tea and scones. Afterwards we explored the island before heading back before getting stuck.

The distance is VERY deceptive cos it is so flat and halfway back I was starting to get a little tired but a bit of shell collecting spurred me on. A snooze in the car and the rugby on the telly was the perfect way to end a gorgeous morning walking in a stunning part of the North East to my favourite place in the world.

P.S. Do bacon sandwiches ever taste better than being cooked outside with hunger being the best sauce?!