A circus of puffins

Our wake-up call this morning was the sound of clanking chains as the anchors were dropped off the coast of Fair Isle.

Fair Isle is the most remote inhabited island in the UK, halfway between Orkney and Shetland. The island is 4.8km long and 2.4 km wide and is home to 40 people.

We were ferried to shore by zodiac, with the promise of seeing puffins... and we weren't disappointed! It's currently breeding season and they were busy furnishing their burrows with fresh grass, making multiple trips back and forth to sea to rest. They are much more at home on the ocean, and prefer to spend minimal time on land.

Fun puffin fact - they only have their bright beaks during breeding season, the rest of the year it is grey.

After observing the puffins for a while we walked almost to the other end of the island to the Community Hall, where the locals had put on a spread of morning tea for us. They were also selling their famous Fair Isle knitwear, and souvenirs made by the school. Currently the school has 5 children, but will go down to 2 in the new school year in July.

We walked on a bit further and collected the only cache on Fair Isle, then walked back to the harbour. In total today we walked 11 km.

After lunch on the ship, we returned back to shore for free time. We chose to watch the puffins again, and with far less people this time, the puffins were more active and more numerous, much to Oliver's delight.Read more