Tuesday, 17^th June                          COCKENZIE  -  FIRTH OF FORTH  -  THE KELPIES

It’s been another wonderful day, and once again the Scottish weather has been very kind to us. As I type, it’s nearly half past seven and the sun is still shining away outside and there are blue skies.

Today’s main excursion was to Queensferry, at the base of the iconic red rail bridge that spans the Firth of Forth. Built by the Victorians, it’s a marvel of engineering, and a wonderful sight, especially up close. From here, we caught a boat cruise that took us out to Inchcolm Island, where we had nearly 2 hours to wander and explore.

                                                   Our boat waiting at the end of the harbour

We set out a bit before 10, after doing boring things like washing (the clothes situation was getting a bit critical, and we won’t be able to have any more laundry done until Inverness.) With it all safely hung about inside, we travelled west, skirted Edinburgh, and arrived at Queensferry at about twenty to 11 (the cruise left at 11). We dropped Glen off to see if we could get tickets, while we finally found a park for the car about halfway up the hill. Tickets were available, so we hustled down the hill, got our passes and headed out to the boat. The Forth Belle was a good-sized boat, with plenty of room for probably about fifty passengers on our trip. They took us under the three main bridges that span the Forth: the iconic Victorian red train bridge, and the two newer road bridges, built in 1964 and 2017, so three bridges in three centuries! We then swung around and headed past several small islands until we came to Inchcolm. There was a recorded narrator who was excellent, and told us stories about each place we passed, and the wildlife in the firth. (For the puzzled, a firth is a Scottish word for a long, narrow inlet of the sea.)

                                                    Arriving at the island

                                                                The abbey

The island has a long religious history – as a cold, miserable, lonely island in the middle of a cold, unforgiving body of water, of course it was the perfect place for a hermit’s retreat in the Dark Ages, then in the 12^th century, King Alexander 1^st of Scotland founded a monastery there. It survived many English raids, was used as a quarantine station during the plague, the abbey was turned into a private home after the reformation, and it came into active service in both world wars. In fact, during WWII there were over 500 men stationed there, some of them sleeping in the abbey (THAT must have been comfortable – not!) Some of the war defences remain, and are appreciated by the many seagulls who live there.

We had a most enjoyable couple of hours on the island – Lex and I started with a walk right up onto the hilltop. The gulls are nesting, so there were many, many agitated and concerned mothers making their opinions known. The chicks are grey and downy with black flecks, and very cute. I was really hoping to see a puffin or two, but apparently there are very few so far, and on the other side of the hill. After that, we explored the old abbey – a lot of it is in quite good repair, really. Lex and Glen went up an incredibly narrow spiral stone staircase to the very top of the roof, but I looked at it and bailed! We can appreciate their photos instead. There were a couple of classes of school kids there, about year 5, so I felt quite at home. (And deeply envious – WHAT a place for an excursion!) We also visited the shop and museum, went down on the beaches (black seaweed is not what we’re used to, I must say), and Lex and Glen went for a walk up behind the shop to see the old war defences there.

                                                            Birdwatching on the hill

                                                               Mother and chick

                                                                Gull chick

                                                 The abbey and the beach

                                                  The view from the top of the abbey

Before we knew it, our ship arrived again to take us back. This time we came back via the other side of the island, and slowed down several times to see the seals swimming, basking there on the rocks, and one relaxing on a buoy! We got a good look at the three bridges again as we came back to the harbour and arrived just before 3. By now we were starving, as they only had snacks and tea and coffee available on the boat and island, so we headed straight across the road to the hotel, The Hawes Inn. We had a very late lunch – Lex and I shared a pizza, Carol had salt and pepper squid, and Glen a brisket sandwich, so we all felt much better after that!

                                                                           Seals!

                                                          This one was basking on a buoy

                                                             New 2017 road bridge

                                                           Keen bridge watcher

                                                                    Lunch!

We decided on one more destination for the day – the huge sculpture The Kelpies, another half hour further west. These two massive horses’ heads were erected in 2013 by sculptor Andy Scott. They don’t refer to the kelpie dogs we’re familiar with, but nasty folktale creatures which would appear as a grey or white pony, entice their victims to have a ride, then plunge into the water with them. Fittingly, they are surrounded by water; in fact, canals run beside and between them. They are huge, at 30 metres high, and another wonderful piece of modern art I can really appreciate! We had a good walk right around them.

                                                                    The Kelpies

The drive home took about an hour. Since then, we’ve had a very light tea (soup / sandwiches) and are taking it easy. Another big day coming up tomorrow….