Week 17 - Guest Blog

This week comes to you from a guest blogger - hello everyone, it's Lucy (eldest daughter here)!

Mike (my husband) and I arrived on the island yesterday and our introduction to island life has not disappointed. We came as foot passengers on the ferry, lugging a 20kg reel of armoured cable as payment for our board. As we alighted from the ferry, a ferry man personally greeted us by name, which was a surprise to say the least! It turned out to be Keith and Ju's neighbour Mike. Within the next two hours we had popped by the Coll Hotel and Store (for a gas canister and profiteroles, of course), had a full and thorough tour of the plot, visited the secret cowrie beach, spotted some seals and even had a go in Digby (the digger)...

The rest of the day was a mixture of walks and sports. While the Wimbledon mens final was enjoyed on the caravan entertainment system, Rob and Romayne kindly hosted us in the evening to watch the football (which unfortunately did not come home) on a big screen.

As avid blog readers, visiting the island feels like an adventure into a fictional land, so we thought we'd share some observations and myth-busters from 24 hours as a visitor:

1. The shed is huge. Like, really really big. It's very difficult to get a sense of perspective of the plot and the build from photos, and even more difficult to get any perspective on the foundations for the house. The shed stands proud, making the actually-quite-spacious caravan look small, but at the same time it's really difficult to imagine a four bedroom house rising from the dug out earth currently there.
   

2. This one might not be easy reading for Keith and Ju, but you really cannot get any sense of the tonnes and tonnes of materials that have been placed in the earth, nor the vast quantity of screws and bolts it's taken to secure the shed. I wouldn't dream to insinuate the blog has ever exaggerated, but the evidence of thousands of pounds of material isn't easily seen.
   

3. Cowrie hunting is strangely compelling. I've always known Ju is somewhat of a cowrie magpie, but after being shown the secret beach, both Mike and I found ourselves crouched down searching for our own collection. In ten minutes we found 7 between us. Ju had collected about 30.
   

4. The caravan seems to easily accommodate four people and the guest bedroom is quite comfortable! Although there are the expected caravan quirks, like the ground shaking when the dog paces up and down and never being sure what pump or plug is acceptable for use, the accommodation is pretty decent.
   

5. Keith and Ju don't take days off. I think the two days we have been here have been two of the three full days off they have had since they arrived in March. Such a day off it was, Ju even wore her fashion shorts - no workwear in sight!
   

6. Pictures can never do it justice. The island is absolutely beautiful, and also very varied at its different points. The plot itself has a more obvious flow than I was ever able to understand from the pictures, and there really are 360 degree views, with something different in every direction. Even the 'to be strimmed' patch resembles a wildflower meadow.
   

7. This might stem from big city naivety as we're coming from London, but there is one bumpy track road on the island that, from Arinagour, goes in two directions. On arrival into the village, you go right at the fork. That's really all you need in the way of directions. Other notable road landmarks are the 'crossroads' (which is a T junction) and 'Windy Gap', a blind summit to be cautious at.
   

8. I've known this about my Dad for many years, but he is a prolific wildlife spotter. By that I mean, I've known him to spot 'eagles' that have turned out to be gulls, crows and most memorably a cow's tail. Yesterday he handed me the binoculars to view the fin of a 'basking shark', which swiftly proceeded to fly away.
   

9. On a sunny day, a beach day here can rival that of even Mediterranean holiday destinations. We had sunbathing, swimming in the sea and barbecued sausages for lunch and we even got our pick of prime beach spots.
   

10. We all really come here week after week for The Update - so here it is... heavily summarised! In the past week, 40 tonnes of hardcore from the local quarry have been compacted into the ground, some solid rock pockets that Digby couldn't navigate have been dug out by hand, and the caravan's walk in store cupboard has been transformed into a guest room. Luckily there's a big bloody shed - now with a roof - to house things.

Over the next couple of days we are planning some island exploration, swimming, walking and a trip(s) to the pub. So the next update from Keith may be more frivolous, focussed on touristy activity and lighter on technical detail than usual. It may…