British Isles & Iceland- Day 7 – Unknown Longitude

British Isles & Iceland – Day 6 can be found here.

Hello, St. Kilda!

How is it day 7? Where has the time gone? Why didn’t we book the extension to Greenland? Are there any panels here that will hold a family of 4 attempting to stowaway?

So many questions, so little time.

Up bright and early again to take in St. Kilda. Some of our fellow guests here have attempted to land twice before but have been unsuccessful due to the weather, but it’s been unseasonably warm here so we’re hoping that it will work out.

6:45 am breakfast at La Terrazza and then off to the Explorer’s Lounge for our briefing. The ranger was quick and informative and – other than getting the name of the island wrong once – had us ready to go in short order.

We’d lucked out on an earlier departure with Zodiac group 6, but today it was our turn to get the short end of the straw – we’d be last to shore, heading out around 8:30 am. Last zodiac back would be at 11:30 am.

There are two options available for those who want to explore the island – either an easy walk through the historic village (now largely abandoned, except for workers from the National Trust for Scotland), or climb up the hill through the ‘saddle’ to get a view over one of the tallest cliffsides in Britain. Easy decision for us, particularly with two very active kids to entertain – we’d be climbing up the cliffside.

Back to the room for the usual sunscreening, and playing how-much-do-we-pack. We’ve done rather poorly at that game for the last few days, bringing far more than what we’ve actually needed. I was determined not to repeat the same mistake, so I left behind a layer for each of us. We’ll see if that’s a wise decision – winds at St. Kilda are apparently quite high, which is one of the reasons why we’re being asked to stay close to the paths and back from the cliffs lest we be lost in the midst and / or blown off the edge. There’s also been a tremendous amount of avian flu, in addition to a very large colony of feral sheep.

Given these existential threats, one might wonder why anyone would actually want to visit St. Kilda.

The short answer is that it’s incredible.

The combination church / one room schoolhouse

The exterior of one of the ‘modernized’ homes.

1800s houses and much older animal pens.

The ruins of a house that held a family of four.

You can never have too many feral sheep.

The longer answer is that St. Kilda is one of very few places that has been recognized as a world heritage site for both natural beauty and history. Not only are there vast colonies of sea birds, but the village also dates back to the bronze age, through the Celtics, Picts, Vikings, and into ‘modern’ Scotland in the 1800s and early 1900s.

However, life on St. Kilda was very difficult due to the hand-to-mouth existence led by those involved with the crofting and hunting and gathering of seabirds and their eggs. In 1930s there were very few able-bodied adults available to support the colony, and so the difficult decision was made to relocate the villagers to other parts of Scotland.

Examples of this hard-scrabble life are evident throughout St. Kilda, from the low stone animal fences to the many cleits that were used to preserve and store food throughout the island.

In the 1830s, Rev. Neil Mackenzie brought an intense form of religion to the island, pushing out many of the existing forms of dance, music and celebration in exchange for new buildings, a church, a school – and strict adherence to the gospel.

Not long afterward, tourism began to impact St. Kilda in the 1870s after steam ships began to regularly include it on their routes. Local residents were horrified by the appearance of the first steam ship, which they believed to be on fire. Tourism proved to be a decidedly mixed blessing, as the visitors both brought an economic boom alongside an intense awareness of how different life was like off of St. Kilda. Soon the local residents were devoting their time to making handicrafts and souvenirs, and their economy became deeply dependant on others.

Residents then began to emigrate – particularly to Australia – and by 1930 there were only 36 islanders remaining. They were evacuated to the mainland at their own request.

A bit of trivia for you – there is actually no person named St. Kilda, and the name of the island is believed to a corruption of Skildir, the Norse word for shield.

After a very brief tour of the village, we hiked up the ‘saddle’ to reach the cliffside. These are the tallest cliffs in Britain at over 400 metres high, and we were warned to keep back from both the side of the mountains and the cliff edge as winds can gust and mist can roll in unexpectedly. Thankfully, we ended up with crystal clear skies and the views were absolutely spectacular.

We never did see two of the species particular to this area – St. Kilda fieldmouse, which is about twice the size of a regular field mouse, and the St. Kilda wren, which is slightly larger than a typical wren. But we did see plenty of the local feral sheep – the Soay sheep – which are being studied to determine what happens when you let sheep go feral. Isn’t science wonderful?

The sheep are quite interesting to look at, as they appear more like goats than sheep. They are also very well aware of the fact that they are the dominant form of life on St. Kilda, and they move – in small groups and in herds – with impunity. The little ones are quite cute, but we were strongly warned not to get between any mothers and their young. Sage advice in any setting, really.

After a brief stop at the museum – which should win an award for most informative museum per square foot – we went on to the combined church / schoolroom. It was eye-opening for the kids to see the one-room, one-bench schoolhouse along with the slates the students would have used for their studies. We then took in the local ‘honesty shop’ – for which I had brought exactly zero pounds – and the kids were very grateful when one of the Cloud’s guests bought each of them a small puffin pin. It was a very kind and thoughtful gesture, for which I am quite grateful.

By around 10:30 am we were ready to head back to the Cloud, and so once more boarded the zodiac for the return trip. Winds were gusty at the docking point, leading us to wonder whether that afternoon’s planned zodiac cruise would be cancelled.

We wouldn’t find out about the cruise for a while, so we went up to the Grill to relax and wait for lunch to start. I sampled my fourth burger of the cruise, and I am pleased to report that the quality remains high. However, my wife had a borderline inedible Caesar salad that seemed to lack both dressing and seasoning – but rather than send it back, she sampled the Phillipines buffet that was on offer, and quite enjoyed that. So all’s well that ends well.

I also ordered a Silver Negroni, which was about 3 drinks in one – a trend that’s held since the first gin and tonic I ordered aboard the Cloud. Not that I’m complaining. Easy enough to order champagne instead if one wants to order something with a more moderate alcohol level.

A few minutes after we returned to the suite, we received the long-awaited announcement regarding the zodiac cruise – and were delighted to learn that they would indeed be launching in just a few minutes time. Sunscreen, coats, lifejackets and then back down to Deck 3 to await the launch – stepping down the stairs just as our group number was being called.

We were very lucky to have Colin hosting our zodiac tour, as he heads up the expedition team and is extremely knowledgeable. We mostly explored the isle of Dun, which is south to the main isle of Hilda. There are plenty of small caverns and narrow passages that are accessible only via zodiac, and we explored most of them.

We were also briefly shadowed by a grey seal who looked very much like a sea-bound Labrador puppy looking to play. And they are quite playful – Colin shared a story of a dive off of Cornwall where one of them got hold of his flipper and just slowly pulled him back for the fun of it. Another one of the guests had a seal snatch her mask off while scuba diving. She thankfully kept her wits and surfaced without incident. Quite the tricksters, those seals.

Back to the room, power nap, and then up to the observation lounge to watch the Boreray island cruising. Some great commentary from the crew as the Cloud itself swung near the islands, which are known for their vast colonies of sea birds.

Quick dash down to Deck 6, and we managed to book our next cruise – or at least a placeholder equivalent for our next cruise. We’re hoping to take a 40 day cruise from South America to Antarctica and then on to South Africa. This would include 2 rounds of visits both to the Falkland Islands and to South Georgia – while also setting us up for a safari in Botswana. But it’s not available yet, so we’ve booked another Antarctica cruise with the intention of cancelling and rebooking when the new cruise is announced.

Fingers are firmly crossed that these complicated plans work as intended. I’d meant to post something here before buying in case there’s some sort of trick where – if you turn around three times and say the magic words – they give you free laundry for your next cruise. So instead we flew by the seat of our pants. But if you do have any tricks for making the most of an onboard cruise booking, please do share them so that I can keep them in mind for next time. (Or, let’s be honest, so I can reneg on my current deal for slightly better terms.)

Then it was back up to the room to collect my son so that we could take in another round of trivia. Tough batch today, but there are two rounds being held tomorrow during the sea day so we’re hopeful that one of them will go in our favour. We’re still with the same group that we joined on Day 2 and it’s worked out very well.

Time to head off for a very windy dinner at the Grill – which I promise to photograph!