Thursday 15 October 2015

Eyemouth

I know my holiday posts have gone on a bit this year, it's over two months ago since we were away, but I promise this is my last one.

Eleanor and I had never been to Scotland before so whilst we were in Northumberland, we decided that we'd cross the border. We didn't go very far in to Scotland, just about eight miles north of Berwick upon Tweed to Eyemouth. Eyemouth is a small town with many features of a traditional fishing village. The reason we chose to visit this place is that someone had left a comment in the visitor's book back at the cottage saying that they'd seen seals here. We thought we'd take a look ourselves and we weren't disappointed.


There's a van in the harbour which sells seafood, they sell fish here to feed to the seals too. You can borrow a pole which has a clip on the end to attach the fish to, it's easier to lower the fish to the seals this way.


The seals attract quite a crowd at times, they must be well fed during the summer season as many people were wanting to have a turn at feeding them.



They had to be quick though, seagulls are opportunists and are so quick at grabbing the fish before the seals get chance.


As soon as they realised the seals were being fed, they were circling overhead.



Many were successful at getting the fish before the seals did.


I think seals are really cute but they can be quite vicious.



As well as the harbour, Eyemouth has a lovely beach.


It's quite small but it wasn't very busy when we were there. We had plenty of room to set up camp.


We spent a few different days here when the sun was shining. We had lots of dull days on our holiday so we made the most of the sunshine.


There's nothing more relaxing that sitting on a beach on a sunny day watching all the comings and goings. There were lots of boats sailing in and out of the harbour.


This cormorant was doing a bit of fishing in the sea, he'd bob right underneath the water before resurfacing in a totally different place.


Archie enjoyed himself too, rolling around in smelly seaweed, one of his favourite activities.


I think he enjoyed the holiday as much as we did.


It was a change holidaying further north this year rather than heading south. As you've seen from my posts, we visited many different places but I feel we only touched the surface. I'd like to go back again some time in the future but we're considering a holiday down south again next year, perhaps we'll venture north again the year after.

32 comments:

  1. Lovely photos,. Jo. Aren't dogs funny? It makes you wonder what enjoyment they get out of rolling in smelly things!

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    1. I can always tell when Archie's going to roll in something, he gets that glint in his eye. I don't mind him rolling in seaweed, there's worse things he could roll in, and does frequently.

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  2. What fun! My friend who lives in England was posting about his vacation to Scotland and I was thinking, "Over there, vacations must be so exotic!" Here we just go to the beach in Florida. Not so exotic! And rolling around in seaweed=ick! My dog hasn't been on the beach yet. I'd love to see how she reacts to sand!

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    1. Ha ha, here we are thinking holidays in Florida are exotic and over there you're thinking holidays in Scotland are exotic. Actually, we're very lucky, we have some wonderful places to take holidays and lots to see and do. I bet your dog would love the beach, Archie does.

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  3. Love seals. For the first time we saw them in Devon near my mum's. Similar to you we saw them eating fish, but they were pinching them from fishermen. Straight from their lines. It was a race to reel in the fish before the seals got them.

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    1. I love seals too, they're so cute. How lovely having them close to where your mum lives, though I doubt those fishermen think so.

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  4. You packed so much in, we live in such a wonderful country don't we. The seals were lovely, such a treat to get to feed them xx

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    1. We got to see and do so much on this holiday, yet I could have spent the same amount of time again and still not visited everywhere I wanted to. We'll definitely have to make a return trip. It was great seeing the seals and Eyemouth itself is a lovely place.

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  5. I'm glad you had a lovely time in Eyemouth. My very favourite book, "The Shadowy Horses" by Susannah Kearsley, is set there and it's somewhere I have always fancied visiting. Those seals are amazingly friendly - or perhaps it's just an easy meal they're after! :-) xx

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    1. I don't know The Shadowy Horses, you've got me intrigued now. I definitely think the seals are after an easy meal, they know exactly where to wait until someone comes along to feed them.

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  6. Oh, Archie! How funny that he likes to roll in seaweed. Was he stinky afterward? I loved seeing the seals, how nice that you were able to get up so close to them. I think seals are really interesting creatures. Thanks for sharing your day in Eyemouth! Hope you're having a good week.

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    1. Archie didn't smell too bad after all the rolling around. There's been times when he's had to have a bath after he's been on a walk, I wouldn't like to say what he'd been rolling in on those occasions. It was lovely seeing the seals in the harbour, they were attracting quite a crowd.

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  7. Your holiday posts have all been lovely!!!! Don't apologise for them! I still have posts from last years holiday to do! So glad that you had such a great time and I am thankful that you are kind enough to share your travels with us! xx

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    1. I do enjoy looking back over all the photos I take on my holidays. I've just sorted a load out to have printed out, even though they're stored on the computer I still like to have hard copies to put in an album.

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  8. I love seals too and saw one in Scotland in the waters off the Isle of Skye. We can see them here, especially around Phillip Island where we have the Little Penguin Parade at dusk, it being a very popular tourist attraction. Archie seems very contented after rolling in that seaweed. I've loved coming along on your holiday and sad that you've finished with it. Have a good weekend and take care. BTW, you small harbours are just to die for, as we've nothing like them.

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    1. Wer're lucky to have working harbours such as this one, we enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle and seeing all the boats come and go. Eyemouth itself is a lovely little town with a great beach too.

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  9. If you are coming again let me know and we can meet up for a coffee. This is exactly my patch! xx

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    1. I didn't realise. What a beautiful part of the world you live in. We had a wonderful holiday in Northumberland and I'm sure it's somewhere we'll return to some time in the future.

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  10. A lovely post and nice pictures. Eyemouth looks to be a good place to visit with plenty to see.
    As usual your comments and pictures of Archie made me smile. Flighty xx

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    1. We really enjoyed our time in Eyemouth, we visited a few times as the beach was lovely, nice and quiet. Archie is such a funny dog, I've got so many photos of him that's it's hard to pick out just a few to share.

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  11. There is definitely something rather nice about seals, they seem to have friendly faces somehow.

    I've enjoyed reading and seeing your photo's about the places you've visited.

    Have a good weekend - this week has certainly flown by again, and I haven't even started my Christmas Shopping yet LOL!

    All the best Jan

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    1. I've enjoyed sharing my holiday photos, though there were quite a few of them, it's taken some time. I love seals, they're such cute animals. I think time seems to be going much faster these days, or is that I'm just getting older?

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  12. Time is going faster. It's shifting too fast for me!! I've loved reading all your holiday posts.

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    1. I'm pleased you've enjoyed reading about my holidays. I know all about time flying by, it will soon be time to be booking another holiday.

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  13. The seal in your photos look cute. I imagine him and his friends are very well fed over the summer holidays with many people visiting there. It looks like a lovely seaside town and I like a beach that's not too busy and you can relax. Archie looks like he had a great time too.

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    1. Eyemouth is a lovely seaside town, quite small and not too touristy, which I like. The seals are an added attraction, we stood and watched them being fed for quite a while. Archie definitely likes his holidays, he's a big fan of the beach, I just wish we lived a little closer so that we could take him more often.

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  14. Look how close you were to those seals! Amazing. I love how you can borrow a stick to feed them easier. Great shots of the seagulls. They look like professional nature shots.

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    1. I know, we were so lucky to get so close to them. My photos of birds in flight never usually come out too well but I was quite pleased with these.

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  15. We went to Eyemouth in March, but it was a grim, drizzly day so I don't think we saw it at it's best. We saw the van where you could feed the seals - I had a quick peep over the side, but I had Junior in his buggy so I didn't want to get too close. In fact, I realised that harbour walls, with the big drop into deep water, make me very nervous, so I tend to keep a safe distance.

    I'm glad you enjoyed your venture into Scotland xx

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    1. I'm the same with harbour walls, I'm always nervous when there's a sheer drop. There's one small barrier in Eyemouth where the seals are but nothing by the side of them. It used to terrify me when the kids were little and I'm not much better now, they tend to roll their eyes at me when I'm telling them to be careful, I'm sounding more and more like my mum as I get older.

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  16. Oooh wow, fabulous! I recommend Dumfries and Galloway for Scotland, it's not toooo far but it's fab too

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    1. It was a real change holidaying further north this year, it was a totally different feel to Cornwall and Devon where we've been for the last few years. I'd really like to take a holiday in Scotland some time so thank you for the recommendation, I shall read up about Dumfries and Galloway.

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