St Mary's Lighthouse

A short four miles up the road from Tynemouth is St Mary's Lighthouse.  I had read that it is unreachable during high tide, so skipped going over midday and waited to go with David after dinner, while the tide was nearly all the way out.  We drove over and were pleasantly surprised to find plenty of parking (which, conveniently, was free after 8:00 pm).

During high tide, that path, and all of those rocks, are under water:

The tide times changes by nearly an hour day to day, so it is a good idea to check the schedule posted just as you arrive on the island, to find out when you need to leave by.  There is a small museum, which was closed while we were there in the evening, but it is very pretty to just wander around on the rocks and enjoy the little tide pools:

We noticed some signs posted near the front of the "island" with photos of seals and information.  It was a little dark to try to read the small type and we figured our odds of seeing any seals were tiny anyway (our local friends have not seen any).  So, imagine my surprise and delight when I looked to see what was making a flapping noise, fully expecting to see a plastic bag stuck on a rock and blowing in the breeze, and saw this guy tapping his flippers on his chest!

After frantically whispering and motioning to Dave to come back (he had walked on by--they blend in well), I backed off some to give him room and we just enjoyed watching him for a good 10 minutes or so.  

He pretty much stayed right where was, occasionally looking up at us, or flapping his fins a bit.  His face was surprisingly expressive.  

There are not a lot of photos to the post.  It was getting dark and we were only there about 45 minutes--but it was a wonderful 45 minutes.  Certainly a trip highlight.

--Hadley