Hello fellow bookworms! Today we went on a boat trip to the Farne Islands, located just off the beautiful coast of Northumberland. This area of England is hands down my favourite, boasting some of the richest history and stunning backdrops this country has to offer.
Visible from the boat was the dramatic Bamburgh Castle. This unparalleled castle is what brought me to the North East of England, back in 2010 when I took part in an archaeological dig there. I instantly fell in love with the NE and 9 years later I’m still here!
Bamburgh might sound familiar to some of you- it’s the ancestral home of Uhtred in The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell.
Seeing Uhtred’s castle again was amazing, but what we were really there for were the puffin breeding colonies. Each year between April and July the puffins return to the historic Farne Islands for their breeding season. There are also grey seals, bottlenose dolphins, guillemots, arctic terns, and 20+ other breeds of sea birds. The puffins are definitely the stars of the show, though!
It was a phenomenal day out. I can’t recommend this excursion enough for anyone visiting the area.
On our way back to the car I decided to buy a souvenir to commemorate my awesome day and what better memento is there for a bookworm than this?
Have any of you been here before? Let me know in the comments!
A Little Nerd Told Me 
The Farne Islands are on my bucket list, along with the Shetlands, the Hebrides, the Faroes, etc etc. They’re all a long way from Australia!
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We only made it to one of them, but when we get a chance I want to go back up and visit some of the others. We did sail around most of them, though, and even just from the boat they were stunning.
I’m hoping someday to do a cruise that goes around the Shetlands and Faroes!
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I’m dying and so insanely jealous you got to see Uhtred’s castle. The Last Kingdom books are some of my favorite books ever.
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Taking part in the digs there was pretty amazing, and that was before I read the books! Even if the Last Kingdom series wasn’t fantastic, it would still have a special place in my bookworm heart just for having Bamburgh castle feature in it.
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