written by CJ
Friday 13 — CJ arrived. Supper was begun in the garden and migrated inside. CJ picked lots of soft fruits and ate some along the way. Judith encouraged her with a wonderful gin and tonic brought out to the bushes. Judith got up to date with Eastenders and Casualty in the evening.
Saturday 14 — Set off for Tahilla Cove, cat loaded with our stuff including a wonderful selection of food goodies that Judith had packed, the prize going to the bottle of Jamiesons (of which a drop never passed out lips during the entire vacation). We stopped at Molls Gap. Ate lunch in the car with windows down. A passing crow broke a dream of CJ’s about a horribly injured bird. Watched a pied wagtail on the rocks. Also eyed a rather dishy guy. Visited the store and loo and then drove on to Sneem (N71) through gorgeous country. Arrived at Tahilla in good time. CJ fell in love with it immediately. Went for a walk along the road: over the bridge where Judith spotted a very large orange and brown stripped jelly fish; on to the end of the track where new houses stood unlived in bar one. CJ embraced a baby standing stone and we greeted the cows as we went by. Had our evening meal at the B&B and very nice too followed by coffee in the lounge.
Sunday 15 — Drove to Portmagee and on to Valencia Island to visit the Skelligs Experience. An excellent audio-visual described the Skellig Michael monastery. It was beautifully done with very haunting images and music. We found the harbour where we would board our boat the next day. On our return we took the route round the Skellig Ring and walked to a view point (paying our money to park to the entrepreneurial owner of the land who sold us high priced Skellig chocolates). Anyway, we did get a stunning view of the Skelligs, our destination of the next day. We stopped for a meal at Waterville.
Monday 16 — We were served an early breakfast and then set off for Portmagee and our boat. We had a good drive. Parked, visited the award winning loo (although that award must have been bestowed many years previous) and armed with layers of warm clothing, CJ in rain pants, walked along to the harbour and our boat. We paid our money and were directed to our blue fishing smack operated by Joe Roddy and his little wire haired terrier? Called Winkle. The iron ladder sheer down the side of the harbour wall was somewhat of a challenge to the nerves but we made it. Someone else was not so lucky when she dropped all her keys over the side and into the water. They landed, amazingly enough, on a ledge just below the water line. Someone on our boat, a climber, went shore, brought a long magnet from his truck, taped it to a boat hook and carefully retrieved the keys. Instant passenger bonding as we all applauded. It was a wonderful ride out to the islands. We had 2 hours on Skellig Michael and the day turned out to be really hot so rather than put on layers we began to shed them. We made it to the top, climbing 2,300 steps. The photos tell all including the puffins nesting inbetween the rocky steps. We left our back pack at the bottom, too heavy to carry, and ate lunch
Carry up. We ate lunch quickly, waiting for out boat to come back. On the
return we stopped at Little Skellig where our boat engine was turned off so that we could get the full benefit of the noise of the myriad gannets. Great clouds of birds flying around. Seals lying lazily on the rocks below. An unforgettable sight. We drove back through Machillycuddy Reeks. We met a distressed German LADY walker who was being pursued by a rather large and rather beautiful cow! The photos show just what a narrow road we followed right through the very heart of the hills.
Tuesday 17 — We woke late and just made it in time for breakfast. We were quite sunburned after our day yesterday and CJ’s neck and back were quite sore. We had a day of leisure. CJ decided to walk into Sneem which proved to be much longer than she thought and certainly further than the signpost indicated. Judith assured her it would not rain so she set off without rain gear………….and down it came. Judith came to the rescue with dry clothes. We had a late picnic lunch on Sneem pier watching the water and birds and wasps. On the way back to Tahilla we stopped at an art gallery and were swept in to the bosom of the family of resident artists and showered with free prints and cards. We returned to Sneem to eat at the Blue Bull pub. It advertised Live Music and without inquiring we had settled down for a night of traditional music with any number of local players coming along to sing and play—Session. Turned out to be one guy, Baldy Paul, with electric guitar and amplifiers and microphone. We paid our bill and exited. Poor Baldy Paul.
Wednesday 18 — Today we went to the Killarney National Park and Muckross house. We had planned to hire bikes but spent some wonderful time on the traditional farms. The photos show all including a lovely movie of the shire horses in action. So, after all our walking including to the old Franciscan Friary, we hired a Jaunty Cart Ride. Our horse was called Jack and we were more worried about him than interested in the passing scenery. By this time, CJ was very bitten by midges. (Judith discovered one saucy bite the next day).
In the evening, after our meal, we headed back to Sneem to enjoy the fair and especially the Reverse Bungie Jump. It was quite a sight and all videod complete with expletives as the riders were catapulted aloft.
Thursday 19 — We reluctantly left Tahilla to head home, stopping at Glengarrif for lunch and then taking a boat out to Garinish Island where it rained heavily at the end of our walk. More seals on the rocks. Judith left her earrings at Tahilla. Judith broke the news that we were expected at Gwenyth and Kenneth’s for evening meal. K behaved himself this time.
Friday 20 — Day of CJ’s departure. Judith donated some wonderful sweaters and a bag to put them in. Walked in to Ballineen to the pharmacy for bug itch cream. On the way to the airport stopped at ?? for an Italian lunch.
Sadly said goodbye after a wonderful trip.
