Let the WWOOFing begin! It’s the 21st today—time for Ellen and I to start our stay on Sherkin Island, the second southernmost island in Ireland. The island is rather off the beaten path as it were: 106 people, 1 church, a community center, a school (with 7 attendees), 1 hotel, 2 pubs. That’s right, 2 pubs.
Ellen and I left Cork just after 11 and made it to Baltimore, the town across the bay from Sherkin, around 2. We grabbed a quick bite before making the 3 pm ferry to Sherkin. The ride isn’t long, only about 10 minutes, and provided stunning views of the bay. Once we arrived, it was a 5 minute walk to Joe and Fiona’s Bed and Breakfast, where we will be WWOOFing for the next 2 weeks.
Joe is a retired fisherman who attended Cambridge to study French and English. Fiona is a Homeopath and Massage Therapist who spent a good chunk of her 63 years raising 9 children. They’ve run the B&B on Sherkin for about 4 years now after spending a good portion of their lives living in County Clare. They also own a schooner, the Anna M., with which Joe uses to take guests whale-watching.
Upon our arrival at the house, no one appeared to be home, so we toured the grounds to find—surprise!!—6 of the cutest puppies I have ever seen in a pen near the garden. We oogled them for about 10 minutes before heading to the hotel for a drink. An hour later we came back to meet Fiona, an effusively warm soul who insisted on putting us up in one of the guest rooms during our stay. It’s a gorgeous room—and we have internet! Joe was out for the evening so we would have to meet him later.
Ellen and I took the dog, Tessa (mother of the 6 puppies outside), for a short walk before dinner. The sky had cleared a little bit and we were graced with a gorgeous sunset when we mounted a high point on the hill above Jo and Fiona’s cottage.
Dinner was a delightful affair—Fiona is a beautiful cook—and we exchanged stories from our lives over plates of lamb, potatoes, and kale picked straight from the garden. We retired early and slept like babes.
The town of Baltimore. That's pretty much it.
Ellen doesn't like it when I take photos of her eating.
We got lost on the dock looking for the ferry. We thought a large fishing brig on the other side of the pier was supposed to be the ship going to Sherkin as the ferry schedule had a big shipped pictured. It wound up being this dinky thing.
Apprehensive before meeting our hosts.
The inlet into the bay between the mainland and Sherkin.
The friary on Sherkin.
I was a little shocked there were roads and cars on the island seeing as how it's only 3 miles long, but I suppose a 3-mile walk to the pier every time you needed to get groceries would be quite the pain.
The gate to Horseshoe Cottage
Sunset
Our room. Sometimes joked about as the maid's quarters.
No comments:
Post a Comment