The ferry ride over to Inish Turk was lovely and I was able to do a little Ukulele playing. Every minute of the tour is worth savoring, because it is not about the next destination, but rather each minute that takes you from one experience to another. A lesson worth applying to life too.
After our great breakfast at the B&B we met up together and started walking onto the common area of the island, which is roughly three quarters of the island, where anyone, or any animal, can roam freely. The last quarter of the island is privately owned by the inhabitants. There were many hills and valleys to walk through and after a while we came to a place where the turf had been cut up to burn for fuel and Gerry explained how it all worked and that the donkeys were used to carry the turf back to the homes for burning.
Further on in our walk we came to some ruins of an ancient house made of stone and Gerry showed us where the animals would have been kept in the enclosure nearby the house remains. A lot can be understood about the prehistoric people by studying the rocks left behind and how the rocks were used to meet the needs for security and practicality. Again, Gerry has an unending amount of knowledge and makes the history fascinating.
I also loved the roads, always winding their way around the hills and sheep. The stone walls created a great design on the landscape leading the eye off into the distance.
The B&B where I stayed had a little dog named Precious, a well suited name because she was just that. She was very friendly and energetic and was a legend for having survived out on the island for two weeks due to being entangled. She was finally found and near death, but that experience has not diminished her apparent love for the land. She followed us for our entire walk, almost leading the way and coaxing Gerry onward, and despite her very short legs she was always ahead of the group, impatiently waiting for us to catch up.
This is my favorite picture of Gerry, frequently heard laughing. This particular night, our tourist from Holland had composed a song for Gerry expressing our gratitude for his excellent guiding. The song was very funny and we all had a nice chuckle thanks to good humor and the Dutchman.
We had a little traffic jam with the sheep on the road. They were confidently walking towards us and when the saw us, they turned tail and ran the other way, bleating obscenities as they ran because we were on their road.
Astonishing rugged beauty was everywhere and although photos are nice, nothing can replace actually going and seeing everything for yourself. The constant refreshing breeze and clean smelling air are like filters for everyday life and leave one feeling so refreshed and cleansed. The magical medicine of Ireland needs to be experienced firsthand to fully benefit from it's healing potential.
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