Week 3.3 Clare Island by Chance and Inishturk Eventually

The plan had been this: take a cab to the 11:00 ferry at Roonah and be at Inishturk at about 11:00.  When we arrived at the ferry, there was a line of people waiting and men loading bales of hay, boxes of white bread, and kegs of Guinness onto the boat.  Both of us later confessed to thinking we should confirm that this was in fact the boat to Inishturk but neither of us did.  Usually we do.  About part way there, we began to wonder if we were on the ferry to Clare Island instead of Inishturk and indeed we were.  Catching the wrong ferry is much more complicated than taking the wrong subway.  But there was-- as my Granny would say-- "a very nice young man" on board who called the man who runs the Inishturk- Clare ferry to see if he happened to be running today.  As it happened, he was in Clare for a funeral and was heading back to Inishturk at 2:30 and would take us.  Grand!  Otherwise, it would have been back to Roonah and likely miss our connection to Inishturk.  Later in the day we found out that 11:00 ferry from Roonah to Inishturk had actually left at 10:00 because of the funeral so we were actually quite fortunate how things turned out. 
The particularly nice thing about this spontaneous change of plan was that it gave us four hours to explore Clare Island.  We walked around the town, followed signs to things we never found, and soon picked up a dog friend— a beautiful collie— who joined us on our walk.

He was with us for almost 2 hours. We stashed our bag behind a shrub and explored the island and ran into virtually no one.  One car stopped beside us and asked if we were going to the funeral.  About 3 hours later, we happened to be in exactly the same spot when they passed us again.  This time they stopped and said "Is everything alright?" We saw some very beautiful scenery and it was especially lovely to share it with a collie dog who kept bringing me sticks and pieces of wood to throw.  The object was not a game of fetch-- he liked to catch things in his mouth.  Sometimes the wind was so strong that the thrown stick wouldn't travel and he would cock his head and look at me as if to say, "Really.  I think you can do better than that."  Eventually his family called him home and off he went.  I missed him: he was a fine companion. 

We caught the 2:30 boat-- a very small boat on very large waves.  A few times I was airborne in my seat.  It was just the two of us plus the ship captain and another man.  Regretfully, I found out that I am of the persuasion who gets seasick and that seasickness is way worse than I thought it would be.  At one point I looked up and saw waves that seemed at least twice as big as the boat.  Before we left,we had just watched the original Mutiny on the Bounty and I had said to Dale during a storm scene, "can you imagine what it's like on that boat?" I now have a glimpse of imagining that and know for sure I wasn't made for a life on the sea. 

But we were picked up at the dock at Inishturk by our lovely B&B hostess who was every bit as wonderful as everyone had told us.  She very kindly offered me a hot whiskey to settle my stomach.  I declined and slept for a bit and later had a cup of tea and a scone.  Feeling a bit better, Dale and I set out for a walk on a few mile loop around part of the island.  The views we saw made that sea journey worth every unpleasant moment.  It was just us, some birds, lots of sheep and many baby lambs. There have been numerous moments on this trip that I can't believe the beauty in front of me is real.  It's so beautiful that I think I must be dreaming but I don't think I could dream up something so otherworldly beautiful.  I often can't believe I am here and can't stop thanking all the forces that allowed me here.  There are people I wish could see this space with me-- my mum and Dad and Alec in particular.  I took photos with you in mind.