We Feel at Home

There isn't actually a lot to do on Bere/Bear Island unless you like walking or cycling, which fortunately we do. This is actually a good thing, as it keeps the island quiet and unspoilt, just as we like it.

As you can see from our next picture, it was only a short hop from the ferry port to pick up both the Beara Way walking route and the Beara Way cycling route.

The walking route certaintly goes to town on this, its namesake island. There are 2 loops at either end of the island and we did the whole of the longer one at the east of the island. A very fine walk it was too.

Because the ferry has a long elevenses break, the crossing we took was a lunchtime one (it wouldn't have been a proper holiday if we'd had to get up early to catch an earlier crossing. This meant that we hadn't walked very far before we all started to think 'what's in my lunchbox?'

We found a lovely sunny spot, with a great view over the sea to the mainland, to check out what was in our lunchboxes. Personally I was a lot more excited about the sandwiches I found in my lunchbox than about the 2 small bears who had taken up residence inside. 

After lunch we made great progress on our island promenade and visited the lighthouse and climbed the first of several hills. We were always in sight of one of these Beara Way route markers so we could relax and enjoy the scenery without having to keep a nose stuck in a map. In case you're wondering, the minder's hand getting ready to catch me, was not due to me being unsteady because of lunchtime Guinness drinking, but because there was a brisk breeze blowing.

After some wild and hilly walking the path took us back to the harbour along a quiet country road. If you look back to our first picture, you'll see that the emblem of the Beara Peninsula (more than just Bere Island) is a fushia. it was the perfect choice, as everywhere we went, the hedgerows were full of fuschias and honeysuckle. Here I am admiring a typical roadside hedge of fushia, that would go on for what seemed like miles. It was rather lovely and gave us the impression of being somewhere very temperate, tropical even.

We had planned our walk round Bear(a) Island perfectly, so we had enough time for a glass of Murphy's before re-embarking on the ferry returning to Sli na Mara for a relaxing evening.

Lots of love Patrick and B.U. friends xxx

This Time it's for Real

It seems ages ago that we were telling you about looking across to Bear Island and anticipating our visit. I did say at the time that I was whetting the appetite of my friends with the view, and they would have to wait a while for the visit to take place.

However, I couldn't keep them waiting for ever, and I wouldn't be that cruel anyway. And so, as our first weekend in Ireland came round, it was back to Castletownbeare, not just to watch the ferry, but actually to get on it, as foot passengers of course - the bearmobile had the day off on the quayside.

Gilbert feels the cold a bit - and boat trips are usually rather windy affairs - so he used a minder's rucksack as a sleeping bag and reserved us some seats in the cabin, while the rest of us took a short stroll round the deck (it wasn't very big) before seeking a vantage point on the life ring. Don't get me wrong, this didn't indicate that we were worried about the crossing, just that it was dry place to sit. In any event, with a boat name of Sancta Maria, what harm could come to us?

As the car deck filled with the two cars we were taking (there was possibly room for 4) we were amused to notice shop assistants from the nearby supermarket coming on board with bags of shopping, which they deposited on the car deck, as you see below. We found this a quite novel alternative to the more usual Tescos home delivery.

We spent longer waiting to set sail, than we did sailing. In just a matter of minutes we were putting into the harbour at Beara island. Perhaps the interesting fact that, during WW1, the passage of water we were crossing was so full of anchored battleships, that it is said it was possible to cross from mainland to island on boat decks without getting your feet wet, indicates to you that the distance wasn't that far.

We look forward to showing you the delights of the island next time.

Lots of love Patrick and friends xxx

Snail on the Trail

It was a very educational walk that we were on. At the start we had learnt all about the use of heather as a very weatherproof roofing material, on top of that reconstructed farm worker's cottage from the last century. Now we got to appreciate what a fine bedding material it makes.

Traditionally rocks are good places to rest, as they get you off the damp ground and give you an elevated view. However, they are normally a bit hard. Not so when they have a really thick hat of heather on the top, such as this one.

As we climbed on top for a rest, the heather was so thick and springy that we sank right into it, which is why you'll have to look hard to see us in our next picture.

The heather bed was so warm and comfortable that it was hard to stay awake. An afternoon nap beckoned, or it would have done, if 2 minders hadn't threatened to leave without us.

We didn't regret being summoned to complete the yellow trail though, as it had a delightful finish, with the path running bedside a stream with water gardens alongside. Someone had put a lot of work into cultivating the gardens and they were every bit as good a place to rest by as that heather bed.

Not that we wanted to rest now, as there were too many interesting finds, just like this one.

What a marvellous snail he was, and he fitted into his surroundings so well. He seemed very contented, but then he was living in a rather delightful spot.

There was one thing guaranteed to draw us away from the riverside walk and that was the promise of a cream tea at the tea rooms. Do you need to ask whether it was a good cream tea? Well just look at Rosa for the answer ...

... it was so good it completely blew her away.

We thoroughly recommend a visit to Gleninchaquin Park if you're ever in the area.

Lots of love Patrick, George, Yorkie & Rosa xxx

We Choose Yellow

Sorry for the recent blog silence, but we've all been off having a wonderful time at the Greenbelt arts festival. We've reported from Greenbelt several times, so many of you will know how special Greenbelt is to us.

But back to Ireland, and more specifically the beautiful Gleninchaquin Park. As we said last time, there are a number of waymarked trails to choose from, and we chose the yellow one, a fairly high level 4 hour route.

But first we had to get to the start, and this involved a heart pumping climb which we thought would never end.

We did get a chance to recover our breath when we reached this lovely lake, which provided not only something beatiful to look at, but also a nice, big, flat rock to rest on.

It was only a temporary rest though, as our path continued to climb, until we got almost to the height of the hill tops you see at the back of the photo.

At this point we reached the official start of the yellow walk; up til now we'd been following markers for the shorter red route, which, at the point it met the yellow route, was about to descend. Despite the hard climb, we were by no means ready to go back yet, so it was full steam ahead on the yellow route.

As you can see from the sign, at this point we were already 1 hour into our walk, with just 3 hours left to go.

You will also see, from this photo, and our next one, that we had all this lovely scenery almost all to ourselves. There were only 2 other people on the route while we were there.

We were quite reliant on the yellow paint blob markers on the rocks, as there wasn't really a path on the ground. However, as there was always a yellow blob in sight we weren't in any real danger of getting lost.

Our way undulated a fair bit, but the hard climbing was over. We stopped for lunch at a spot which gave us a great view over the terrain we had just walked ...

... at the back of the photo you can see the lake we'd rested at before walking all along the ridge to the left of the picture.

The chaps were very pleased with me for showing them that there are some good walking opportunities in Ireland if you know where to look. And it wasn't over yet; we were only half way round.

Back soon,

Lots of love Patrick & friends xxx

It's Got an Exotic Name

My friends and fellow travellers were rather surprised at the lack of public footpaths in Ireland. They struggled with the fact that they could see wonderful mountains just waiting to be climbed, but couldn't just get out there and climb them, as most of the land is private. This is of course very different to what they're used to in England.

I was keen to show them, that there are ways of enjoying a good walk in Ireland and so, I took them to a really special place, Gleninchaquin Park.

This is an award winning farm and park which offers a variety of different way marked walks through some truly breath taking scenery. True there is a modest admission charge, but for that you get car parking, toilets, a tea room, a friendly welcome and a choice of well planned and maintained walks to suit just about everyone. And the cost was no more than the National Trust charge for car parking at a local beauty spot near to our Norfolk home.

And there is more to the walks than simply lovely scenery. There is a lot of interesting local history. One of the first stops on the yellow trail that we did, was to see a farm restoration project. What we went to see was an old crofter's dwelling from the 18th century. There was an information board telling us lots of interesting information about how people managed to scrape a living from the land (have you spotted us amongst the greenery?)

It told us that in the 18th century there were over 100 people living in the valley, in houses just like the one we are about to show you. Now only 2 people live there; we think this is rather sad.

Having read about the house, we went to see it. The entrance was perfect for us vertically challenged bears, but our minders found it quite low. It was a very simple dwelling with just one room and we think it would have been quite cold most of the year. No doubt sharing it with animals would have helped keep the occupiers warm though.

We've loads more to tell you about our walk, so we'll be back soon.

Lots of love Patrick and friends xxx

Not Nessie, but Who Else?

I'm not the most I.T. literate of Bears, but fortunately I have my contacts, and know just the right member of Bears Unlimited to help me show you what my was revealed by my patient wildlife watch. I hope you enjoy the following film clip.

I'm sure you'll agree that it's rather special, as it's footage of that rather elusive creature, the sea otter. Sorry we couldn't show you more but we were all so transfixed by this beautiful and magical sight, that we forgot to do any filming, and then, when we thought about it and grabbed the camera, it was only to discover that the batteries had run out. By the time we were back in business, dusk was well and truly upon us, so you'll probably just have to take our word that the moving shape is a sea otter.

It was one of the highlights of our holiday and we counted ourselves very priviledged bears to have been granted these special few moments. 

Lots of love Patrick and fellow nature lovers xxx

La Tour de Ireland: a Tough Stage

But the guys and Rosa were going to be kept in suspense a bit longer, as there was a bit more sight seeing to do before we worked up to Bear/Bere Island - I'd deliberately designed this trip for the mid point in our stay.

So first of all, it was back on the bikes. What a glorious ride we had, but I did get quite a few black look from the chaps, at the start as it was extremely steep: as I've said before I'm not very good at reading the contour lines on a map. There was certainly a lot of pushing that day, as we quite simply ran out of gears, and then ended up having to jump off quickly before we went too far backwards. It was quite like trying to cycle up a Lake District fell, until we got to the top and it all flattened off. There was even a convenient rock on which to take a rest.

The views were magnificent and, unlike the Lake District, we had it all to ourselves. What's more, there was a great downhill, which lasted several miles, and took us all the way to our lunch stop, and some easier afternoon cycling, taking in the tourist town of Kenmare.

That evening, after our meal, I resumed my usual dusk wildllife watch from the window, over the sea ...

... I was looking for something very special and, would you believe it, that night my luck was in.

You'll have to wait for the next post to find out what I saw.

Lots of love Patrick & friends xxx