Alas, those arch demons of fiscally impecunious arseholery (or bankers for short) put paid to a long holiday in the sun for Val and me this year. So as it happened a spot of unexpected cash allowed us to take a couple of days and go to and explore the Fuschia and Montbretia hedged far south west of Ireland or as the locals call it “Wesht Coourk”.
Val set off researching the locale with her trusty netbook (note to self: explain to Val that IF she is to be recognised as a proper nerdette geek lady person, a certain amount of scruffiness is required under section 325 paragraph 3 subsection 12 appendix C of the Geek Grimoire of Instructive Notations and Semantic Axioms). Now if there is one thing the lovely Val is good at, it is organising. I have to say that we as a couple, are the living representation of Newtons forgotten 4th law which states “The mutual forces of chaos and order in any marriage of equals, is both opposite and collinear” So in short she got all my organised tidiness and I got her chaotic-not-really-caring-if-I-have-a-hole-in-my-sock-ness … and thus equilibrium is maintained and the universe is saved for at least another afternoon!
One of the “bucket-list” activities we both share is to go Whale Watching. Sadly I must report at this time that Val does not share my #1 “bucket list item” which is to be bitten by a radioactive C++ Programmer, invent temporal programming, write an app that does exactly what you want before you need it, get appallingly rich and retire to the moon where I will rule the world as a benign dictator … but then you can’t have everything.
I digress, Val located both a company doing proper whale watching tours , the very fine “Whale Watching Ireland” run by Marine Biologist Nic Slocum which we duly signed up for two days of Cetacean Adventuring, now all we needed was a place to stay. This too Val found on the Intertubes, the very fine Channel View B&B in Baltimore so without further ado this too was reserved and we were ready for the off.
Now we live up north, Baltimore is way down in the far south west some 380 miles away, Google says it will take 6hrs 45mins – GOOGLE LIES!!! – True getting from Coleraine to Cork City is all or mostly motorway and zips by quite quickly, but throw in some rest stops and it is more like 9 hours. Having said that the stop at “The Outlet” in Banbridge and in Cashel both afforded time to stretch the legs, get some coffee and even get in a spot of retail therapy, which given that some of the shops were Dandering Equipment Emporiums even I enjoyed!
The Rather Misty View from our Room
Arriving at Channel View at 7:30 we were met by the lovely Margaret who got us signed in and settled in our room which I have to stress had the most wonderful view over Church Bay.. Having unpacked the car we nipped down the road (about half a mile) to Baltimore town in search of sustenance and a pint of beer. If you are ever down that way, stay in Channel View. Everything is just excellent, from rooms to the scrummy breakfasts, a real Gold Star Find and well worth visiting if you are in the area!
La Jolie Brise
Baltimore is not a big place, not a big place at all, but it does have a real working harbour and a small square above the harbour with a collection of pubs and eateries. Being late in the season not all were open but the one that was, La Jolie Brise was wonderful and served one of the best Pizzas I have ever had. I can recommend them all but the “Sheep’s Island” one is just fantastic!. Val can also recommend the Haddock and salad.She was also quite taken with the maitre dé who was “equally yummy” a fact that for our lady readers it would be churlish and unprofessional not to mention.
Sadly we got hit by that perennial problem in Ireland, the weather 🙁 and for our stay the size of the swell in Roaring Water Bay and between Clear Island and the Fastnet Rock was so strong that the boat trips had to be cancelled, which was a bit of a disappointment. So Val and I decided to go explore Wesht Coork and I have to say we really enjoyed ourselves poking around villages like Schull (pronounced Skull), Unionhall, Bantry, Skibbereen, Roscarberry and Kinsale.
Val Helping with Anchors
Drumbeg Stone Circle
When in Bantry we were called upon to help a local fisherman who needed to get his new Anchor down the harbour and onto his boat. His wife had left him in charge of their 1 year old twins and he was having a problem moving said anchor and pushing the double buggy at the same time. Val being good that way offered to help and as you can see managed to heave the anchor down to the boat … I was so Proud!!
I have to mention here that any visit to the area should include a visit to Drombeg Stone Circle. This is a wee Stonehenge tucked away on a ridge above the village of Glandore and when we were there it was shrouded in a silent mist which added to the mystery and beauty of the site. The what and whys of this place we can only guess at given the 3500 years that have passed since it was constructed but it is one of those places that make you go “oooh and ahhh” in equal measure.
Bob - Bobbing
The waters that surround Baltimore contain more than whales! It is testament to the water’s fecundity that there is both an active fishing fleet and lots and lots of wildlife. Val and I were introduced to some of these denizens of the deep in Baltimore harbour. There are a family of around 10 seals that live in and around the harbour and we were fortunate enough to meet most of them. On the left you will see just one, Bob doing what he does best … Bobbing.
OK so the weather was not brilliant when we were there, but there is a lot to see and do and the trip has left bothof u ready to go back in the near future to give the area more of a chance to show us it’s secrets. That is possibly the best recommendation we can give … “We will be Back!” … 🙂
Steve and Val
PS Oh the way back was one of the worst driving days of my life. It started to rain about 20 minutes in and didn’t stop for the entire trip! It was ghastly and slowed us down even on the motorways which had become sufficiently deep for me to wonder if there was any point stopping, getting the rod out and having a bit of fish. Credit to the “Bake House” in Cashel for superlative coffee and Rhubarb Crumble. Perfect grub for the long drive home!
PPS more photos can be found here …
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