Inishturk

It's hard to remember a more exhilarating day's walking than that which was enjoyed today. I had a feeling about this place before I even arrived and everything about that has been confirmed in the last two days. The cliff scenery is some of the most spectacular I've ever seen. Just as there is only one road here it feels like there is only one wall and one fence. That might be a slight exaggeration but it's possible to roam around the entire convoluted and vertiginous coastline without any impediment. I love this kind of exploration.

On the headland shown here, to the north-east side of the island, the topography and geology is at its most complex. There is one point where the sea has exploited a weakness to create a canyon just a few feet wide and more than a hundred foot deep. A careful clamber to the edge allowed the privilege of looking directly into a shag's nest with two black balls of fluff being protected by one of the parents. 

The weather was on the move all day, which only added to the excitement. We had just two showers of rain, neither of which lasted for more than a couple of minutes. In between were long periods of sunshine and the most wonderful skies. Indeed, the cloudage for the entire duration of our stay has been amazing. As a lover of clouds, I've literally been in my element here.

Inishturk is the kind of place you don't want to tell too many people about. The island is served by just two guest houses. The only place to eat (or drink) is the Community Centre (and the Turkish chef cooked us some superb food  - even to custom order by the time of our third night). At the end of the evening we felt like locals in that we'd met just about everyone who lives here. Stick it on your bucket list, but please don't spread the word to anybody else!

Having nothing to think about except putting one foot in front of the other (and perhaps taking a few pictures) I've felt altogether much more like myself - to the point of even forgetting that anything is wrong. As I write this up a day later I do realise that my head is still rather confused. I managed to get my dates mixed up and miss a rather important teleconference. I hope I'll be forgiven.