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21.07.2009
By now, we had slowly got used to biking, Ireland and the Irish Mist (a perpetual, light drizzle). Therefore we wanted to go on to Waterville directly in the morning. It was a very short cycling day and it did not lead past any sights worth mentioning.
You can find Waterville described in guide books as "village with a very good tourist infrastructure". Somehow this made us think that we would see one pub and souvenir shop after the other. But fortunately our fears were unfounded: there are only more hotels and restaurants in Waterville than in other villages. The town itself is rather sleepy with its houses neither more nor less pretty than others.
The charm of Waterville lies in its location. It is situated both on a seashore (Ballinskelligs Bay) and on a lake (Lough Currane). Thus, Waterville attracts anglers, fishermen, hikers and beach tourists. There are even two golf courts and several stables nearby. As we could see from the prices of the restaurants, it is more meant for the High Society.
After putting up our tent, we went to take some photos and planned out boat trip for the next day.
A car got us from our campground early in the morning. It took us to Portmagee, a small harbour where the boats for the Skellig Rocks leave from. Each boat has a capacity of approx. 8-15 people and the owners usually offer transfers from and to the surrounding villages.
The Skellig Rocks are two islands some miles off the shore: Little Skellig and Great Skellig (Skellig Michael). The boat trip from Portmagee takes approx. 2 1/2 hours and is an experience on its own. With some luck, you can see some seals on your way. But at least when Little Skellig appears at the horizon, you will be surprised. The rocky island is the biggest colony of gannets in Ireland and it is one of their biggest breeding places in the world. The whole rock is covered with those big white birds and you can hear their noise for miles.
Skellig Michael is a bit bigger than Little Skellig and appears right behind it. On Skellig Michael you can visit an early Christian monastery built on top of the rocky island. To get there, you have to climb many stairs cut into the stone. But you must not expect tall ruins of an ancient monastery. The place consists of 7 small "huts" in the shape of beehives, where the monks lived. They had two cisterns to collect the rain to drink. The monks ate mostly fish and some vegetables grown in their tiny garden.
You have got approx. 2 hours to visit Skellig Michael. For the visit of the monastery a guided tour is mandatory. The guide explains everything in English very slowly and thoroughly for tourists of all nations to be understood. You should definitely bring your own food and drink for the day since there are no amenities whatsoever on the island. So: take enough films for your camera, suntan lotion, kleenex, etc - and do not forget to take the trash back with you!!
After a wonderful day at sea and interesting visits we returned to Waterville in good mood. We spent the remains of the evening planning the next day. Slowly we were getting tired of the Ring of Kerry and wanted to go elsewhere....
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