Saltee Islands, May 2004

In May we went to the Saltee Islands just off the coast of Wexford. This was Goldiebear and Kevin's first trip inside Ireland, and they were very excited: Now, they had become real Travelling Bears!
Angus was getting a bit tired of all this Travelling Bears, here, there and everywhere, so he suggested, that he and Erasmus should form the "Travelling Dogs"!

Saltee Islands, May 2004

We had heard, that you could see gannets, cormorans and other seabirds on the islands - even puffins. The islands are uninhabitated, well apart from the owner and his family.

Saltee Islands, May 2004

McBear and Roger wanted to have a closer look at the gannets, so they walked very slowly and carefully not to disturb the birds.

Saltee Islands, May 2004

As we walked around the island, we found a lot of very deep holes. McBear thought it could be rabbits. Roger was complaining about the droppings everywhere.
- Is it sheep who leave such a mess? he asked.
- No, it's rabbit droppings, McBear said.
- YES! Pinbear agreed. - It's certainly not from sheep. I remember the sheep droppings on the Healy Pass. Those droppings were nearly as big as me, and the droppings here are so small, I could use them as a football!

Click to enlarge the photo

The Skelligs, June 2004

In 2002 we went to the Skelligs and the photo that was taken back then had become so famous, that when we went back to the Skelligs in June 2004, Irving, Erasmus, Edward and Kevin also wanted to have their photo taken here. But unlike the last time, this time we saw puffins. Kevin, being an Irish tourist souvenir bear, was happy, that he hadn't been bought by some strange tourist from abroad.
- Don't worry, Roger said, being kidnapped would only happen to famous TA's like me.
Kevin felt so relieved.

The Skelligs, June 2004

The last time we went to the Skelligs, in September 2002, Roger had had a chat with Des Lavelle, the captain of Beal Bocht of Portmagee.
- We are true seamen, Des and I, Roger claimed.

The Skelligs, June 2004

On the way back to the mainland, Roger had a chat with Captain Lavelle. Tom was very proud of being invited to have a chat with the Captain too. McBear was very interested in the GPS system on board, and Des told him about the auto pilot navigation system.

Guaggan Barra, June 2004

On the last day we went to the famous Guaggan Barra in County Cork. The little island with the church dates back to the 6th century, when Saint Finbarr founded Cork.
Roger was wondering what it would take to become Saint Roger and the church to re-dedicate this shrine to him.

Dublin, June 2004

After the Skelligs and Guagan Barra, McBear and Roger had a look at the map of Ireland and they could see, that by now they had travelled quite a lot of Ireland, including many of the small islands around the Irish coast: Achill Island, Dursey Island, Bear Island, Saltee Islands, Ireland's Eye and Cape Clear.
- We haven't done Tory Island or The Blaskets, Roger pointed out.
- Well, we'll put them on our list of destinations, McBear replied.