I looked at the puffins at the 21st June on Tory Island. This date I will never forget because my stay on Tory was really special

.
In 2006 and 2007 I already was on Tory but only for some hours. This year I wanted to stay overnight. I booked a room in the hostel on Tory for one night. It should be my last night in Donegal for this holiday trip. The 22nd June I wanted to take the flight from Donegal Airport to Dublin at 4.55 pm. In Dublin I had booked a bed in a hostel for my last 4 days in Ireland. And I promised auntie Bríd and a couple in Annagry to say good bye on my way from the ferry to Carrickfinn.
So I took the ferry from Magheroarty to Tory at 11.30 am the 21st June. It was cloudy. I arrived the hostel about one hour later. Then I started to a beautiful walking tour to the Eastern side of Tory. Here I took the photos from the puffins. Last year I saw there baskin sharks but I didn’t know that there were puffins on the island. Then, at about 5 pm the mainland was disappearing

. Very fast I dressed my rainwear and then rain and storm started. In the night I was in the only pub (in the hotel) watching football (EURO 2008) and listening to the music session (the King was also playing). And at about midnight some other people and I walked to the Club because there was a 18th birthday party and everyone was invited. At about 3 am I walked back to the hostel and it was still raining and stormy. But I wasn’t concerned

. We had June and the mainland was not far.
When I got up it was the same terrible weather – but I wasn’t concerned

. The ferry should go at 10.30 am. Already at 9.30 am I went to the hotel to say good bye to some of the people I met because the hotel has it’s one ferry at 10 am. But in the hotel the people said that there is no ferry today because of the poor weather conditions. I couldn’t believe it

. I was stranded on Tory Island!!! What to do now? All the important telefon numbers were in the car and nobody there could help me to find out the numbers for the airport and for the hostel in Dublin. So I called my nephew in Cologne. And I was lucky – he was at home. He browsed the internet and texted me the telephone numbers. During I waited for his message the people around me were very nice. They tried to calm me down. Then I called AVIS at Donegal Airport because I needed the car one day longer and I could book an AerArann flight for the next day at 3.30 pm. I also said the hostel in Dublin that I’m coming one day later. Then I called Bríd and the others to say what happened. They were very worried. After managing all these things - my head was nearly exploding - I went out into the storm together with two nice women from Donegal to get a clear head. In the afternoon the King was playing music to enjoy the „Robinson Crusoes“. At about 7 pm the rain stopped and we could see the mainland again. The next morning I got up at 6.30 am because I hoped the weather will be good. And it was good. So I went out for a walk from 7.30 until 9.45 am. I walked to the two places were I looked at the puffins two days ago but all puffins were gone. I met the King at the pier and told him the news – he couldn’t believe it. At 10 am I said good bye to the people who stayed in the hotel and then our ferry came

. There was blue sky when we left Tory and a dolphin swam beside the ferry.
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... Tory-1.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... Tory-2.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... Tory-3.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... -King2.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... Tory-4.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... Tory-5.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... Tory-6.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk21 ... inland.jpg
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. (Oscar Wilde)