Birds and Back Strand

On Thursday (October 16), we headed back to Bray for another adventure (one that sadly did not include french fries).

Looking at Google Maps one day, I noticed there was a swan sanctuary at Bray Harbour.  I love critters so I suggested to Eli on Thursday morning that we pay a visit to the sanctuary.

Bus L14 has a stop right across the street from our house, which makes it very convenient to pop over to Bray when the mood strikes.  It was even on time, wonder of wonders.  And there were no screaming hordes of children, which was another plus.

Once off the bus, it was a short walk to the harbour.  And this was our welcoming committee.

It's a little disconcerting to have these huge birds slowly and ominously approach you.  You're allowed to feed the swans, which was surprising to me.  The informational sign said that leafy green veggies were best, but they could also have bread (whole grain over refined white) because swans are smart enough to balance their diet.

I'm sure they equate every new human arrival with a promise of food, but I had to tell these lads that we didn't have anything for them.  Next time, we'll need to bring some yum-yums for them to snack upon.

Interspersed among the swans were scores of gulls, pigeons, and little sea birds that I think were turnstones (so named because of their penchant of turning stones over while looking for food).  Gulls and pigeons are fairly opportunistic, so they probably figured out early on that they might be able to snag some grub if they hung out with the swans.

We stood and watched them for a while.  At one point, as if on a silent signal, the majority of pigeons suddenly took flight, some perching on a wire, others landing on a nearby roof top.

These are mute swans.  I noticed that there were a few brown swans in the mix, and those are probably younger mute swans.

While on Google Maps, I noticed there was a small beach a short walk up the road from the swan sanctuary.  We walked across the bridge over River Dargle and after descending a concrete ramp, we were standing on Back Strand.  And it was GLORIOUS.

It's a short stretch of sandy beach and on this particular day, it was mostly deserted.  There were a couple people with dogs there when we arrived.  They left soon after, and then it was just us and the beach.  And it was perfect.

We walked along, our shoes squishing down into wet sand, enjoying the lack of people and the rushing of the waves.  When I'm on a beach, I'm forever looking for treasures.  I said to Eli, "I wish I could find some sea glass, but I imagine this place gets combed over early in the morning."  A few minutes later, I found a piece of white sea glass.

There are huge boulders along the sea wall, and we both found one to perch upon, content to look out over the water and listen to the sea.

As we sat there, a man and his dog came down onto the beach.  The dog was very excited to be there, and twice as excited to see other humans.  He came racing over to where we sat and then bolted away, creating huge divots in the wet sand.

When we were leaving, the man (who had stripped down to swim clothes) called out to us and jokingly said, "Aren't you going to have a swim?"  🙂

When it was time to go, we stopped again on the sidewalk near the swans.  A man was sitting on a bench, and there was a swan at his feet.  He gently bonked the swan on its bill and the top of its head, and the swan very contentedly leaned toward him.  It was very sweet to watch.

We got to our bus stop, and Eli checked his transit app.  It said the L14 wasn't due for 31 minutes.  Ugh.  There wasn't really anything to do in this area, so we crossed the street and sat down on a bench, resigned to waiting.  And then Eli suddenly hopped up and quickly began walking back to the stop because here came the bus.

Looking at these photos while writing this post made me smile.  THIS was the experience I was craving when we went to the nature reserve on Tuesday.  Peace and quiet and a lovely communion with softly whispering waves.

I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to have this exact moment recreated, one where it's just me and a stretch of deserted sandy beach, but I know I'll be back.

Peace and AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

On Tuesday, October 14, Eli and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  I had wanted to visit Knocksink Wood Nature Reserve, which is located in County Wicklow near the town of Enniskerry, about an hour south of our house.  Eli had the day off and since the weather was going to be good (cloudy, cooler, but no rain), we decided it would be a great way to spend our anniversary.

I have been longing for some peace and quiet for a while now.  All day, I'm bombarded with noise from the construction happening right outside our front door.  Over this past weekend, the young kids who sometimes visit the next-door neighbors were here, making all sorts of racket - including standing out in front of their house raising a ruckus around 11 p.m. on Saturday night.  So yeah, I was ready for some calm.

We took the tram to Glencairn and then walked a short distance to the bus stop, where we'd catch Bus 44.  After about a 20-minute wait, the bus arrived and we were on our way.

The ride was fairly quiet.  It was a weekday so there weren't a lot of riders that time of the morning.  And then all hell broke loose.

We pulled up to a stop where there had to be at least 50 children standing there.  An adult got aboard and started having a conversation with the driver.  We were all the way at the rear of the bus and couldn't hear exactly what was going on, but it appeared that whatever conveyance was supposed to have shown up to take the kids on a field trip did not show up - so could they get on our bus?

Fuck.

So the bus was bursting to the seams with 9 or 10 year olds who were hopped up because they weren't in school, and nearly every single one of them was S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G their conversation back and forth.  I was starting to get vertigo because of the assault on my eardrums.

They were each carrying a clipboard and I thought, "Bloody hell, they're all going to the damned park" - an idea that was further supported when I heard one of the chaperones say something about the kids doing nature-related activities.

Eli and I were both visibly relieved when all of the children exited the bus one stop before our stop, thinking perhaps there was a nature center or something they were going to visit.

We started walking back toward the park entrance, horrified when a wall of noise began drawing closer and closer to our location.

Again....fuck.

The teachers were getting the herd assembled hear the park entrance, so I started walking as quickly as I could, trying to get deeper into the woods and put some distance between myself and the shrieking wall of locusts.  Instead of feeling peaceful at this point, I was feeling pissed off.  I just wanted some damned peace - and the Universe said, "Here, have a cluster of squawking banshees instead."

Overall, it tarnished the experience because I couldn't get myself to unclench.  I had come to this place with a single, solitary goal - QUIET - and once that apple cart got tipped over and set on fire, there was no turning back.  I take responsibility for not being able to regulate my emotions but dammit, I was angry that my plans had all been shot to hell.

We moved off the path, farther back into the forest, and eventually the horde went by and much of the noise went with them.

We spent the majority of our visit near this small stream.  The water is unbelievably clear in most of the waterways I've seen here.  It was quite humid but cool, making the air feel tangible and heavy.  There was a large boulder near the water and if everything hadn't been so wet, I would've sat down on it and just let the day slide by.

There is a trail that loops through the reserve.  Eli was interested in hiking the loop, but we couldn't figure out exactly where the trail began.

By this time, my feet were bothering me a bit so it was time to find somewhere to sit down.  We left the park and walked down to our bus stop.  However, the bus wasn't scheduled to arrive for another 45 minutes so we continued walking toward Enniskerry, which was only about 5 minutes away.

As always, a library was my salvation.  Carnegie Library is a little postage stamp of a building.  I probably could've walked from front to back in about ten good-sized strides.  Tucked in a corner among the books was a couch, and I gratefully sank down upon it, glad to rest my feet and legs.  I sat there, enjoying being surrounded by books, listening to a woman reading a story to a group of enthusiastic youngsters, and staring out the window into the greenery beyond.  (In that second photo - seriously, wouldn't you love to have this view on a daily basis?)

After the refreshment of the library, we walked on to Enniskerry.  It's proper that their local library is a postage stamp because Enniskerry itself is a postage stamp.  Population is only about 2000 people.  Its claim to fame (other than being the filming location for the Disney movie Disenchanted) is being near the Powerscourt Estate, a large house and gardens which is also home to Powerscourt Waterfall, touted as the highest waterfall in Ireland at 121 meters (397 feet).

Rather than taking Bus 44 again, we decided to take Bus L15.  It was scheduled to arrive 10-15 minutes before Bus 44, and it would give us an opportunity to head for Bray.  Even so, we were still being faced with a long wait.

We got a drink at a small coffeeshop called OHSo.  I don't like coffee so I always get hot chocolate...which they were out of.  I put on a huffy attitude and said to the staff member "How dare you be out of hot chocolate when I'm here."  She chuckled and apologized.  I wound up with a can of Coke.  There was seating outside, so we took our drinks and sat down at a small table.

Hearing a sound, I glanced up and saw this friend peering at us from atop the umbrella over the table.  We had nothing for him so eventually, he grew tired of waiting and flew off.

We hopped on Bus L15 and were headed for Bray.  Even though it wasn't our planned return trip, I told Eli that on the plus side, we probably wouldn't encounter those school children on this route.

We were both hungry so it was off to Shake Dog for our second visit.  I again had a smaller portion of chicken tenders and fries (and a chocolate shake) because no stop in Bray is complete without an order of fries from Chipped.  Wanted to be sure I had room for second lunch.

After stuffing ourselves with yummy fries, it was time to head home.

I was disappointed that I hadn't been able to really connect with nature, as was my intention. But thankfully, unless something catastrophic happens, Knocksink Wood will always be there, waiting for us to return.