Zoë Bowyer

Dennis the Menace

Originally uploaded by ZMB.

Yesterday morning I got a lift with The Nurse to Rathlin Island. The Nurse travels out regularly and is ferried over by local boatmen. In this case we (The Nurse, the assistant nurse, myself and Gracie) were taken by Dennis the Menace and Gnasher. Gracie the Vibrodog vibrated the whole journey.

We arrived on the island at 9.15 am and it was gloriously quiet, apart from Gracie’s excited barks which seemed to echo around Church Bay. I was worried that she would wake the locals up to the fact that we were there.

We were greeted at the harbour by a nice dog who wound up following us for our entire stay on the island. Unfortunately, she freaked me out when she went chasing after a sheep on the road. She became an extra burden on me, but was very bidable when I made her walk behind me and later scolded her for looking at sheep.

We walked to Rue Point, the walk took us about 3 hours but would take someone who doesn’t stop every five seconds to take a photograph a lot less time.

I felt soothed by my time on the Island. It wasn’t too busy and I was at peace with my thoughts. The only sounds were the sounds of birds and the sea. Even better to be there before the ferry arrives with all the day-trippers.