 |
| The
grass strip in Inishmaan is perfectly into the wind... but only 360 meters
long. |
|
 |
| Well,
all in all, let's leave Inishmaan and try Inishmore, the island is marginally
bigger, and the pilot tourists that we are will find more to see on a short
spree |
|
 |
| Hum...
Inishmore is... hot. The picture is taken when I'm going around on runway
14, because a big squall is coming full speed on the island and the wind
shuffles around the 25G35Kt crosswind. I finally firmly set the aircraft
on the ground (the shock absorbers ain't too happy) on runway 32 after
a radio message that will live long in Aran's memories : Charlie
Mike, downwind runway... whatever ! |
|
 |
| Runway
is short, full of pebbles, but we landed just before the squall. We park
near a carefully tied down Cessna and wait the rain out in the plane. |
|
 |
| Anne-Céline
looks happy to be there ! |
|
 |
| The
regular comes in, a BN22 just like in the Scillies |
|
 |
| Air
Aran, the airline with the shortest flights in Europe (2 minutes between
each island). The weather looks wonderful on this side of Inishmore, but
you have to be crazy to believe it will last long or look the same two
miles away from here ! |
|
 |
| The
island is roughly 6 miles x 2 miles, with 900 inhabitants who live on fishing
and tourism. |
|
 |
| Dun
Aengus is a famous celtic fort with concentric walls. It faces the sea
(and you will see how much in a few pictures !) |
|
 |
| This
is where the rocks are raised. More seriously, it is the "chevaux de frise",
which are there to slow down the assailants |
|
 |
| The
squalls, strong with hail, fly away as fast as they come in. Even if the
island is small, you will find three or four different micro climates at
a given minute. |
|
 |
| Rocks
are all over the place in the Arans. Here in Dun Aengus they are mounted
into a defence wall, hence dense, solid and looking inpregnable. |
|
 |
| To
the west, Dun Aengus stronghold ends up... into the ocean |
|
 |
| There
is no way an attack will come from the west. The sea lashes strong waves
that beat against the cliff to make the point. |
|
 |
| Sun
is back, let's go and visit the rest of the island |
|
