shewhomust | Greetings from Berwick

Sunrise was observed on the morning of Sunday 19th June; all paricipants had reached the island before the tide cut it off on Saturday afternoon, so we were able to dine sociably over a couple of bottles of Madiran, before an early night, followed by an even earlier morning and a brisk walk down past the castle. We might have been too late to see the sun clear the horizon, except that the usual layer of cloud hid that crucial moment anyway. We were there in time to see the sun emerge from this shroud - as in the picture. It isn't necessarily the best of the batch of photos, but it's the one I don't think would be improved by editing. More may follow.

Then

valydiarosada and D. went back to the house (more about the house later, too), and

helenraven and

durham_rambler and I walked along the coast, past the hide, where there was a great twittering of small birds and a great cloud of birds taking off and swirling down the edge of the lough as we approached. We turned inland not far past here, and walked down a lane bordered with purple orchids spiking through the green grass, and home and back to bed.

Thereafter, a quiet Sunday: late mornings and independent degrees of lunch and cups of tea and ginger cake and lying on the sofa reading Val McDermid and the Saturday and Sunday papers, and going for walks. We dined at the Bean Goose, a tiny organic restaurant - the best food we have so far discovered on the island, and the most expensive. The spicy crab soup was delicious, rich and creamy with coconut, but only very mildly spiced; the lemon posset dessert was wonderfully silky, and pleasantly lemony (which is to say that I would have liked it a bit sharper, but that's often the case: I'm not all that subtle). The main courses appealed less, and intheend I chose a goat's cheese salad which was offered as either starter or main - and was happy with my choice, though it might have worked even better as a starter. We drank a New Zealand white (blanc de pinot noir) which - again - was a bit bland, and an Argentine torrontes which I liked very much. Both wines, I think, from Vintage Roots.

And this morning

helenraven and I walked back down to the castle, and then we left D. at home, took

helenraven to Berwick station, and

valydiarosada,

durham_rambler and I came to the Wetherspoons pub for lunch and wi-fi.