Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sophia was going to school and enjoying it, Ellie was back to playing happily on her own
even when I did such boring things - to her - as working on our direct sales campaigns.
There was something about me being on the PC that generally made the kids want to in-
terrupt. If I was doing something physical like gardening, cooking or hanging up washing
they were happy to play alongside. Sean took time with the girls in the evenings playing
and reading stories. I had noticed that his dad had been the same. I would often find John
sitting head bowed deep in conversation with two small girls showing them something -
a leaf from a tree, a ladybird, an acorn. Now that the harvest was over Sean shared the
cooking duties like he used to; although washing and cleaning the house, which we had
shared in Dublin, were still all left to me. He was back to being the person I knew. The
four months around harvest time had been like living with a stranger. I still felt a little raw
and suspicious but I cancelled my flight reservation. It would take time for the trust in our
relationship to rebuild.
Sean steadily made his way through his second year of pruning. One Sunday working in
Hillside he heard hunting dogs. A giant wild boar dashed up the vineyard about 20 metres
away from him and made for our small oak forest, followed by dogs and hunters. Sean
waved frantically and yelled full throttle.
We were a
chasse interdite
area, so no hunting should take place on our land, but it was
his own survival he was worried about, expecting a shot to come flying in his direction.
Before the hunters reached Sean, the boar came roaring back, leapt off the cliff above the
vineyard, sailed several metres through the air and landed in the row next door. He sped
past without giving Sean a glance and barrelled up the other side of the valley. By the time
he reached Gageac the dogs were so far behind him Sean was sure he had got away. Hav-
ing come so close to tusks that could have slashed him into small portions, never mind the
gunshots, Sean took an early lunch to recover.
While Sean tackled pruning in freezing temperatures, wild boar and gunshots, I zoned in
on point three in 'operation survival': assessing the viability of a holiday house, or more
specifically an 'eco' holiday house. The 'eco' was for environmental but also for economic.
We had to do this on a shoestring. Internet research yielded wooden cabins, composting
toilets and other innovative solutions. Even if we did most of the work ourselves, a new
holiday house would cost us a hundred thousand euro. Banks were not giving loans against
properties with vineyards because of the risk. In addition, since it would be a new build-
ing, there was no guarantee we would get planning permission. Construction bureaucracy
sounded like it could rival vineyard rights.
