It's morning in HolyHow, and it's completely light outside. I look at the clock and there's still time before breakfast.
I crawled out of bed and looked out the window, but I can't see the lake from this room's window. First, I opened the window to let in some cool air. If I go to the bench outside the room, I can see the lake and Kanchenjunga. The correct route to get there is to go out the door and go through several rooms, including the lobby, but if I crawl out of my room's window, the bench is right there. Maybe it's because this building is built on a slope, but the window is about 1m high from inside the room, but from the bench outside, the window is less than 10cm high from the gravel ground. This room is like half buried. It seems like no one has woken up yet, so I won't be found if I go out of here. I boiled water in a pot and prepared coffee, then placed the cup outside the window, along with the postcard and writing implements I was writing. Then I crawled out the window.
A slightly cold wind was blowing on Lake Coniston. It was still early in the morning, so I had the bench with the view of Kanchenjunga all to myself. While drinking the coffee I had brought out of the window, I slowly finished writing the postcard for my daughter.
My seat was already assigned for breakfast. The table was designated by my room number. A little while later, a man with a white beard like Sean Connery and his wife came across from me. We ate at the same table. I was a little nervous, thinking I had to say something. I started by saying "good morning," and ended up saying "have a nice day." without any problems. I guess I'm getting used to speaking English now.
Today is an important day to go to Wildcat Island. Wildcat Island is located in the southern part of Coniston Lake, and is very close to the eastern shore of the lake. It is close to the shore, so it is only a short boat ride across Shark Bay, but the boat rental shop is located in the town of Coniston, which is far away in the northwest of the lake.
After breakfast, we returned to our room and prepared to leave. We packed a map, camera, writing utensils, etc. in a small backpack and headed out. Leaving Holly Howe, we walked north, passing through Lake Head, the northern end of Coniston Lake, and then heading south to the port where the boat rental shop is located.
At the northern end of the lake, we went a little left off the road, and from here we could go down to the shore of the lake. Here I was welcomed by ducks. I always put some bread for breakfast in my backpack that I left for the birds. Now it's time for breakfast for the waterfowl. I wonder if they will like it? When the bread was thrown on the surface of the lake, waterfowl came running across the water from far away. There were three ducks here being arrogant, and when other ducks came, they chased them away. I threw the bread far away so that everyone could have a fair share.
On the way to the harbor from here, there was a fork in the road to the left where a footpath leading to the boat center was marked. This would have been a shortcut, but I headed to the center of the village first to prepare lunch for the day. Rowing for a long time on the boat makes you thirsty, and considering today's long voyage, I definitely needed to bring some food with me. In the small grocery store in the town of Coniston, I bought bread, two liters of coke, and three bananas. That was all I could eat.
There were already more than 10 people lined up in front of the boat rental shop. I also joined the line to apply, but I should have come earlier. Looking at the rowboats on the shore, there were various sizes of boats, and few of them were thin and easy to row by one person, so they were quickly rented by other people. There was a sign on the wall saying Lowing boat 4 hours 15.00 pounds.
Finally, it was my turn. I asked the man in charge, "Can I borrow a rowboat?" He asked me, "Where are you going?" "To Peel Island." "Oh, that's tough. Use JENNIE," he said, pointing to one of the boats lined up on the sand on the lake shore. Then, I received a life jacket, put on the leather gloves I had prepared for this occasion, and set sail at 10:25. It was a beautiful wooden varnished boat with JENNIE written on the stern. It was an old boat, but it had been carefully maintained, and the color of the varnish that had been applied many times was very beautiful. The oars are inserted into the metal fittings, so they cannot be removed and moved freely, but there is no need to worry about losing them. At first, I rattled the metal fittings on the oar receivers, rowing to the right, then to the left, checking the movement of the boat, and started rowing little by little.
As I left the shore and started rowing, I realized that this boat, JENNIE, was prone to turning, and it wasn't just because of the difference in strength between my left and right hands. It always tried to turn left. I changed the amount of force I put in on each side and rowed to keep going straight. I didn't mind the strong sunlight, and the breeze on the lake was refreshing. Looking back as I went, I could see that my destination, Wildcat Island, was still far away and hazy. It took two hours of rowing each way, so I rowed slowly to avoid getting tired.