Day: |
044 |
Date: |
Saturday, 7 May 2016 |
Start: |
Sixmilebridge |
Finish: |
Ennis |
Daily
Kilometres: |
23 |
Total
Kilometres: |
1210 |
Weather: |
Overcast with light rain all day |
Accommodation: |
Railway View House B&B |
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Full Irish Breakfast
Lunch: Tuna & sweetcorn roll and cornchips Dinner:
Fish & chips, rice pudding |
Aches: |
None really |
Highlight: |
Finding the B&B owner, Kathleen, welcoming on my arrival at
2:30pm on a dreary wet and cold day, after having said I would not be
there until 6:00pm when booking some days ago. I was able to
have a shower, warm-up, put on some dry clothes and watch the Connacht vs Glasgow
Pro-12 rugby
union game (commentary in Gaelic) while eating a late lunch. |
Lowlight: |
Wet and cold day |
Pictures: |
Here |
GPS Track: |
Here |
Journal: |
It was spitting slightly with rain when I
left Sixmilebridge soon after 9:00am, but the intensity gradually
increased to light rain, and it stayed that way for the whole of my
walk.
I had chosen a route using mostly backroads to Ennis,
my destination for the day, but the first 7km was along a busy
regional road and I had to keep a sharp eye out for oncoming traffic
on the many blind bends, always ready to jump into the hedgerow if
necessary. The rain, and consequent poorer visibility, added
to the degree of risk, but I finally made it safely to the minor
roads and relaxed a little. The undulating countryside was a mix of
working farms, mainly cattle, and some expensive-looking houses on
large blocks of land.
Occasionally, overhead or in the
distance, I could hear the roar of jet engines from planes taking
off and landing at Shannon airport. I can remember flying into
Shannon a couple of times in the late 1980s to visit a company in a
nearby business park. Who'da thought I would be hiking through
here 27 years later.
After a couple of hours of walking, I
began keeping an eye out for somewhere dry to have a break, but the
quest was
hopeless. If it was a long day, I would have improvised some
shelter using my small tarpaulin, but since it was a relatively
short day's hiking, I just kept walking. I was starting to get
damp and quite cold (wearing shorts for the day wasn't a wise choice), and
my exhaled breath was condensing in the cold air, so stopping may
not have been a good idea anyway. Quite a change from
yesterday.
Shortly before 2:00pm I entered the outskirts of
Ennis, and with a kilometre to go passed a supermarket.
Dripping wet and with my pack on my back, I went in and ordered a
fresh roll from their deli and got a drink and some corn chips and
put them in my pack. Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the
B&B, looking very bedraggled, and was welcomed by Kathleen who
showed me to my room, despite my early arrival.
A shower and
some dry clothes warmed me up, and the fresh-made crusty
half-baguette filled roll was delicious as I watched a major league
rugby union game on TV.
Later I walked to a nearby fish and
chip shop to buy some dinner and returned to the B&B to eat and
watch TV while working on my laptop.
I have booked in here for two nights,
with the goal of using the day off to finalise my itinerary for the
remainder of the hike and booking a return flight to Australia.
I have now also resolved my email software problems and have some
correspondence and chores to catch up on as well. |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
(2016)
Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)
Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
Track (2011)
Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)
Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)
Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)
Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)
Three Peaks Race
(2004)
Appalachian Trail
(1986)
Alpine Track
(1983)
|