Day: |
047 |
Date: |
Tuesday, 10 May 2016 |
Start: |
Ennistimon |
Finish: |
Doolin |
Daily
Kilometres: |
31 |
Total
Kilometres: |
1267 |
Weather: |
Heavy overcast and haze all day with
occasional light drizzle late in the afternoon |
Accommodation: |
Blackberry Lodge B&B |
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Porridge, scrambled eggs &
smoked salmon, toast & jam Lunch: Muesli bars and chocolate
Dinner: Bangers & mash, berry crumble & ice-cream |
Aches: |
None really |
Highlight: |
The Cliffs of Moher, despite the heavy
overcast and haze, were spectacular, dropping 200 metres vertically
into a calm dark blue Atlantic Ocean with the Aran Islands just
visible far offshore. |
Lowlight: |
None really |
Pictures: |
Here |
GPS Track: |
Here |
Journal: |
I was woken in the early morning by heavy
rain which seemed to confirm the day's forecast for rain periods.
However, by the time I left at 9:00am, the rain had stopped and the
sky just looked threatening. I wore my rainjacket.
The
day's walk started badly when I misread a map and cost myself nearly
30 minutes of wasted effort before getting back on track.
Curses, since the day was going to be long enough anyway. It
was mild and humid and before long I decided to risk the rain and
packed my jacket away. There was a new shared path
(pedestrians and cyclists) from Ennistimon to Lahinch, so I didn't
have to walk on the main road or find a back road as expected.
Lahinch was a beachside village with a very attractive and
well-patronised sand dune golf course, part of which abutted the
ruins of Dough Castle. On another day, it would have been
great to play 18 holes, though at €170 a round it was well out
of my price-range.
I crossed the River Inagh estuary and then
walked on the road around to a little port village called Liscannor
where I picked up the Burren Way, the first part of which used back
roads to avoid the heavy Cliffs of Moher tourist traffic. I
wended my way along quiet country lanes with the peaceful blue sea
to my left until I reached one of the car parks used for tourists
wanting to walk along the Cliffs of Moher. After another
kilometre I reached the clifftop at Hag's Head which had a superb
view northwards along the 200m high vertical cliffs. Despite
the haze, it was spectacular. The Burren Way followed the
clifftop northwards and I joined hundreds of other tourists walking
along the path and admiring the views. Apparently it is one of
the biggest tourist attractions in Ireland, drawing more than a
million visitors a year.
After 5km, I reached the Visitor
Centre, which was cleverly and unobtrusively buried in a hillside,
but there was no hiding the full carpark, flock of tour buses and
hundreds of tourists of all shapes, sizes and ages. This was
definitely the most-visited part of the cliffs, although I felt the
southern section, from where I had just come, had better views.
I took a break at a picnic table and watched the passing parade for
a while before continuing my journey north along the clifftop.
The crowds quickly dwindled and within a kilometre I was virtually
on my own again. The Burren Way generally followed the
descending clifftop almost all the way into Doolin, my destination
for the day. I had had trouble finding a B&B online in Doolin,
but it seemed nearly every building offered accommodation in the
very touristy village and most had vacancy signs out.
My
booked B&B was a kilometre the other side of town, so as I walked
through I kept an eye out for a shop where I could buy some food to
take to the B&B and save a return trip later. However, there
wasn't one, so I continued to the B&B and checked in at 5:00pm.
It may have been further out of town than I like, but my room is new
spacious and well-equipped at a reasonable price, so I shouldn't
complain.
I walked back to one of the pubs in the village
recommended by the B&B owner for value meals and was quickly served.
Although the staff was all Irish, I think everybody else in the pub
was foreign and most of them were American. There was going to
be traditional music later, as there is in many pubs, but I find it
hard to get enthused. I'm just too cynical (and too much of a
tight-wallet) in my old age and can't be bothered paying for
over-priced drinks to participate in a "traditional" Irish pub
evening, when it's all for the tourists. That apart, the meal
was tasty and reasonably-priced and I walked back to my B&B with
some blue sky visible for the first time in the day. |
|
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)
|