More Ireland...

Current location: Kenmare

I was in Kinsale for four days (via Dungarvan which has a bay full of wading birds, and Cork which is a big town). This was where the Transition movement began and it seems that they're doing OK.

Then on to Baltimore, which has an interesting history. You can read a bit more here and here (although the last gets it all mixed up with Islamic extremism).

The weather's good! It's dry, sunny and warm with a cool breeze. I camped last night by a lovely little stream with a waterfall and a pool. Ahhh...

Here's a few pics:


From sculpture on Kinsale harbour.


Where I camped by Lough Hyne.


Lough Hyne from the hill above it.


Skoleskibet Danmark (link in Danish)

Cork...

Now in Cork after having spent the night by the sea in Dungarvan. It's a charming little town with a beautiful bay which is full of wading birds - curlew, dunlin, oystercatchers, turnstones, a few egrets, and brent geese in the winter.

(I'd spent the previous night in my hammock by near a factory called Genzyme in Waterford. It seems manufacturing drugs is a big thing here.)

I'd imagined that hitching in Ireland was dead easy: after all, the Irish have a reputation for being open and hospitable. I don't know if it's me, or if it's because buses are cheap here, but I've found it difficult - I've had to wait far longer than I would in the UK. One driver told me that it's due to the boom of the last ten years, which has made people more affluent and changed atttudes. I don't know. Having said that, the lifts have been very friendly and chatty, and have more often than not gone out of their way to drop me somewhere convenient.

Next destination: Blarney, so I can kiss the Blarney Stone.

The swallows are gathering on the wires, ready to leave...

Coed Hills images

Here's what I couldn't post the other day. The mosaics are for Simon and Emma :)

Coed Hills and Ireland images...

Current location: Waterford, which has an area called Christendom. I wonder if Jesus is going to visit there sometime?

I got to Wexford the day before yesterday after getting rained on (again) on the way from Rosslare. Guess what? It rained. It pissed in at a 30 degree angle from a variety of directions yesterday - but at least the night was dry. I could hear fish - probably mullet - splashing in the water from where I slept.

I'd pitched my tarp well enough but sometimes you just have to accept that the weather has got the better of you. I gave in at about two in the afternoon and spent the night in a nice cheap hostel in Wexford.

Here's some pics from Rosslare and Wexford. I hung out on the quay at Wexford, while the weather held, but got accosted by some stupidly drunken Polish (I think) seaman who was offended by my refusal of a swig of cooking sherry. I was worried that at one point I'd have to slap him to make him go away but he saw sense...I guess "Fuck off!" in a loud voice is pretty international.

My neighbours the seals were much nicer. As you can see, they had a little conference about me :)



Wexford is a bit depressing. The Credit Crunch has hit Ireland quite hard and the result can be seen along the seafront, where half the shops are closed. It's a bit better on the main shopping street but the radio is reporting 12-13% unemployment.

The nice chap who gave me a lift to Waterford mentioned that I should establish my Irish credentials right away with people - my maternal grandfather was a McCarthy from Dublin, and that's about all I know - as according to him, there were still some funny people around this country.

The landscape is beginning to look very nice...very green but with the odd mountain here and there. I'm thinking of heading out west to a marine nature reserve called Lough Hyne which looks very nice...

Ireland...

First time in Ireland and...it's wet. The radio said that it's the wettest summer since 1866 when records began. I'm currently in Wexford Library, where they won't let me upload any images so they'll have to wait.

I got there via Coed Hills, which is a great place full of nice people. They've got a good thing going there, especially the Yurt-making bit.

I was waiting around at the western end of the M4 when this old hippy type (called Keith) saw me and offered me a lift - to Carmarthen - where I'd hoped to hook up with Will and Ed, buskers extraordinaire for a few days walking and singing. As it happened, I got a lift straight to Fishguard that afternoon, after Keith had dropped me off. Keith chained-smoked spliffs as he drove and gave me one to smoke later, which made the ferfy journey from Fishguard to Rosslare a relaxing one.

I arrived in Rosslare at 6am Saturday morning, having forgotten to change any money. I'm in no rush so I whiled away a couple of days on the beach at Rosslare, which was a bit damp but OK (I have a funny feeling that dampness is going to feature strongly on this trip). The landscape there is beautiful but the best bit of all was the seals: a dozen or so at any one time live near this reef. Seals are naturally curious and while I was watching them, I learned a new trick. A bloke came walking down the beach and stopped by a small group of seals and made a howling noise, similar to a dog or suchlike. The seals seemed attracted to it...

I tried this later and it works! If you give it a go, make sure you stand absolutely still. The seal that approached me was about 15 yards away when I reached for my camera. He didn't like the movement and swam off with a huge splash, which must be their 'alarm' sign.

Hitching out of Rosslare yesterday was hard. It was bucketing down, between bouts of heavy drizzle. Eventually it stopped and I ended up walking a few miles out of town and spending a (dry) night under my tarp by a hedge in a field: probably the only bit of land round here that isn't waterlogged.

I'll try to upload the pics I took another day.