A couple of gems

Dear Blog,

I’m back, I’m back, I’m back, I’m back: I’m back from my hols. Have you missed me???? Sorry I haven’t been in touch for the last three weeks but the mail is none existent in the wilds of Eire and the inter thing does not pick up. Few days in Pembroke then a boat trip to the emerald isle, then out onto the moors and hills. Like wild. Stony outcrops and sparse grass, too poor for even the sheep to show an interest. Managed an hour trudging each day. Most roads were deserted. When there was traffic, all the drivers were truly friendly, slowing down on the narrow roads and waving encouragement. All campsites are excellent. Clean toilets, free showers and cooking facilities thrown in for the basic price. Not too many sites inland. A couple of gems though. Spent a few days on the shores of a lough in county Mayo. Reminiscent of a Scandinavian site, past its sell by date admittedly, but quaint, clean but camping at the side of the water, lapping you to sleep at night and gently rousing you in the morning. No disturbance from other campers, despite the Irish fondness for swimming in the freezing water at any time of the day. Another, which I have stayed at before, is on the hills above Clomel, called, believe it or not, Power of Pot Camping Hostel. Clean toilets, free showers and best of all no one else, well one other. All the times I’ve spent at the site, there is hardly ever anyone else. WHY?????? There is even a bar on site, opened by personal request when you want a drink. A potential gold mine. A GEM. I just don’t get it. Difficult to find, yes. Signs in the nearby town all pointing the wrong way, yes. Owner a bit distant, yes. Name of the site enough to deter anyone, yes. But what a site and what a view, looking over the country for miles and miles. Worth the cost of the ferry ticket just to stay there! Do you know anyone who has stayed there, Blog? Do you camp? In a tent, I mean. Not in one of those marquee things with half a dozen rooms, but in a small back packing tent with just enough for three to squeeze in. We took a ground sheet to use as an additional shelter from the rain. Two ends tied to the tent, two tied to a nearby tree. The weather is very warm, not much sun, a shower most days, short sharp and dry again all in the space of ten minutes!!! With no access to the media, the rioting came as a bit of a shock when we saw the pictures on the ship’s TV on our return crossing. My daughter ran a ‘10’ and won a three foot vase ..... in the colours of Godiva, believe it or not. Fixed or wghat???? More next time.

                                 Colin

PS The trudge I do in Pembroke was featured in one of this month’s running magazines favourite runs, believe it or not. Amazing! Which is a bit of a con, because the ground is so rough and steep, the path so narrow that fast running is totally impossible without tripping and plunging a couple of hundred feet into the sea from the side of the cliffs. I can’t believe the person who recommended it actually trudged slower than me .... which they must have done if they completed the run without stopping.