Dave Byrnes' Adventures

Round Ireland - 2016
Overview     Planned Schedule     Map     Diary     Pictures
Day: 013
Date: Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Start: Fermoy
Finish: Mallow
Daily Kilometres: 31
Total Kilometres: 408
Weather: Sunny, cold and breezy at first, with an increasing number of rain and hail squalls as the day wore on.
Accommodation: The Roundabout Inn
Nutrition: Breakfast:  Cereal, scrambled eggs and toast
Lunch:  Muesli bars and chocolate
Dinner:  Shepherd's Pie, chips and chocolate-chip cookies
Aches: Nothing new
Highlight: Discovering I had indeed packed my laptop, when after hiking for a couple of hours, I convinced myself that I had left it on the bed at the B&B.
Lowlight: Woke up with a headache which persisted all day.
Pictures: Here
GPS Track: Here
Journal: Last night, after a fruitless search for a B&B for tonight along my planned route, the Blackwater Way, I realised that until I get to the more touristy west coast, I'm going to have to compromise on my planned route.  Eventually, after considering the possibility of staying for a second night in the very nice B&B in Fermoy and recovering from two long days, I decided to head for the sizeable town of Mallow.  Using the official Blackwater Way for most of the trip would have involved an undesirable 45km day, so I resolved to go the most direct route using minor roads which looked more like 30km.

I left the B&B just before 9:30am in cold brisk conditions and followed the Blackwater Way for the first few kilometres along the southern bank of the River Blackwater.  Despite the cold, it was a beautiful walk, though steadily got muddier and more eroded.  When the foot-trail finally emerged on a minor road, there was a sign saying the track was closed because of storm damage, but there had been no warning at the other end.  There were a few tricky bits, one where a long stretch of fence had fallen on the trail and another where a section had collapsed into the valley below, but quite manageable.

Once on the road, that's where I stayed for the rest of the day, parallelling the River Blackwater upstream.  Up until the last five kilometres, the road was quiet, with most drivers giving me a wave.  A catholic priest stopped for a chat when he saw me for the third time as he travelled back and forth on his pastoral work.  He is walking a part of the Santiago de Compostela in the summer and was nervous of his fitness (though he looked healthy enough to me).  I saw him yet again an hour or so later, and suspect there were other drivers who saw me multiple times during the day.

The river valley provided nice rural scenery and I passed many working farms along with expensive-looking houses.  There was always something to look at.  As the day wore on, the weather deteriorated and I was hit by a number of rain and hail squalls, each accompanied by strong winds and plummeting temperatures.  However, my gear was adequate and I just kept plodding on.

I reached my hotel B&B in Mallow, a large industrial town, about 4:45pm and checked in, glad of some time to try and sort out my email software which has been misbehaving since the weekend.  I've mostly resolved the problems, but apologies to any people waiting for a response.

I had dinner in the hotel, which is a bit down-market, and wasn't that impressed with the shepherd's pie, which came with a very thick layer of cheese-covered potato covering a very thin layer of meat in which I counted two peas.  Just in case I didn't have enough potato, it came with a bowl of fries!

After dinner I wandered into a supermarket in town for a few snacks and drinks and returned to my room eagerly anticipating an early night.  Before dinner, my research had again failed to unearth a suitably located B&B for tomorrow night, so tomorrow will mostly be another road walk like today, which is OK but not my preference.

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)

(Previous Page)

(Next Page)

You can email Dave directly at dave@davebyrnes.com.au or subscribe to his Adventure Blogs here.

You can see Dave's Running Blog here.