|
Day: |
039 |
|
Date: |
Monday, 2 May 2016 |
|
Start: |
Listowel |
|
Finish: |
Rathkeale |
|
Daily
Kilometres: |
41 |
|
Total
Kilometres: |
1102 |
|
Weather: |
Cool, with a blustery wind, occasional rain
and hail showers, and some sun. |
|
Accommodation: |
Rathkeale House Hotel |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Cereal, toast & jam
Lunch: Tuna & sweetcorn sandwich, muesli bars and chocolate
Dinner: Doner kebab & chips, apple pie |
|
Aches: |
None really |
|
Highlight: |
Finishing the 41km roadwalk in better shape
than I expected. There's life in the old dog yet. |
|
Lowlight: |
None really |
|
Pictures: |
Here |
|
GPS Track: |
Here |
|
Journal: |
I was quite apprehensive about my long
roadwalk to Rathkeale today, and keen to get an early start.
The B&B owner had, true to her word, left the restaurant open for me
to get my own breakfast (official breakfast was at 10:30am).
Very trusting, as there was money and various sale goods lying
around. I got myself some juice, cereal, toast and jam, and
coffee and was walking by 8:30am on the May Day Public Holiday.
The town was quiet, but a service station on the way out of town was
open and I ordered a fresh-cut sandwich to take with me for lunch
later.
The most direct route to Rathkeale was 41km via a
regional road, the R523, which I feared might be quite busy.
However, alternative roads were considerably longer and closer
accommodation options were well off my preferred route, so I went
with the R523. I think I was fortunate that it was a public
holiday, because traffic was not too bad, especially in the morning.
Although I still had to stop and find a way of getting off the road
whenever vehicles came from opposite directions at the same time,
there seemed to be a little more room than on other roads I have
travelled.
Clearly some people saw me multiple times during
the day, and several stopped to offer me a lift, and one guy who
lived on the road came out as I went past and asked me in for a
coffee. Unfortunately, it was early in the day and the thought
of losing an hour was unattractive with such a long way to go, so I
very politely and regretfully declined.
One of the reasons
for my apprehension about the long roadwalk was the nagging injuries
I am carrying (not to mention a 20kg pack). But I managed my
day well, taking breaks every 10km or so, and using my trekking
poles as much as possible to take pressure off the left knee and
right heel, along with some other minor tweaks to my routine.
The weather was drier than yesterday, and the blustery wind was
from behind, but every now and then a squall came through
accompanied by a serious drop in the temperature and rain or hail.
The topography was more interesting with some undulating
countryside, windfarms and even some of the ubiquitous pine
plantations at the higher elevations.
Apart from my three
breaks, I kept moving and reached my hotel in Rathkeale a little
before 6:00pm. It's more expensive than I would like, and
doesn't include breakfast, but there were no other options in
Rathkeale. On the other hand it's a nice big room and
everything works. The manager who checked me in was an
Australian from Sydney, but said he had been here a long time.
He said there was Vegemite in the kitchen if I needed a fix.
Later I ventured into the very quiet centre of town and bought a
kebab and some snacks for dinner. Another, shorter, roadwalk
tomorrow and then I'm going to have a day off in Limerick and do
some washing, planning and other chores. |
|
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)
|
