Dave Byrnes' Adventures

Round Ireland - 2016
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Day: 056
Date: Thursday, 19 May 2016
Start: Murrisk
Finish: Newport
Daily Kilometres: 22
Total Kilometres: 1524
Weather: Heavy overcast and light drizzle in the morning, dry and mostly cloudy in the afternoon
Accommodation: Greenway B&B
Nutrition: Breakfast:  Cereal, toast & jam
Lunch:  Sandwiches, Snickers bar
Dinner:  Doner kebab & chips, strawberry trifle. 
Aches: None
Highlight: None really
Lowlight: Spending thirty minutes on Skype in the morning with my credit card company who confirmed the card had been used fraudulently.  The card has now been cancelled and a new one will be reissued.  I have another card as well as a debit card, so will probably just manage with what I've got for the rest of the trip.
Pictures: Here
GPS Track: Here
Journal: I stayed up late finishing yesterday's blog, and then stayed in bed a little longer in the morning.  Before getting myself the hostel self-serve breakfast, I called my credit card provider to find out why my card had been rejected the last two times I had tried to use it.  Thirty minutes later, it was determined that there were two small fraudulent charges made to the card and it was cancelled.  It's a pain in the butt, since it's a card I use mostly for overseas travel because it offers reasonable exchange rates and no commission charges.  However, it will be too complicated to replace it quickly, so I'll survive using my other card and cash.

After yesterday's long kilometres, and knowing I had a short day today, I ate a leisurely breakfast and didn't leave the hostel until 10:30am.  I was determined to take it easy today to let my feet recover from yesterday's hammering, so pretty much strolled the 11km into Westport along the shared path (pedestrians and cyclists) which followed the shoreline of Westport Bay.  Actually, it was more like the mudflats of Westport Bay, as the tide was out and the mudflats were vast.  It was drizzling and windy, but the wind was from behind so the conditions were quite tolerable.  Croagh Patrick was shrouded in cloud, so I was lucky I climbed it yesterday.

Westport was a busy and picturesque regional town, and popular with tourists.  On the way to the Vodaphone store to get a pre-pay voucher for my phone/data for another month, I bumped into Tracy, who hosted me for dinner last night, which was a nice surprise and we had a short chat.  While in town, I also tried an outdoor store to see if they had any hiking shorts, but struck out.  The waist of my current pair is too loose, so maybe the solution is to eat more chocolate.

As I left town, I bought a couple of fresh sandwiches for lunch and soon after found a bench on which to sit while I ate.  From Westport, my route followed the Greenway, which seems to be a generic Irish term for specially built pedestrian/cycling paths.  In this case, it seemed to follow an old railway bed initially, but later just tended to closely follow the main road, making it less quiet and interesting.  The surface was paved in parts and hard clay/stone in others and my feet were complaining, but I just kept walking until I reached Newport and my B&B soon after 3:30pm.  After a long shower which included hand-washing a lot of gear, I had time to rest up on the bed for a while watching Judge Judy and doing my blog, before going to get some dinner from the adjacent take-away and eating it in my room.  My window overlooks the old bridge over the Ballyteige River to the town square on the other side.  It has turned cold, the wind is blowing, and it all looks a bit wintry.

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)

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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.