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)
|