*****

Where Am I?

On the train from Dublin to Killarney.

I left this morning from Ann’s cousin Mairead’s house in Castleknock outside Dublin, and walked through Phoenix Park to the station, a lovely start to the journey with fine spring weather, birdsong, and green grass and lilac scents.

To get to Mairead’s, I left home a week ago, with Ann, and travelled to Ontario to visit first my family in Leamington, and then Ann’s family in Peterborough.  It was great to catch up and see everyone and to celebrate my father-in-law Stan’s 90th birthday, and yet I was mentally counting down the days and then the hours till departure.

My flight out of Toronto Dublin was ok, the usual airport stuff, and the usual lack of sleep on the plane.  Mairead collected me at the airport, and after a quick cup of tea and a chat, a nap and a shower revived me in time for an early dinner with her and her daughters.  After a pint of the black at the local pub, and a whiskey nightcap, it was an early bedtime and a much needed sleep.

The next day, I walked into Dublin along the Royal Canal, beautiful and peaceful under clear blue-skied sunshine

and meandered in town, picking up a fuel canister for my stove and a few trail snacks.  I ate lunch like a tourist off Grafton Street, and savoured a beer.  I strolled past St Stephen’s Green, and St Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Guinness Storehouse, and through Phoenix Park, getting back to Castleknock in time for a cup of tea and a shower before dinner.

After some adventures at the Hill of Tara, and a last glass of wine, it was after midnight before getting to sleep.  But I woke early, before my alarm, and was coffeed up and ready to go before 8.  

And with a quick hug and a thank you, I was off.

Finally.

Stories Along The Way

When we reached Ontario, Ann and I decided to spend the night on our own in Stratford, so we’d have a bit of quiet to ourselves to celebrate my birthday.  We had a lovely dinner at a place called Lovage, and the next morning as we were packing up I noticed that I had somehow chipped a tooth, not realizing it at the time.

For the next couple of days, I worried at it, running my tongue over the bicuspid in question, trying to decide if it was bad enough to have fixed before I left.  I didn’t have any pain from the tooth, but it nagged at me, and finally when we were in Peterborough 2 days before my departure I decided I should get it fixed.

Since my regular dentist was in Nova Scotia, I called around and found a walk-in dental clinic in Toronto and arranged to go in the afternoon before my flight.  

When I got into the chair and explained to the dentist about the tooth, he took a look, took another look, and sat back to ask – “where? I can’t see a chip”.

It was a small one, granted, but it felt obvious to me having had multiple such chips of my too-brittle teeth over the years.  He finally picked at it and agreed that if it was bugging me, it was enough of a problem to fix – “We aim to please”, he exclaimed – and without the need for much more than a bit of epoxy filling and some polishing, I was in and out in 15 minutes.

*****

Walking through Phoenix Park on the way to the train station, I glanced over towards the south.  The Wicklow Mountains loomed, close to the edge of the city, mist shrouded and mysterious.  I had a sudden urge to turn right and walk towards them, throwing out my careful plan, to wander the hills and go where I pleased.

My feet were in auto mode, stride locked in and step by step the urge faded.  

But what if ….

*****

The night I arrived in Dublin coincided with an impressive display of the northern lights, which Mairead’s daughter caught on camera and shared with us.  Since in Dublin there was too much light pollution to see, the next night, my final one in Dublin, we decided to go out of town to the Hill of Tara, to get a better view of what was to have been another great display.

We reached the hill around 2115, at sunset, to find a jammed car park with the overflow crammed along the side of the narrow road.  We found a spot and walked up the hill, exploring a bit whilst waiting for the twilight to fade.

Unfortunately, clouds were moving in, and while the slim crescent moon was a charming sight, we couldn’t see the aurora through the mist.  We gave up after an hour and headed back to the car.

By now, the parked cars were lined along the road for several hundred meters, making it a one-lane passage.  But as we started down the hill, we came to a car coming up, and behind it 3 more.  With nowhere to go but back, Mairead started to slowly inch a hundred meters in the dark, in reverse, and in little spurts and wobbles as she dodged pedestrians, overhanging shrubs, and jutting cars.

We got lucky when a parked car left, putting another downhill soul in front of us and by now several behind us, allowing an uphill soul to park, and giving us the numerical advantage to start down again, now forcing the cars in front of us to reverse themselves.

They slowly inched back as we crept forward, and after 20 stressful minutes, and with a surprising lack of curses from Mairead (I would have been swearing down the gods upon all heads), we finally reached the road back to Dublin.

This is why I walk – no traffic jams for me.

*****

Preparing for this journey has been a long process, probably too long as I endlessly stared at maps and imagined routes and stopping points.  Part of my prep has been spent watching YouTube videos made by a number of Irish walkers, in particular Ellie and Carl who have a website and YouTube channel called Tough Soles, and Derek Cullen who has his own adventure website and channel.  

These were great sources, showing me the conditions on the trail and pointing out things to see along the way.  And I especially liked Derek’s mantra, which he repeats every day:  “Feet good, body good, head good, heart good – All good”.

Thank you for your inspiration.

Where to Next?

My train journey ends in Killarney, and about a kilometer from the station is the official start point of the Kerry Way.  

I’ll follow that route for the next 10 days, clockwise round the circular route, from Killarney to Kenmare, to Sneem, to Waterville, to Cahersiveen, to Glenbeigh, to Glencoe, to Blackwater, and finally back into Kerry.

I’ll be camping along the way, with a planned first night somewhere off the trail near Killarney National Park, perhaps 8-10 km outside of Killarney. Hope it’s relatively dry.

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