Ireland day 0543. Saturday 25 March 2023- On The Sand *

Ireland day 0543. Saturday 25 March 2023- On The Sand
Today’s summary Val returned to work at the museum after a month off, so i was left to my own devices.   I walk right down the coast to Portmarnock via the Velvet Strand, the caught the 102 back.   Feeling pretty good and recovery so far going well
Today’s weather Bright sunshine interspersed with heavy showers.   Light south easterly wind.   Appx 10C
Today’s overview location
(The blue mark shows the location of my route)
Close-up location
(The blue line shows where I walked)
(Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected):
Portmarnock down the coast on crutches
Commentary

(Summary blog only.   Last full blog was Day 0368).

After nearly a month off work – first with a bad back and then nursing me, Val returned to work at the museum today.   So I was left to my own devices and actually didn’t have any plans for the day.   I quite like days without commitments – you can just make things up as you go along.

So, once I’d made breakfast and packed lunches, and Val was safely despatched,  I spent the first part of the morning doing a bit of Spanish practice.   Once that was out of the way, I packed my things and decided to head off down the coast in the direction of Portmarnock, and just see how far I could get.   In the end, as the weather was brilliantly spring-like (despite the occasional shower of rain), I made it all the way to the Velvet Strand, and part of the way beyond.   I cut off across the dunes at the mid-point, and headed over to Portmarnock where I caught the 102 back from just outside Lidl.   Once I checked my GPS, I realised that I’d walked over 8km, making it my longest walk since the operation.

Once back in the flat I actually felt quite tired so (to my horror) I decided to have a little lie down and fell asleep.   Awful!   Anyway now I’m refreshed and going to help Val to make dinner for us both.

This evening, I think it’s chili con carne and I must admit, after the exertions of the day, I’m actually feeling quite hungry.   Onwards and upwards

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

Trees on the coastal dunes at Malahide I was hit by a heavy downpour just as I arrived at Portmarnock.   Fortunately the bathing pavilion was within easy reach so I stopped there and had my lunch while the shower passed 
Bridge from the Portmarnock hotel to the golf course, over the new path to the coast from Portmarnock, that I explored today The crutches actually worked well on the sand – it was quite firm, as the tide had just gone out, so they didn’t sink in too far
On the Velvet Strand.   I love the feeling of space Leaving Malahide on the coast path – I ignored the impressive and threatening storm clouds on the horizon.
Making haste down the coast.   The sky – when it wasn’t raining – was brilliantly clear.   Springtime at last, perhaps!
Interactive map

(Elevations corrected at  GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )

Total distance: 7961 m
Max elevation: 14 m
Min elevation: -1 m
Total climbing: 105 m
Total descent: -112 m
Total time: 02:41:32
Download file: Pushing A Bit Further compressed corrected.gpx

You can read earlier and later days’ blogs below

Previous day’s blog
Next day’s blog
Ireland home page

 Save as PDF