Ireland day 0676. Saturday 05 August 2023- Antoni *

Ireland day 0676. Saturday 05 August 2023- Antoni

Today’s summary	Walking club hike today was cancelled due to the bad weather. So Val and I walked from Malahide to Howth instead
Today’s weather	Torrential rain all night, stopping about 11 am. Some sun in the afternoon but more torrential downpours in the evening. Moderate northerly wind. Appx 16C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Malahide to Howth after Storm Antoni

Commentary

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

Last night the first “named storm” of the year – Antoni – passed over Ireland. Although we slept through most of it (apart from when the rail engineering works started..), its after effects were still evident this morning. In fact it was still raining when we got up, and there were floods, and even some broken tree branches, everywhere.

Given the inclement conditions, today’s Walking Club outing was cancelled. It was a bit disappointing not to be seeing everyone, but on reflection it was probably a good call as today’s route would have involved crossing a couple of rivers which would most likely have been in full spate this morning.

But Val and I, having got ourselves into the hiking mindset, decided to go out anyway and enjoy a good leg-stretch. So we pulled together our packed lunches, got our wet-weather gear, and set off to follow our favourite route over Paddy’s Hill, along the Velvet Strand, then round Baldoyle Bay to Sutton and then on to Howth.

In fact, by the time we got away, the rain had pretty much stopped and for most of the route it was dry. In fact we even had some decent sunny intervals, with the blue sky and sunshine brilliantly radiant through the air washed clean by the deluge. En route over Paddy’s Hill, I took Val to see the “Hidden Lake” that I’d discovered a couple of weeks ago, and which was looking brim-full today after the rain. I wonder how many people in Malahide actually know it even exists?

Pushing on, we headed to the coast and stopped near the bathing shelter in Portmarnock, where we found a spot to enjoy our lunch in the sun out of the chilly northerly wind. In fact, having a northerly wind made progress south to Howth much easier – in the past we have battled against southerly headwinds, which can be quite draining.

By the time we got to Sutton, the tide was fully in, which was a bit of a shame as it meant we couldn’t drop down onto the foreshore and walk round Sutton Golf Club onto Burrow Beach. So we finished off the approach to Howth along the road. It’s not as nice as the beach walk, but it’s thankfully quite short.

Once in Howth, we treated ourselves to a coffee in Insomnia – and almost as soon as we got inside, the heavens opened again. We were exceptionally lucky to get there just in time. By the time we’d finished our drinks, it had stopped, so we made a rapid return to Malahide via the DART and the 102 bus from Sutton. And now we’re enjoying a nice glass of red wine and some home made caponata which Val pulled together. Delicious and a perfect way to end an impromptu day.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


I took Val to have a look at “Malahide’s Secret Lake” on Paddy’s Hill. Here it is, in all its glory and looking pretty full after the rain of recent weeks	Beady eyed corvid visitor joined us for lunch

First harebells I’ve seen so far this summer. Down in the dunes just off the Velvet Strand	Bright red poppies at the path-side iridescent in the occasional sunshine

Looking along the Velvet Strand from the bathing shelter at Portmarnock, close to where we had lunch	Almost as soon as we arrived at the coffee shop in Howth, the heavens opened. We were exceptionally lucky with our timing with our whole trip, as we largely escaped getting wet

The Ireland-India international cricket match is only a few days away. At the moment the pitch is in a somewhat less than perfect condition