Ireland day 0706. Monday 04 September 2023- In the Sea *

Ireland day 0706. Monday 04 September 2023- In the Sea

Today’s summary	We took advantage of the weather to walk up over the hill to Portmarnock and then go for another swim off the Velvet Strand. Cold but exhilarating
Today’s weather	Brilliant blue sky day with no sign of rain but a hint of autumnal mist first thing. Light easterly wind. Appx 21C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The black 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): Hill and coast walk again with a swim

Commentary

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

The weather here at the moment is fantastic. I do feel a bit sorry for all the children who returned to school this week – just as the weather took a dramatic turn for the better. But for several years recently, September seems to have been a lot nicer than the main summer months, so maybe this is becoming the new norm as the earth warms up. Anyway, one of the privileges of being more or less retired is that you can take advantage of lucky breaks like this, unconstrained by the vagaries of school and the office.

Well, today that is exactly what we did. After our obligatory cup of tea in bed, we got up and I made packed lunches while Val did some more washing. Eventually we were ready to go, so we followed the now well-worn track over Paddy’s Hill and on down to the coast at Portmarnock. We headed on to the Velvet Strand and found a quiet spot to get changed. That wasn’t too difficult because although there were a lot of people at the top of the beach, it’s huge and you soon leave the crowds behind if you walk a bit further south.

We quickly got into our swimming gear – Val remaining better equipped than I as she has a wetsuit and I don’t – and ran over to the unwelcoming sea. As usual, the initial shock of cold immersion felt like an instant all-body electrocution, the agony of which could only be relieved by breathing hard while at the same time concentrating on trying not to let out a blood-curdling scream.

Eventually my systems stabilised and I was able to take a few strokes and float about in the water (which was supposedly clocking in at a balmy 15.3c today) for a few moments. But I didn’t want to push my luck, and not feeling much like putting on a show of heroics, I soon fairly quickly got out again and walked down the beach to the (cold) shower by the changing pavilion. I hastily rinsed off the salt off and then tried dry a bit in the sun as I walked back along the beach to where we had left our clothes.

Val, warmed by her wetsuit, stayed in longer but eventually climbed out and together we enjoyed our lunch and a spent a good hour relaxing in the sun before heading back. At one point I thought I could hear someone snoring in the background and I have a strong suspicion that it was me.

We took a leisurely walk back up the coast to Malahide, stopping in at the supermarket to get some essentials for dinner on the way. Now we’re back in the flat, enjoying a simple meal and enjoying the warm afterglow of a fantastic day recharging the batteries and stocking up on Vitamin D ready for the winter ahead.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Looking up the line towards Malahide from the Back Lane overbridge. At the top you can see engineering works in progress – they are building some sidings and Iarnród Éireann have said that they are going to be working on them all night for the next week. Yet more sleeplessness in prospect 🙁	New estate at the top of Robswall. I rather fancy one of the penthouses as they must have stunning views east over the Irish Sea and south over Dublin Bay. And no rail engineering works.

There’s been lots of convolvulus this year. These vigorously blooming specimens were in a grassy verge just beyond Paddy’s Hill	Although it’s only a week since it last rained, the grass alongside the pavements is beginning to show the first signs of browning through lack of water

The beach was busy despite the schools having gone back a few days ago. Mind you, the tide was in, so everyone was squashed into a smaller space.	Colony of noisy Ringed Plovers busily doing their thing on one of the rocky outcrops between Portmarnock and Malahide

This really is how the sky was today. I thought I would post this here, just in case we don’t see it again for a few months. At least I will be able to remind myself what it looks like.