Ireland day 0915. Sunday 31 March 2024- Coast and NCT *

Ireland day 0915. Sunday 31 March 2024- Coast and NCT

Today’s summary	Val had a day at work so I took advantage of another sunny day to walk over the hill and down to Portmarnock. After refreshment on the beach, I walked back along the coast. Took the car for its annual NCT test afterwards – late afternoon on Easter Sunday being the only date I could actually manage to book a slot. PS the Yaris passed. Phew!
Today’s weather	Dry and bright with plenty of sun and no rain. Strong south easterly wind. Appx 11c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Over the hill and not very far away

Commentary

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

We were both so tired last night – I don’t know why – that we were in bed by 10 pm and fast asleep only a few minutes later. Probably a good thing, in retrospect, as of course we altered the clocks last night and so lost an hour’s sleep. Anyway it wasn’t too much of a hardship, as it was bright and sunny when we surfaced this morning, so getting up early (by our standards) wasn’t too challenging.

Val was working today, so after the statutory cup of tea in bed, she pottered off and I packed my things for a short walk down the coast. It turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable day out. A strong easterly wind meant it was quite cool but provided you kept moving, it actually felt refreshing. Especially as the sun was shining quite brightly most of the time so if you were in the sun and out of the wind, it occasionally felt warm.

I took advantage of a combination of sun and shelter to enjoy a coffee and croissant on the beach at Portmarnock, before heading back to Malahide along the coast as the incoming tide rapidly encroached on the dry land.

Once back in the flat, I had a cup of tea then got the Trusty Yaris ready for it’s annual NCT test down at the Northpoint 2 test centre, just off the M50. It says something about the imbalance of supply and demand that the only slot I could find to book was late on Easter Sunday afternoon.

And the good news is… Trusty passed his test and is good to go for another 12 months! Yippee, let’s hit the road for some more adventures together!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The Casino, where Val was hard at work today	Heading through the dunes to the Velvet Strand

On the beach looking south towards Howth and Ireland’s Eye	Portmarnock promenade. First time this year that I’ve seen the ice-cream stand open

Well- it felt well deserved	Wind-surfer hard at it. Sooner him than me

Paddy’s Hill. The skylarks were so loud and numerous that you could even hear them over the incessant drone of aircraft taking off from Dublin airport