Ireland day 1035. Monday 29 July 2024- Car Walk Swim

Today’s summary	Spent the morning sorting out various car-related issues then after lunch Val and I walked over the hill to Portmarnock and had a swim from the Velvet Strand. After walking back to the flat we enjoyed beers, Olympics and The Wire with our light dinner.
Today’s weather	Brief rain showers in the morning, otherwise dry and bright with plenty of sun. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 20c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Walk Swim Walk Portmarnock

Commentary

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

The trouble with cars is that whilst being useful and trusty, they do also demand constant attention. Not only do the Yaris’ battery (after the ferry incident last week) and tyres need looking at and possibly changing, we have also recently collected a ding in the rear bumper that needs fixing. So I spent the morning driving round garages trying to get quotes for the work. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive but I do think that’s a bit of a forlorn expectation.

Val had an altogether more enjoyable time of things, at the local beauty salon, so now she looks radiant.

I eventually got back after my detailed explorations of the backstreets of Dublin, so was delighted when Val announced that she’d bought a ready-made chicken stir fry from Kerrigans, the local butcher. So we enjoyed a delicious late lunch of chicken with the remainder of the Clonsilla salad – the combination being both tasty and possibly healthy too.

By the time we had finished, the morning’s rain had passed and it was sunny outside. So in a rush of blood to our heads, we gathered our swimming gear and decided to dip our toes in the sea.

The best place locally for swimming (in my view) is the Velvet Strand beach. So we headed off on foot through the demesne and up over Paddy’s Hill in the general direction of Portmarnock. By way of a diversion from the norm, on the way we cut across the meadows to have a look at Malahide’s “secret” lake on the slopes below the Jameson Orchard.

Eventually, much like the Southern Cross 94 years ago, we landed on the beach, got changed quickly before we could think better of it, and jumped in. I survived for about two minutes of immersion in the sea – it was too cold for me to tolerate anything longer, and the blobs of jellyfish on the shore put me off a bit. Val, being encased in her wetsuit and protected from both temperatures and tentacles, lasted longer.

I finished off with a cold shower at the pavilion, then headed to the Spar shop to get a couple of cups of tea to warm us up.

I have to admit I quite enjoyed the occasion (in retrospect) and finished off the walk back to Malahide with a bit of a spring in my step. Once back in the flat and on terra firma again, we settled down to a light dinner (which mostly comprised cabbage, peanuts and beer – remarkably tasty actually) accompanied by the Olympics and a quick episode of the Wire.

A rewarding day, and my progress towards a beach body has been a bit less catastrophically retrograde than it was yesterday and the day before. Hooray!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Jameson Orchard – the house and its grounds must have been magnificent in their heyday, before the new developments sprang up all around	Path through the meadows to the “secret” lake. Never explored this network of routes before. I always enjoy the sense of adventure at going somewhere new!

Malahide’s “secret” lake – with the Jameson Orchard house in the distance	Looking back towards Howth and Ireland’s Eye. The Velvet Strand, where we swam, is tucked round the corner to the right



Yes I know it’s July and down jackets shouldn’t really be necessary – but I think it’s justified after my recent total submersion in the Irish Sea