Ireland day 1084. Monday 16 September 2024- Coast Explorer

Today’s summary	Woke up feeling a little better this morning. I hope it lasts. Spent the morning doing a little shopping and sitting in the sun in our lounge. Salmon sandwiches for lunch then went on a walk over the hill to Portmarnock. Got a cup of tea on the beach then walked all the way back to Malahide on the low-tide shoreline. Val’s home made leek soup and roast vegetables for dinner. More hiking videos in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry bright and sunny all day. Lovely. Moderate south easterly wind. Appx 17c

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): Hill and Shoreline

Commentary

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

My plan last night to take Ibuprofen (which some of my walking friends consider so essential to daily life that they call it “Vitamin I”) before going to bed to help secure sleep seemed to work quite well. I only awoke for about an hour in the middle of the night and the pain wasn’t too bad. I didn’t properly wake up until half past seven.

The improvement in my shingles seemed to persist into the morning. For the first time in over two weeks I actually felt better today than I did yesterday. I’m not getting my hopes up as I could easily relapse but as long as this lighter pain persists, I’m just enjoying the moment. I also felt much more cheerful in myself, which was nice. There’s such a close link between physical and mental health I think.

Anyway I decided not to prejudice the wellbeing by doing anything too hasty. So I spent the morning just doing some light shopping and then sitting reading “The Economist” in the sun that was streaming through the French windows in our lounge. Eventually, after bypassing breakfast and going straight into an early lunch, I made myself a salmon sandwich (delicious) and started to think about the afternoon.

I was still feeling reasonable after I’d eaten and as it was beautiful outside, I decided to take myself over to Portmarnock, via the hill, and to treat myself to a cup of coffee on the beach. It was a good decision as I really enjoyed the walk – the views were stunning – and the refreshments. By the time I’d had my coffee and croissant I noticed that the tide was well out, so I decided to try to walk all the way back to Malahide on the coastline, rather than on the Coast Road which runs parallel but behind a seawall and a few meters higher up.

It’s a bit of a scramble to get round, but you do discover some beautiful “hidden” beaches along the way and of course there always the fossils in the exposed Carboniferous beds to admire as you pass by. I took my time but easily made it round and then headed back to the flat after dropping in at Tesco to get some yogurt on the way.

It’s some of Val’s home made leek soup for dinner, with roast vegetables and bacon. Then I’m going to call Val (she’s back tomorrow) and indulge myself with a couple of hiking videos. I might also wander down to the lagoon later as the Aurora Borealis is supposed to be putting on a show tonight, and the bottom of Hanlon’s Lane is the only place nearby where the northern horizon is remotely dark enough to see anything. That is, if I don’t get too comfortable and fall asleep first!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The northbound Enterprise in the distance seemed to be strangely stuck just south of Malahide. I watched it for a few minutes and it didn’t move. Hardly a high speed service between the island of Ireland’s two main cities	One of those rare days when the Mournes were (blurrily) visible from above Robswall, in the distance beyond Portrane

Shades of green and blue on the way up to the top of the hill	The converted Martello Tower on the Coast Road. You don’t normally see it photographed from below like this

This beach is just a couple of meters from the coast road (at the left side) but there’s hardly ever anyone on it because the only way of getting to it is by clambering over the rocks at either end	*A great example of Lithostrotion* along the foreshore**

Smile feels a little less forced today