Day 26: Streedagh Point to Lissadel and back again (15.7 Miles)

Hi again. I'm back.

I had a fantastic relaxing weekend with my family and I did a lot of rethinking of how I'm going to address the problems I've been having. The first thing was to actually think about what I actually envisioned when I took on this challenge. I was a bit naive about what the Wild Atlantic Way itself would be like. I thought it would be the quiet little roads that run along the coast magically sewn together to make this awesome route. It turns out it's a lot of very fast-paced roads full of busy traffic that connect the best coastal sights together. By religiously sticking to the route I've been missing out on all the best bits - the bits I wanted to see and to write about. The WAW is a driving route, not a walking route and if my challenge to myself was just to walk that road and that road alone I would do that - but my primary goal was to walk the length of the coast, to reacquaint myself with the country I'd left 27 years ago and to write about it. And to raise money for the RNLI while I'm at it.

So this is what I've decided: I'm going to drive along the WAW in Minty to get to the place I want to walk and set out from there to explore - to WANDER - around that area.The wandering is key to the success of this walk. I need to be able to head off the beaten track and then find my way back.

One of the psychological difficulties I'd had was the fact that I walked away from Minty, completed the walk 15 miles away and then had to find my way back. I think I need to either hitch a lift to what should have been my end point and walk back to Minty or do what I did today which was walk a circular route which will lead me back to Minty either way. I've decided that it's not very important whether or not I sew all the ends together as long as I get to see and experience what I want to see and experience. I will still endeavour to walk about 15 miles a day and try to walk as much of the continuous coastline - I'm just not going to get too hung up if I don't manage it.

If you type in Cliffony as a start point and Sligo as an end point into Google maps you will see what the next 15 miles of the Way should have looked like - the N15 is all you'd get. The entire 15 miles was on a road of heavy traffic driving at speeds in excess of 100km/hr. Where is the fun in that? I decided to drive to Streedagh Point, leave Minty by the dunes and walk along the coastline as far as I could before turning inland and walking to Lissadell House for a quick peek then turning back towards the Point where Minty was waiting for me.

This turned out to be possibly the best decision I've made on this trip. I walked on tiny little boreens with grass growing down the middle; across beaches and along pebble causeways. I was so chilled out and in the moment that you would never have guessed I was the same woman who was having a nervous breakdown last Friday, I met people who invited me in for tea, got barked at a lot and saw lots and lots of lovely flowers.

One of the things I truly love about the Irish summer is how the hedgerows seem to bloom!  So many colours and such a variety of plants growing wild. Here are just a few -

After about 6.5 miles I headed away from the coast and along to Lissadell House - seat of the Gore-Booth family and occasional holiday retreat for W.B. Yeats who wrote about it. By the time I arrived it was 2.30 pm. I bought my ticket and was told that the next tour of the house was at 3. I had a spot of lunch then wandered around the gardens. It's in an incredibly scenic spot, over looking Sligo Bay with Ben Bulben keeping a watch over it. As 3pm approached I started to feel my back 

grumble. If I was to do the tour of the house, I'd be standing for an extra hour and, as it was, I probably wouldn't make it back to Minty for a couple of hours anyway. I decided to save the tour of the house for another day and head back to Minty. I'm glad I did, The heat of the day and the walking on uneven surfaces were wearing me out,

Seeing Minty at the end of my walk was perfect. I was able to climb in and just go straight back to where I'm sleeping (still hanging out with Sharon and Carmel who have been great at helping me rethink this trip and sort out my priorities). Tomorrow I'm going to walk around Rosses Point and hopefully, I'll manage a little detour to Yeats' Grave.

Right now sleep is persistently pushing my lids closed so I'll say goodnight and leave you with more pictures of the day...

Total mileage: 359.1 miles

Raising money for the RNLI on www.justgiving.com/Jane-Volker

Day 25: Mullaghmore to Ballyshannon (13.1 miles) and Cliffony to Mullaghmore (2.7 miles)

You might have noticed that I missed yesterday's post. I had a bad day. A kind of emotional full stop really.  My day began at 6am on Glencolumbkille. It was raining and I woke up feeling very sick. I had to get myself ready to leave and plan the day.

Plan the day. This has been the bane of my life recently. Every day I have to find a place to park up Minty, map out the route that I'll walk and figure out how to get back at the end. I have to drive to and from that point and then figure out where I'm going to stay for the night. It turns out that this isn't as easy as I thought it would be. The vast majority of car parks in Ireland have height restrictions on them to prevent vans, caravans and campervans from parking up and staying there. So I begin my day full of uncertainty how it's going to unfold. Getting back to Minty at the end of the walk is another source of stress and I have to admit that this worry sucks all the enjoyment out of the walk itself. And as for finding a place to sleep - that is also not nearly as easy at it should be. In the first place there aren't that many campsites and I have found out that quite a few have no internet presence (so I can't find them in advance) and those that do, don't always allow you to book online or even by phone in advance. It's on a first come, first served basis. You can't just rock up first thing in the morning because the pitches haven't emptied yet and if, like me, you're not ready to find the pitch till the end of the day - you run the risk of there not being anywhere to stay. I have realised that I'm not nearly as go-with-the-flow as I thought I was. It turns out that I'm only chilled out if I actually have basic planning done in advance and know what the structure of the day will be. As much as I'd like to be, I'm not OK with "waiting to see what unfolds".  There are a few things that have happened in the last month that have thrown my sleep cycle off and stress has built up on top of other stresses but I was too busy getting through finishing up work and getting ready for this trip to deal with them. It'd be fine once I got going. Sure I would only have myself to worry about. And that would be fine.

It turned out to be a bit different. I hadn't factored in missing my husband and children so much and being so completely unable to deal with the uncertainty inherent to this kind of project. In the previous three weeks of the walk I'd had everything planned before I left and had a back-up driver on the days where I wasn't just walking from one B&B to another. Now I'm on my own and I'm just finding it too much.

So when I woke up after only five and a half hours of sleep, feeling ill, almost 100km from my starting point, not knowing where I was going to park, how I was going to return to Minty at the end of the walk and where I was going to stay that night, I could feel my composure start to crack. I was starting to feel extremely fragile. I left the hostel and drove toward Killybegs and when the cell signal got stronger I got a text from Tim. I pulled over and read a lovely message and the weight of everything plus missing my family just overwhelmed me and I started to cry.

And I cried and cried and cried.

When I got to Mullaghmore I was relieved to find that I was able to park for free at the spaces near the pier but, as usual, there were very strongly worded notices about camping or parking overnight. It had taken two hours to get there and the pub where I thought I might be able to go to the loo was covered in scaffolding and closed for repairs. I didn't want to walk. I didn't want to put a single foot in front of the other. It wasn't fun. I wasn't enjoying it. So many negative thoughts cascaded over me that I was left surprised and confused by the feelings I was having. What on Earth did this mean? Did I really just want to quit? Was I just scared?

I got into the back of Minty and sat for a while just trying to calm myself down. "Just go and walk," I told myself. "Just start and keep going." But my body was rooted to the seat and didn't want to leave. I was so tired. I wanted to go home.

Eventually it was my need for the bathroom that made me get out of the van. "I'm out now. I might as well just walk." I put my backpack on, shut up the van and set about looking for a bathroom. There was a man in a Hi-Viz vest with "Tidy Town" written on it who was picking up litter so I asked him if he knew where I could go to the loo. "Hang on a second, I bring you there myself, I'll need a key." I thought that this meant he was going to open the public bathroom for me so I was a little unnerved when he asked me to follow him up a side street away from the beach. He stopped about four houses up in front of a very old Scoil Naisiunta (primary school). He walked around the back then opened a side door and said, "The ladies is at the back there, just pull this door shut when you're leaving." And then he walked away. It was clearly no longer a school but was probably used as a village hall. The bathroom was clean and had all the necessaries and was a great relief to me. Bundoran was about 9.5 miles away. I wouldn't have made it. "Ah," I thought, "you're thinking about the walk. Just  go now before you start to wobble again."

And so I left Mullaghmore. I was still feeling sick (which I now realised was anxiety) and the second I put my little backpack on, my back started to hurt me. My body was too tense. As I walked I thought about all the things that were making this adventure a misery and I slipped into a spiral of negativity that I couldn't drag myself out of. I basically cried for the next 11 miles. When I got to Bundoran I was in a lot of pain and even though it was only four and a half more miles to go, I didn't think I'd make it but the thought of not finishing it was too awful to contemplate too. I normally post pictures and little comments on Facebook as I go along but I didn't feel like I could say anything positive so, by way of explanation,  I just put a status up saying I wasn't in a good place today and walked on to Ballyshannon. At least I wasn't on a bloody N-road. It was hard going though. With a little bit to go I looked at my phone and was so grateful and thrilled to see so many encouraging messages, one of which was from my cousin who lived relatively nearby who said to come visit. You have no idea how much this lifeline meant to me at that moment in time. There was somewhere to go. Lovely people to take care of me. I suddenly didn't feel so completely isolated. I was still crying but now it was from relief.

The road into Ballyshannon took ages. The Welcome to Ballyshannon sign was about a mile from the bus station and it seemed to take forever to get there. I knew that my bus (back to Cliffony which was on the main Sligo road about 2.5 miles from Mullaghmore) was at four(ish) and it was just half past three as I walked over the bridge to my destination. I had a half an hour to sit in the sun which had now come out as my day improved. Pathetic fallacy how are ya? The final part of the walk helped me clarify the issue for myself.

To manage this walk the way I intended, I need help. I can't organise, plan, drive, walk and write every day on my own. My days are currently starting at 5.30 - 6 am and finishing at midnight. It's too much. I don't know what the solution is yet but I know I need to change how I'm going to approach this thing or I'll never make it to the end.

As I waited for the bus I had a nice text conversation with Tim and my son. He also encouraged me to take the weekend off, go to my cousin's and take the pressure off. The bus came and the journey that had taken me five hours to walk was driven in 25 minutes. I crossed the road to the turnoff  to Mullaghmore and walked the two and a half miles back to Minty. I still found it hard to let go of the idea of walking the next day even though that was like trying to cling on to a rock when you're drowning. It was too heavy to bear for now. I had to let it go. I set off to be rescued by two beautiful and fabulous women.

The love and care I have received over the last 24 hours has been fantastic for me and my well-being. I've been fed and pampered and given remedies and help and support for my back and the best company and the most comfortable bed and ... well ... I was indeed rescued. I am so grateful to Carmel and Sharon for the most relaxing and perfect night.  I slept until 08:30 this morning. It was the best night's sleep I've had in a month.

I'm meeting my sisters tomorrow in Dublin and coming back here again on Monday. I may take a few days off to reconfigure how I'm going to approach this undertaking.  I still want to do it. I just need to be a bit more clever about it and do it in a way that's enjoyable and life-affirming.

Watch this space.

Total mileage: 343.4 miles

Raising money for the RNLI on www.justgiving.com/Jane-Volker

Day 24: Burtonport to Dore (13.8 miles) and Sliabh Liag (2.1 miles)

I'm quite proud of myself today. I achieved a lot if I say so myself. Today I left Minty in a car park in Burtonport and walked to Dore to the point that Tim rescued me back in April, without quite knowing how I was going to get back to him (Minty). I was a bit nervous but took a leap of faith that somehow it would all work out,

My early morning wake-ups continue. Today I woke up at 05:45. Sweet mother of all that's holy can I please stop doing that? I tried to go back to sleep but by half six I was checking out Facebook and very much awake. The hostel was quiet as I had breakfast and got myself and Minty ready to go. I left before another person woke up.  It was a long drive to Burtonport - over an hour and a half - and I made it longer by putting the wrong destination into google maps and ending up going a very circuitous route down tiny little back roads and ending up 10 miles from where I was supposed to be. I did eventually find the petrol station where Tim had left me on April 2nd before leaving for home. I remember how sad I felt as I walked down the road toward Dungloe. This time I was buying petrol and asking where the best place would be to leave Minty.  There was a wee car park down by the pier and I could leave him there for the day, no bother. It was a km down the road but sure a km is nothing and I was fine with adding that little bit to the journey. Having parked Minty I strolled back up to the road to Kincasslagh. It had taken so long to get to Burtonport I needed to go to the bathroom before I started the walk. I saw a woman who was just opening up the Maritime Museum and I asked if she wouldn't mind if I used the bathroom. She was more than happy to oblige. However, I noticed that my camera wasn't where it should have been on my belt as I undid it.  I'd left it in Minty half a click down the road. So I exited the museum and walked back down the hill to get my camera. As I walked by the museum for the second time the friendly woman smiled an waved at me and wished me a good walk.

With two delays on top  of a long journey to get there, I was already running behind schedule as I set off northwards. It was a hilly and winding road but thankfully not too busy. The five miles to Kincasslagh went by quickly. I walked past a beach where a man left two dogs out of his car to have a run and then preceded to drive along the beach after them.  The dogs needed exercise but he bloody well wasn't getting any, As I walked further along I met a teenage girl taking her young (8 month-old) collie for a walk. He was pulling on his lead and as she came closer she said, "He's a bit funny with strangers - I don't know how he'll react. He might bark at you." And then he did. Whether it was my bright yellow jacket or the shades, he took a dislike to me. "I'm sorry. He's such a wee dipshit. Doesn't have two brain cells in his head at all. He got knocked down a couple of weeks ago and he still chases cars." Along the road another dog who was annoyed that a stranger was walking on his turf started barking too.  This was the land where the dogs were kings and the humans drove them to the beach.

The views to my left were stunning but after Kincasslagh I had my back to the sea as I walked on to  Annagry. This was apparently the home of Clannad and Enya. I didn't see them though. The sea was back in view again as I searched for a pub to grab a drink and use the facilities. (It's a constant concern - what can I say?)

I was starting to feel it in my feet by now. There was a major blister forming on the ball of my left foot. I started to count down the miles to the end of the walk. As I walked up the hill toward Dore the town sign where I'd waited for Tim to rescue me from the wind and rain came in to view. I'd done it, All the route so far now connected together. I was elated for a brief second but then I realised I now had to get back.

Despite having practically no followers I gave the twitter thing a go. My cousin Mark had thousands of followers so I asked him to retweet my request and he did and another tweeter did too but I knew that it was unlikely to get me a lift in this lonely part of the world. 

So I stuck my thumb out and hitched. I used the hitch everywhere when I lived here back in the 80's but I was no longer 20 and cars now drive a lot faster. I wasn't very hopeful. I stood for about 10 minutes looking a little desperate and starting to get cold. And then a car pulled over. I was saved. A wonderful couple going to Dungloe gave me my first lift! I knew that it would be a lot easier to get a lift from Dungloe to Burtonport rather than from the direction I'd walked because it was a lot closer. I was so grateful to them. They didn't just give me a lift, they also gave me faith that I could get one. and I needed that. We had an animated discussion about Donald Trump (now there's a dipshit!) and we all agreed that the thought of him being the President was a scary prospect. I also told them about my  walk and they were very encouraging. The drive was short by car and they kindly dropped me off on the Burtonport Road. I thanked them for their kindness and they drove off. I could have kicked myself when I realised I hadn't asked their names. Note to self - always introduce yourself and get their names!! Anyway, thank you so much to them. It was a real boon.

I only had to to wait another 10 minutes for a lift the whole way back to Minty from Michelle and her daughter, Shannon. Such lovely friendly people who chatted with me the whole way back about the importance of being easy going and having a happy attitude to life (amongst other things). I cannot tell you how happy I am to have met these lovely people and how much they improved my day. The fact that I could get back to Minty was a tremendous weight off for me. The fact that it was so easy was icing on the cake.

You might think that I just went back to the hostel to rest up and recuperate but oh no not me. There was one more thing that the weather stopped me from seeing last time round and that was the Sliabh Liag (Slieve League in English) cliffs. You may remember how I chickened out half way up when I was attacked by huge hailstones and gales. Well I managed to get the whole way up today. It was raining softly and the mountain was draped in cloud but even still they were spectacular.  I'll just leave you to see yourselves...

Tomorrow is an early start as I drive to Mullaghmore Head and then walk back to Ballyshannon by way of Bundoran. Not quite sure where I'm staying tomorrow yet.  This could get interesting!



Total mileage: 327.6 miles

Raising money for the RNLI on www.justgiving.com/Jane-Volker

Day 23: Donegal Town to Ballyshannon (15.4 miles)

I'm having trouble going to sleep early enough. I really should be catching zzz's by 10pm but for the last week I've been doing well to get to bed by 12:30 am. I then, rather unreasonably, keep waking at 6am. It's starting to catch up with me. I can feel the exhaustion creeping into my bones.

It was just before 6 when I woke this morning. I tried to go back to sleep but nothing doing. I pootled around online for a bit before my need for the bathroom finally forced me out into daylight and over to the bathroom block of the campsite. I had some breakfast and put Minty back into travel mode which involves repacking and securing everything. I unhooked him from the electrics and, with a quick call to the owners to say I was leaving, I headed back to Donegal Town.

As I neared, there seemed to be a huge number of coaches trying to park up in the pier car park. Many silver-haired people speaking a variety of languages were disembarking. I parked up Minty, paid my parking tariff and wandered off up to the Town Square to buy some water. The square was entirely cordoned off and there were a huge number of Gardai (Police) patrolling. That's when I remembered that Prince Charles and Camilla were due to make a visit to Donegal Castle today. I went through security which involved having my bag checked and being wanded with a metal detector. Honestly checks like this happen so regularly these days I didn't bat an eye but the locals were slightly more put out - "It's a bit much, isn't it?"

When I was buying my water I asked the shop assistant what time Chaz and Cam were due to pop in. "They said 10." It was 10:15 now so I thought I'd hang about and see what the story was. I joined the two schools and the bus-loads of German pensioners behind the barricades at the square and waited for the royals to show up. I mean, why not? I was there anyway and it would make a nice photo for the blog. So I waited.

And waited.

The security helicopter hovered above and motorcycle cops circled around with sirens on but no sign of C&C. On the rooftops there was a police officer with binoculars spotting the crowd. The children thought he was a sniper but I'm pretty sure snipers don't get up and walk around.  A small army of press people wandered around taking pictures and talking to children. This guy seemed to be very popular. He promised the children from Glebe Primary School that he would 'bring' the Prince over to talk to them. I have no idea who he was but I think everyone else did!

As it neared 11 I called it quits. I needed to crack on with the walk and I'd wasted enough time already. So off I went toward Ballyshannon without ever having seen the VIPs. Well not the British ones anyway. Clearly I saw some local VIPs. Whoever they were.

And so to the walk. It was pretty hard going. Quite a lot of it was on a large N-road and although it had a wide hard-shoulder (so I felt quite safe) it was very tedious.

It seemed to go on and on. When I finally got off it and took a small quiet road to get me on the R231 and on to Ballyshannon via Rossnowlagh, I was already feeling tired and was starting to ache all over.  At least today I didn't feel horribly dehydrated but my feet and my back didn't give a shit about that small mercy.

I trudged on to Rossnowlagh where I knew there was a post office and shop. I would stop there and take the weight off my feet and ankles. I passed the loveliest 9 month old Golden Retriever who was bouncy and very friendly. I remember when Tess (my retriever/collie cross) was like that. It was as though there was a spring on her bottom. The more you tried to get her to sit - the more she bounced up.

When I finally made it to the shop I had about 5 miles left to go. I bought a 99 cone and had a chat with the very friendly owner of Finnegens. He was telling me that a German man had come in a few months back who was on a pilgrimage from Derry to Knock. He had intended to cycle it but the airline wouldn't let him take his bike so on landing in Derry - with no walking shoes or proper clothing - he decided to walk  it instead. The poor man was in a terrible state apparently. Another (English) woman was walking the Wild Atlantic Way last year raising funds for  Donkey Sanctuary. At this very moment there's another woman from Galway walking the Way to raise money for the Jack and Jill Foundation. She appears to be walking somewhere in the region of 50km a day and plans to do it in a month. So really, in the scheme of things, I'm quite sensible and boring.

I turned off the Way and walked up the hill behind the shop. This route would shave 2km off the journey and would allow me to see spectacular views. It was a quiet narrow road and although it was a bit of a slog up the hill it made such a pleasant change from traffic-dodging and the surroundings were so pleasant that I really didn't mind at all.

The five miles went quickly but as I came into Ballyshannon my body grew ever stiffer and the ache in my feet had risen to my right knee. Ballyshannon itself is a pretty little town built on the River Erne. It's quite hilly and the streets have lots of steps. As you approach the Bus Station there's a lovely statue of Rory Gallagher, who was born in Ballyshannon in 1948. Apparently there's a festival there from 2nd to the 5th of June - when I'll be in Mayo. Hmm.

I made my way to the bus station to wait for my bus back to Donegal. By now my knee was starting to become very painful. Even as I write hours later it's still very sore. I sat on a bench and was joined by an elderly man.  We had a long lovely chat about my life, his life, my walk, Donegal, Limerick, family and everything else you could think of, I was telling him about my walk from Malin Head to Carndonagh and how despite the weather being awful I found the place to have been very beautiful. To which he replied, "Aye, what you make of things is how happy you'll be."

Indeed.

The bus came and brought me back to Donegal in 20 minutes. I had dinner then boarded Minty and drove to Ionad Siul - the best hostel in the North West. I was gobsmacked by how far I'd actually walked. Man I've put some miles in! And these are really not easy roads. When I finally got here and was greeted by the friendly face of the awesome Cliff, I almost felt as though I'd come back to a home from home. Cliff kindly gave me a great deal to help me along in this pursuit. As always I can only urge every single one of you to come and stay at Ionad Siul, Glencolimbcille, Co. Donegal.

Tomorrow I travel north to fill in the day when I abandoned the walk after being blown onto the N56.
If I have time I'll go up Sliabh Liag as well. Then I have one more night here before going back to Ballyshannon and heading southwards all the way.

I will be so sad to leave Donegal.


Total mileage: 311.7 miles

Raising money for the RNLI on www.justgiving.com/Jane-Volker