Day 35: Pullathomas to Belmullet (15.6 miles)

I hadn't done a 15-miler in a while so I decided to get up early and get an early start this morning for my walk to Belmullet. I set the alarm for 6am so naturally I woke up at 3:30, 4:25, 5:00, and 5:30. Eventually I just got up before the alarm went off so that it wouldn't disturb my room mate, here at the hostel. After getting myself sorted and having my breakfast I was on the road by 6:55. This was my earliest start so far and I have to say I'm a fan! I got to Belmullet around midday. My feet were killing me but it felt great to be done and still have the entire afternoon to myself.

The morning was quite cold and grey and I wore my rain jacket and fleece. These are ideal walking conditions! (No hot sun.) The tide was out so there was very little water in the estuary. I made good time and the coast road out of Pullathomas was very beautiful.

As I walked I could see where I'd walked in Carrowteige across the  estuary.

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I kept my eyes on the verges to see if there were any new flowers to be found. I may be starting to double up by now but they're still very cheerful.

 These lilies seemed to have seeded themselves in the hedgerow from nearby gardens.

 

This is where the sea started and the deeper it got the bluer it seemed to get.

Unperturbed by geographical points of interest, this donkey came over to say hello while I was taking pictures of the sea behind him or her. Such a beautiful face. Its field-mate, Donkey 2, completely ignored me.

After about 7 miles there was a brief spell of rain to distract me from the never ending straightness of the road. 

 I'm hoping to see this lighthouse tomorrow.

 And then in the blink of an eye the clouds parted and the road was suddenly bathed in bright sunshine.

 When you looked behind the clouds still hovered over the estuary.

At last the first glimpse of Belmullet which is a very pretty town in a stunning setting. As you can see from this photo it seemed to be hogging all the rays for itself!

I wanted to visit what I thought was the lifeboat station for the area so I decided to take a detour on the way in to town so that I could come in via the Shore Road. Even though it added a bit of distance to the walk, I was so pleased that I did because it offered uninterrupted views of Achill Island across the, by now, azure sea.

 I will be visiting the area across the bay called Black Sod on Wednesday.

 A lovely place for a stroll.

As I walked along I saw some young lads playing on what I thought was a jetty which turned out to be a tidal swimming pool.  I have to say it looked very inviting, and by now I was roasting and longing to cool down.

 At last I arrived. I just had to cross the footbridge over the canal to get to my destination.  The footbridge was made entirely of metal and had a perforated grate-type walkway. So no solid sides and holes in the floor. Deep breath. Head up. Walk straight. 

When I arrived I knocked on the door and was greeted by John and Alan and I told them who I was and what I was doing. I also met Steve who was on the mechanic team doing maintenance. They were extremely welcoming (I had tea and biscuits) and gave me the contact details of the man in charge because the main lifeboat station for Belmullet wasn't  this one it was about 6 miles away. So I'm hoping that I might be able to call in tomorrow and say hello when I've finished my wanderings around the north of the Mullet Peninsula.  I think I'll start early again tomorrow as it worked out so well - if the weather allows!

By the time I'd said my goodbyes and got myself to the outskirts of the town my feet had had enough. My ankles had stopped working. I needed to get the shoes off (I'm back in the size 6's yay!) and put them up.

I stuck out my thumb and the third car that passed me stopped. He wasn't going exactly my way but I asked if he would take me as far as the first left turn as that would get me in a better position to get a lift closer to my hostel.  He was a very nice, softly spoken man. I told him about the walk and where I was headed and he went out of his way to take me to the next junction on the road where I would be sure to get a lift straight back to Pullathomas. I am always so humbled by the generosity I meet every day on the road.

He dropped me at a service station. There were two possible ways back to my hostel - the coast road which I'd walked this morning (this was longer but Pullathomas was ON this route) and straight ahead which would involve having to take a left to get to the village. I saw some men who were rendering a wall across the road. I felt it was time to get a little local knowledge to inform my decision. I asked one gentleman which road he thought I should stand on to increase my odds of getting back to Pullathomas.

"Well the best way to drive would be to go straight ahead and take a left before the turning to Bangor. Don't worry if you miss it. You can take another left further on. The other road does lead to Pulathomas but most people taking it will only be going to Inver. I tell you what. Wait ten minutes till I'm finished this and I'll take you back to the lodge myself."

So without even sticking out my thumb I got an lift back to the front door. Brilliant!

I'd like to say a very special 'thank-you' to the two men who gave me lifts and went out of their way to get me safely home and also to the very friendly staff at the Belmullet Lifeboat Station. Your awesomeness made my day!


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


total mileage: 460 miles