Wandering around North Mayo being a tourist.

Well as far as mileage is concerned today was a DISASTER. As far as everything else was concerned it was FABULOUS!

I'm clearly far too comfortable here in Sligo at my new second home. I slept in till 9.30 this morning! Gone are the 5.30am wake ups and all the exhaustion that entailed. I'm so chilled out I didn't even leave here till after 12 today. It took till after 2pm to get to Downpatrick Head and by the time I'd looked around and taken loads of pictures (because Oh. My. God, The VIEWS!) it was redonkulously late to be starting to walk. Please note that I had to stand REALLY close to the edge of the cliffs to get some of there pictures. I was very, very scared.

My intention was to walk to Ceide Fields - the site of a neolithic settlement that had been uncovered from beneath a bog - which was 9+ miles away. That was going to take three(ish) hours so by the time I'd get there it would be closed.  And I really wanted to see it. So I decided, Shuh feck it! I'll just be a tourist today and I'll walk it tomorrow.

The Ceide Fields is an fantastic exhibit and the visitor centre, the tour and the people who work there were brilliant. I learned so much about neolithic society, botony, bog formation, geology as well as the shifting patterns of agriculture throughout the millennia. My tour guide was a gentle soft-spoken gentleman who was vastly knowledgeable about the area and the subject matter and so interesting to listen to. He suggested that I look around the exhibition and go see the short film in the theatre before going on the tour.

In the middle of the exhibition centre was a large atrium with a preserved tree, that had been recovered from the bog, standing erect within it stretching up to the two upper levels. On the first upper level was a geology exhibit and the third level led out to a viewing platform where you could see the fields themselves as well as the impressive sea view. The only problem was the lack of solid walls and the abundance of semi-open-sided staircases. I got up OK but coming down was a whole other matter.  I had to walk around the viewing platform to the stairs with my back to the windows as far away from the glass balustrade as I could. When I got to the stairs there were a number of people coming up the narrow staircase and I knew that the only way I could walk down them would be to hold on to the sides and close my eyes. I felt sick.

Then this lovely woman seeing my anxiety said, "Come with me. I'll walk in front of you the whole way down so you'll feel safer.  You can hold on to me if you like. But you can be confident that you won't take a tumble with me in front."

How gorgeous is that? So she led me down those edge-tremory nightmare steps and when we got to the next level she gave me a big hug and said, "Well done!" I'm so useless at edges but that was the second time today I'd braved them in order to have the whole experience.

The tour was wonderful and during it we had a chat about the lovely flora that could be found in bog environment.  There was bog cotton, various carnivorous plants, heathers, grasses and the bog orchid (pictured below) among others. Out of interest I showed the guide my photo of the yellow and orange flower that I found on the Lacken Trail yesterday to see if he could identify it. He kindly went a fetched two Dutch botony grad students who were cataloging all the flora of the region and they identified it as the Birdsfoot Trefoil. There was another senior archaeologist there who had been the lead archaeologist on the dig that had uncovered the Court Tombs I'd found yesterday on my walk on the Lacken Trail. We had a great old chat and I learned so much more about the indigenous plants. I told them about my walk and what I was hoping to achieve. I found out about two must see walks that I'm going to do over the weekend in the NW corner of Mayo. Just before I said my goodbyes I noticed that sitting on the reception desk was a lifeboat collection box. The Ceide Fields also collects for the RNLI! How awesome is that?

I was beaming from ear to ear as I left because even though I didn't progress very much walk-wise today it was a hugely fulfilling "wanderer's" experience. These are the days that will fuel the days that are long and difficult and keep me going to the end.

Tomorrow I'm leaving Sligo and moving myself and Minty to a place just outside Belmullet from where I plan to explore the Mullet Peninsula and the NW corner of Mayo. I will miss Sligo, the beautiful place I've been staying and the wonderful women who took me in and looked after me when I was losing the plot. With their help I've found the plot again and I'm much clearer on how I want this adventure to unfold. For this and for all the hospitality I will always be grateful.


Total Mileage (still): 416.5 miles

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