I knew it was about 10 miles and that normally takes 3+ hours so this was going to be close. No time to waste I walked just shy of a jog and made unbelievably quick progress. I tried to take the incredible scenery in as I hastily took pictures but I was so worried that I might miss the bus I did not linger as I usually might.
The morning was grey but clearer than the day before and all three of the Aran Islands were visible. The sea was calm and the gentle lapping against the shore contrasted sharply with my noisy breathing as I ploughed relentlessly on.
It actually truly amazed me when I saw the blue walls of O'Donoghue's Pub (where the bus stop was) come in to view well before 9am. I managed to get there at 08:45, with 25 minutes to spare.
My muscles were zinging and I stretched them out as I waited patiently for the bus to take me back to Minty.
The rest of the day was totally awesome. Robin, her cousin and her cousin's daughter met me in a lovely pub in Doolin and we spent the afternoon chatting and doing touristy things like visiting the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and eating some lovely local food in a terrific restaurant. It was well worth getting up in the middle of the night to have the afternoon off to spend it doing fun things with great people.
I was so exhausted after my early start I fell asleep without writing my blog again. When the alarm went off at 05:30 on Wednesday morning I could not get myself up-and-at'em with the same enthusiasm as Tuesday. I was going to be moving on from Doolin so I packed Minty up carefully and got myself ready. My bus back from Lahinch was at 11:05 so I didn't have to leg it with quite the same enthusiasm as the day before. I moved Minty off his pitch over to the car park and off I set for Lahinch.
The road out of Doolin is quite steep as it runs up towards the Cliffs of Moher. Before I got out on to the main Lahinch road, though, I was on a narrow, bendy little boreen that looked down over the ocean and had some interesting ancient architecture.
I made good progress despite the fact that I could not muster the speeds of the previous day, but because I'd left an hour later, the traffic was starting to get heavier Once I passed the cliffs and headed towards Liscannor. I decided to leave the busy main road and took a series of back roads that avoided Liscannor and the traffic of the N67. When I rejoined the main road I was a couple of miles from Lahinch.
By now my feet were complaining and (of course) I really needed a bathroom. However I was on a busy road so there was nothing for it but to hold on and hope that nobody turned a tap (faucet) on near me! Thankfully there was a footpath most of the way into town so at least the HGVs and buses weren't an imminent threat.
I have to admit to being happy to be finished when I arrived at the bus stop with a half hour to spare. I thought about wandering off into town to get a spot of breakfast and find a loo but my previous experience told me that wandering away from a bus stop any time near the advertised departure time, was a risky thing to do. I shouldn't have worried. As more and more people arrived and 11:05 came and went I heard a couple of women talk say, "Late again. Well I guess we know who's driving today then!" And apparently they were right.
When I finally got back to Minty, I starting to feel really weary. We bid O'Connor's Riverside Campsite in Doolin farewell and headed south to Kilkee.
Kilkee is like a second home to me as it is the place where my family used to holiday when I was little. Lots of my family still spend as much of the summer there as they can and I am very fortunate to be staying with family for the next little bit of the walk. Coming down the hill, into town felt like coming home. I know I'm going to love the next chapter of this journey.
Raising money for the RNLI on www.justgiving.com/Jane-Volker
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