Day 52: Inis Meáin Loop (5.3 miles) and Day 53: Carna - Letterard -Glynsk -Carna Loop (11 miles)

After Tim left on Tuesday the 19th July, I drove to Carna with every intention of walking there before taking the ferry to Inis Meain, the middle of the three Aran Islands, at 6:30 pm. Unfortunately I had woken up with eyes that were very irritated by the huge amount of pollen in the air. My right eye was very red and scratched and I had to get drops in order to ease the irritation and clear my vision so I could drive. By the time I arrived in Carna, it was midday, it was the hottest day of the year so far and my eyes were not feeling happy about being outdoors. So I parked at a restaurant/ bar/ gift shop went inside with my computer and spent the next few hours writing the previous day's blog post and chilling out. Later on in the afternoon I left for Rosaveal and got my ferry over to Inis Meain to stay for a couple of days with family.

On Wednesday I woke at around 9am (I had tea and toast brought to me in bed!!!) and I basically lounged around in my PJs for half the morning. It was perfect conditions for walking and I was in no great rush! By the time I'd got dressed and was ready to go the sky had cleared up and I was walking in bright sunshine. Whatever had made me sneeze and had glued up my eye the day before hadn't followed me to the island so I was able to walk happily without a care in the world.

The cottage where I was staying was perched high on a hill with a fantastic view on the island below, the sea and Galway beyond. I set out on a road that ran directly ahead toward the sea down a long narrrow hill.

I took a few detours to get phots of the sea.

And an old abandoned village with the tiniest houses you've ever seen.

All along the route tiny flowers seemed to thrive in the unlikliest of places like the middle of the road,

in the middle of fields that were almost entirely made of rock,

as well as inbetween stones and on the barely-there verges.

At the end of the road I turned right and walked past the pier where I'd docked the evening before and eastwards towards the tiny airport and landing strip.

As if to remind me it was a working airport a plane flew past.

After the airport the roads got even narrower and more twisting as I wended my way to the beach and the 'Old Pier'. I sat on a bench by the beach for a while. There were a few teens on summer break playing around in the surf having a great time completely oblivious to the Baltic temperatures. I was totally at peace here - no traffic noise at all - just the sound of the waves breaking over the rocks and beaches and the surf slowly in a slow and tranquil rhythm. The air and the light of the place was unique - it had a bewitching quality and I was utterly in its spell.

I don't now how much time had passed when I decided to make my way back up the hill inland to the cottage where I was staying. I stopped in the pub and waited for my housemates to arrive (they'd headed up behind the house for their walk) and we sat and had a few drinks in the sun until it was driven behind a raincloud and then we went inside. 

As the afternoon came to a close we walked the rest of the way back home - stopping in to the local church on the way to see some spectacular stained glass windows designed by Harry Clarke.

And also the cottage where JM Synge wrote many of his plays. There is apparently a rock perched high up that is known as "Synge's Chair" where the playwright sat and was inspired by the island. It's not hard to fall in love with the place so I can definitely see why.

Up the hill behind the house was the Clochan. I didn't quite make it up there but it's always good to leave something for the next visit.

My walk was only 5.3 miles long and yet there was so much to see. Small but perfectly formed.

*******

When I returned from the island I checked back into the campsite at Gurteen Bay near Roundstone where Tim and I had stayed the week before. It was my plan to get up early on Friday morning, go to Carna and do my walk before breakfast, leaving to rest of the day to do whatever the "mood took me". As it happens I was in the mood to sleep in so I didn't actually get going till around 09:30. I therefore felt that I should have breakfast first so I called in to The Bogbean in Roundstone for a delicious cooked breakfast before driving off to Carna, not too far away.

Carna is a small town at the southern end of the peninsula slightly east of Roundstone. I found a place to park and trotted off westwards on the road to Letterard.  The road was wonderful to walk on - quiet and traffic-free and I just retreated into my head as I wandered around bends and up little hills, sometimes seeing the sea, sometimes being surrounded by rocky outcrops and stony fields.

I was so far in my own head that I found it difficult to remember the details of this walk. I just looked a the photos and thought, "Oh yeah. I remember that..."

I do remember that this pier had a Wild Atlantic Way viewpoint marker but it was under construction and I couldn't get down there.

Even the boats in the bay seemed to be wistfully just gliding along without a care.

I often look at houses built in these impossibly lovely spots and wonder what it would be like to live here all year round. Would the storms of winter drive me away?

There weren't many flowers on the route but I thought the pinks of these were a perfect counterpoint to all the greens, greys and blues.

Eventually the road turned and I was on a faster, wider road going from Glynsk, southwards to Carna. The sea had disappeared but a gentler lake kept the serenity vibe going.

I felt quite sad when I got back to Minty because I knew that Galway was done and I wouldn't be back again this trip. Connemara is a very special place for me an I can't wait to come back again.

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

Total mileage: 650.4 miles