Day 112: What did you see? Rain

Day 112 - Thursday, July 26th 2018: Heirhill to Banna Beach 23 km / Total 2297 km, 18°C, rain

I woke up with soft rain. But as I had put my tent under the trees, it didn't get wet before I packed it. At the end of the path, cows were staring at me. They are very curious animals. 

I started my walk on the north side of Kerry Head. The wind and the rain were coming from the south, so at the beginning, it was almost all right. But after an hour and a half, I reached the Head and faced the wind. And got totally wet.

What did I see from Kerry Head? Nothing. Absolutely nothing except clouds, and rain. So much rain that it was like a fog. I couldn't even see the sea. So I just looked at the snails getting out of the hedges. The only ones being very happy with that weather. 

The road got down to Ballyheige where I went into the first food place I could find. I took an Irish Breakfast, a lot of hot tea and waited for the rain to stop. But my feet didn't dry. A couple of German cyclists were apparently in the same situation as me. But they wore shorts and sandals, so no wet socks problem. They asked if there was a campsite in the area. The local people at the table next to me didn't know, so I told them about the one I was going to. And the little girl at the table next to me said to her mother "pffff, there's no camping there". 

In the afternoon, I walked on the beach of Ballyheige Bay. It was better for my feet. Less for my shoes cause the sand stayed on them. It'd been almost sunny at some moment. A man indicated to me how to reach the bridge to cross the river and to get to Banna Beach. I found my camping which really existed as expected (indicated on my Map, on Google Map and with signs along the road since Tarbert, there was no doubt !).

The lady managing the camping there asked me where I had been walking from today, so I explained the rain in Kerry Head, no view at all, and then the walk along the beach. We talked about the rain, and she told me she went to Tralee in the morning for some shopping and had to change herself when she came back because she was wet and getting cold. Poor me with nothing to change me except my pyjama. And then she asked me again where I was been walking from. And she told me she didn't see me walking on the road this afternoon. Yes because I walked along the beach. I think she didn't really listen to me the first time. 

After building my tent, I took a hot shower (2€ for 5 min ... It seems that the drought is increasing the price of water). When I got out of the shower, I met the lady again who asked me more about my walk and listened to me. She was really surprised that I've been alone for more than four months. She was quite disturbed by the lonely side of my trip. But as I told her, I met a lot of people, in pubs, hostel, on the road. I speak to someone every day. I felt alone the first days, but not anymore. And sometimes I enjoy being alone. 

But, on that evening, I was almost feeling a lack of space in my tent. Humidity went everywhere and even inside my backpack. So I took out all my stuff and tried to make it as dry as possible.