Day 132: Positives waves

Day 132 - Friday, August 17th 2018: Dursey Island to Garranes 16 km / Total 2718 km, 16°C, cloudy Windy night, windy morning. Let's pack the tent without letting it fly away (especially on top of an island or it'll fly directly to the sea). It requires strong arms because the tent can quickly turn into a parachute and I definitely didn't want to be kitesurfing. As I got down to the cable car I realized I forgot my rubbish bag! I turned back and climbed the hill to where I'd been staying to find it and bring it with me until I could find a bin (as I can't bring my litter home, since my home is my rucksack).  I was the only one in the cable car leaving the island, with the wind and above the very strong current. Quite happy to be back on the mainland. There was almost no one on the little road that morning. But as I stopped to look at the cute baby cows, a man came to ask me if I was a farmer. Definitely not. Only a walker (not even a Skywalker). He asked me where I was heading to, and as I answered Castletownbere he just said twice "you're young". Does it explain all? Many young people won't do such a trip if you asked them. And you can keep your body young enough if you take care of it. Youth isn't everything. And for some older people, it might tend to be an excuse, isn't it? After an hour and a half of walk, I found a café, which was really great because I was starving. Unfortunately, in a café, you can't get a real meal, I just had soup and an apple pie with tea. That's why three hours later, I was starving again on the road. And there was almost nothing around me. Just a little road, surrounded by fields, pine trees, rocks and hills, hunger.  I was so hungry that, when I saw a sign indicated there was a café in the meditation retreat centre 550m in a direction I wasn't going to, I decided to walked that extra distance just to eat something. At least it would give me the occasion to see what's that centre.  As I arrived there, after seeing some Tibetan flags of prayer, I discovered there was a hostel. So I asked at the café if there was a bed available, and they told me to go to the administration office. The manager told me they only had one bed left in the female dorm room. That was a sign, so I took it. He asked me about my trip and as I explained, he asked me I knew Belmullet. Of course, I know it and I've been there. I'm not kidding, I've really walked the coastline and know it very well now.  I dropped my bag in the hostel and went to the café, where I enjoyed a delicious quiche with coconut-berry flan gluten-free and a chai latte. I felt so much better after that. At the table next to me, there was a family. The father asked me where I'd been walking from today as they saw me on the road earlier. I explained my trip and he and his wife were really impressed. When their two sons came back he told them my story, which didn't seem to interest them at all (teenagers ...). So I told them they could think I was crazy. And the father said: "that's what we thought when we saw you on the road, now that we know your trip we just think you're brave". Thank you. And as they were leaving he shacked my hand and congratulated me. I'm just walking! After visiting the area, and discovering they are building the first Tibetan Buddhist temple in Ireland (opening planned next summer) I went to the hostel. I was welcomed by Jo Ann, from Scotland but she lived in Switzerland for twenty-one years, then in Australia, then back in Scotland and then Australia again, before arriving here. She's a volunteer here, but she's already been a volunteer in another Tibetan meditation centre in Cavan. She just left her job in Australia and doesn't know what she'll do next. I said it was the same for me. I don't know yet what I'll do at the end of my trip. But it'll be in two months and I don't even know where I'll be in ten days. I just know where I'll be sleeping tomorrow and that's enough. Today I'm here with a roof above my head and with my stomach full, that's the most important and I really enjoyed the present moment which is good, because I don't know how tomorrow will be, rainy, hungry, etc. After a warm shower, I went to the common room, and as there was no network nor wifi, I could talk with the other guests. I let Josephina, from Argentina, who's living in Cork with her husband. And Yelle from Belgium (Dutch part) who's travelling around Ireland hitchhiking. They asked me a lot of questions about my trip, and I really enjoyed telling them my story. Yelle is also doing wild camping from time to time, so he was really interesting in my experience and asked me some technical questions. I think doing that kind of trip could interest him.  I had a good time talking with them. And I really loved that hostel, nestled in an old farmhouse, cosy, comfy (with heating !). There were positives waves there. So I definitely recommend staying there.