Day 152: A peaceful Sunday

Day 152 - Sunday, September 09th 2018: Ardmore to Helvick Head 20 km / Total 3148 km, 18°C, sunny

How great it was to sleep in a comfy bed! How great it was to get a hot morning shower! How great it was to get a big breakfast to start the day! All these normal things for many people but which are now an incredible luxury for me!

Before leaving the town, I went to see the Round Tower. With a gate 4m above the ground, it was used in fact as a shelter by the monks and their treasures, when they were under Viking attacks. It is very well preserved and made me think of a spire pointing to the sky, maybe to God or Heaven. My tourism teacher, when I was a student, would have said "another phallic monument"! (Many monuments made by men are phallic: obelisks, towers ... And it's always about who has the biggest one. I agree with my teacher). So this Christian site is supposed to be settled by St Declan, before the arrival of St Patrick in Ireland, which means the Christianisation of the island started in the South East (St Patrick started on the other side).

It was then a lovely walk along the beach with only the sound of waves crashing on the sand, and sunshine. A couple of horses were training in the waves.

And for the rest of the afternoon, I walked on little roads, with almost no one. It was so peaceful, with just the sound of the wind in the leaves. After Cork busy area, it was so good to be alone in the wild, listening to the birds singing! I really enjoyed that late summer day of the walk.

As I really took my time on that day, I reached Helvick Head by the evening, looking for a place for my tent. Unfortunately; all the area was slope ground, which means not a very comfy night. I followed a path, or what I thought was a path replacing the original one which was covered by brambles. And suddenly, that path ended up in a field. I didn't really understand, but I think the wheel marks I was following were just made some weeks before by firemen trucks, during the heatwave, because on the other side of the field, the bush seemed to be burnt. So I wasn't probably following a real path. Never mind I decided to stop there and to build my tent before darkness, which happens really earlier now.