Day 162: Don't fly away

Day 162 - Wednesday, September 19th 2018: Carne to Wexford 22 km / Total 3337 km, 16°C, windy I was glad that, during the night, the wind stopped, at least I could have a good sleep. But it started again in the early morning. So once again, I had to be very careful while packing my tent, so it wouldn't fly away. I think I was lucky I didn't get into trouble with mine, which wasn't the case with some other extra tents added to caravans (and I don't know why people don't pack it for the winter season, knowing there could be some storm).  I learnt later that storm Ali killed two people in Ireland, a man in Donegal hurt by a fallen tree, and a woman in Connemara who was in her caravan when it fell from the cliffs, into the sea. It was definitely not an easy walk on that morning. I paid strong attention to the trees and to whatever could fall from them. And sometimes, it was really hard to keep standing or just going on, because the wind was too strong (50 to 60 km/h). I spotted a pub on Google Map that should open at 11 am, but I reached it too early and had to wait half an hour. With the wind on that day, it was also very cold, so waiting outside wasn't pleasant. At 11:15 am, the chips delivery arrived, knocked at the door, and, no one. I waited a little bit longer, but as it seemed like it was definitely not going to open, I chose to go back on the road before getting frozen. It was hard to warm up, and I had to stop and find my cap, scarf and gloves in my rucksack. With a bad sleep the night before, no hot meal the day before, temperatures dropping, I was definitely lacking energy, and I walked like a zombie! On top of that, my phone was running out of battery as well, and out of credit, that I couldn't top up because the app was out of order. That meant I didn't know where I was going to find somewhere to stop and eat on the road.  Fortunately, just before joining the National Road between Rosslare and Wexford, I found a farm shop with a tearoom. I didn't need a long time to choose what I was going to eat, without much energy left, I needed fuel, which means Irish Breakfast, and three teas were necessary to really wake me up. After that, I felt much better. The sun was back, the wind calmed down, and the National Road was large enough to let me walk safely until I reached the footpath of Wexford City. In town, my first goal was to find a Vodafone shop for my top up, because I wanted at least to tell my mother that despite the storm, I was okay. Then I went to the campsite, and the lady at the reception told me, first that there was a storm coming (again ?!?!), then to put my tent on the grass (I didn't exactly plan to put it on tarmac). I found a good place for my tent, hoping the wind wouldn't change during the night, and finally, everything was alright.