Day 63: Where the bog starts

Day 63 - Monday, May 28th 2018: Ballycastle Beach to Belderrig 19 km / Total 1353 km, 21°C, sunny

When it's not the cows, it's the mosquitos in the morning. So I quickly packed my tent, and while I was leaving the beach, I saw a sign indicating the water had been polluted a few days ago with bacteria due to heavy rains. Oh no, I put my feet in the water, and won't be able to take a shower for many days!

After a big breakfast in Ballycastle where I could fill my bottles and charge my phone, I had a pleasant walk until Ceide Fields. There, the cliffs are very high. I visited the exhibition, and the receptionist kept my big bag while I was doing the guided tour. So yes, it only rocks under the bog. But it used to be walled fields, 5000 years, one of the most ancient walled fields you can find in the World and it's covered by 1,50m of bog. When they were built, of course, there was no bog, there were trees men removed to create fields for cattle. Did the weather change and got wet or, did the land get wet because of the tree removal? We don't know, but the bog started its extension, the fields were left and recovered, and people moved away.

In the late afternoon, I walked on a lonely road, surrounded by bog, with sheep (mostly on the road). From time to time, in some valleys, there were beautiful rhododendron flowers.

On the road, a sign indicated the next B&B welcomed campers. Great! I won't have to find a place in the bog. It was the price of a normal campsite, but I only had toilets, no shower, and the water was brown ... So facilities are not really much better than wild camping!