Day 4
Today we drove to Valencia Island which is on the far west of Ireland. We drove through some amazing scenery as we went around the mountains and had high hopes for the next site.
Unfortunately, we arrived on what appeared to be a car park. Lots or concrete and absolutely no character. The lady hurriedly told Mel where to park and immediately left. No real welcome at all. We chose our parking space and I hoped ethel was between the lines!
The next day, we decided to head for a walk and as normal, we didn’t really know where we were going and as normal, we didn’t take the things we should take. After going down to the quay in the village, we headed along the coast hoping that we wouldn’t get lost. Ireland does have lots of footpaths, but landlords are well within their rights to stop anyone accessing the land and most of them remove signs. We decided that challenging a farmer who had a shot gun in hand wasn’t very sensible and so we stuck to the lanes.
We knew there was a lighthouse along the coast and headed towards it. On one of the lanes by a small cove, we bumped into a lovely golden retriever but no owner. He seemed to know where he was going and as there’s hardly any traffic in Ireland, we left him to it.
We got to a large driveway leading to Glanleam House and some clever family had realised they could charge visitors to cross their land if they wanted to walk to the lighthouse. We duly walked up to the slightly scary and enormous house and rang the ancient doorbell. A nice lady came and charged us £10 (in euros but I don’t know how to find the euro symbol on the keyboard) and before heading off, I asked if the dog was hers and she said he was. That was reassuring.
She gave us a flimsy map and off we went – trying to follow the feeble instructions. She had said not to take one particular path due to a landslide, but we weren’t entirely sure which one it was. In the end we just hoped for the best.
It was a pretty walk with plants brought over from the colonies many moons ago which led to some thought about history etc. but soon we were out into the open once again and crossing fields. We could now see the lighthouse and I will admit to being a bit underwhelmed. I was hoping for a fairytale one, but this was a more recent and not very pretty.
Just before we got to the lighthouse, there was a rocky cove and as I’m sure as you all know – Mel loves collecting stones. Off we went, carefully negotiating both large and small boulders. Mel went one way to forage, and I went the other as I wanted to look in the large rock pools.
I was happily walking over the rocks and had one last one before I would arrive at a large rock pool which may contain crabs etc. and as I placed my foot on the rock, it slipped as it was covered with seaweed. I elegantly (not) slipped ever closer to the water. My arms did a sort of windmill impression but nothing helped and the end result was inevitable. Within seconds, I was lying on my side in 8 inches of freezing cold (but clean) water. I called out to Mel and at the same time I tried to get out but each time I moved; I slipped in further. I raised my arm and shouted louder. Mel later said that all she could see was a feeble hand in the air and that I sounded like Penelope Pitstop going ‘hayelp, hayelp’. I wasn’t amused then and still not now.
Mel came to save the day quite quickly which I was surprised about as it is normally her who falls over but before long, she was hauling me out. I was soaked but more concerned about my phone and puffer (vape) – fortunately both were ok. The lefthand side of me was drenched and Mel kindly lent me her fleece as mine was wet, as was my coat. I had hurt my shoulder, but it could have been a lot worse. My only regret is that know one saw my amazing fall as I am sure it would have scored 9/10.
A wet Cath is not a happy Cath, and the lighthouse no longer deserved a visit so we headed for home. But before we left the estate, I wanted to visit the ‘energy point’ in a vain attempt to heal myself with newfound energy.
We followed the map and traipsed through an overgrown walled garden and fought through chaotic bamboo plants and Japanese knotweed before finding a sign telling us where to go. It was a bit disconcerting to see a skull on the sign but on closer inspection, we realised it was supposed to be a panda. Anyway, we followed the sign and for the second time today we were underwhelmed as all that was there was a bench and a piece of slate on the floor. I had expected a meaningful waterfall or a deep poem etched on an old yew tree but to be honest, it was crap and I was cold and wet,
We fought our way back to the road and back to Ethel who was still in a car park. I had a shower to warm up and moaned constantly to Mel about all the pain I was in. I am not sure her compassion was entirely sincere!
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