It was not officially billed as a rest day, but we were able to have some down time and do some tourist visits, as well as getting laundry done and having a nice dinner.
8.61 mile, 368 feet elevation gain, 62 degrees, 80% humidity.
Richard’s ReLive video of the day is here: https://www.relive.com/view/vE6J5W8YexO
First thing this morning, we flunk shower 101. We have seen these hot water contraptions in the shower before, but they have always had a start button. Not so with this one—Darren came to the rescue. The knob turns in the front for temperature and in the back to control the water.
We had a two-mile walk on our favorite roads with tour buses and cars, but we safely arrived for the Aillwee Burren experience with caves and birds. The ticket covered both—a tricky bit of marketing.
This Crested Caracara from South America is an unusual scavenger that likes to walk on the ground instead of always flying.
The falcon gave us a demonstration of speed. He came out with a hood covering his eyes, and then when the hood was removed, he intently checked his surroundings—his eyes are huge.
We’ve checked off the bird show, now on to the cave. This cave was discovered by an Irish farmer in 1940. In a true Irish tale, he kept the cave a secret UNTIL one night in a pub in the 1970’s when he couldn’t help bragging to some visiting students from Bristol University’s speleology society who were there to check out local caves.
The bear is here because bones and evidence was found in the cave showing it was a hibernation spot at some time. The photo below shows the indentation of a hibernation spot. It doesn’t look like what I think of as a bear’s den.
The cave has the usual collection of stalactites and stalagmites.
The stalagmite on the right has been dated at over 8000 years old.
Our guide explained that the cave was once part of an ancient river, and is still affected by local weather. We saw puddles of water in the rocky area between the handrails, but she explained that it was flooded over the trail the day before when the area had so much rain.
Back on the road for our two-mile hike back to the hotel to pick up our dirty laundry. Luckily it’s only about 3/4 mile into the metropolis of Ballyvaughan.
Ballyvaughan is really a small town with one main street, but they have an impressive Catholic Church and it was open!
The laundry was outside the service station: air, water, and laundry. Luckily it had a bit of shelter as of course, a rain squall came through.
The bar across the street was filled with locals having a Good Friday afternoon together. They were talking about the ferry videos and when they found out we had been on Inishmore, we were all yakking it up. They were asking about all our arrangements and offering advice. Most importantly, they said we had to go to Monks for dinner.
Ok, Monks it is. It is a bit further to walk along the shore, and by now it is getting late, so we decide to eat and then taxi back to the hotel after dark.
After a starter of seafood chowder for each of us, Richard had Guinness beef stew and I had goat cheese salad. The spritzers didn’t hurt either.
5 Responses
Great to see your smiling faces after that terrible weather day! Be safe and pick your walks wisely! Enjoyed seeing the cave!
We can’t let the weather bother us too much—after all it’s Ireland. I wasn’t sure the cave would be worth it but I did really enjoy it. It’s amazing the secrets that are out in nature.
We’re studying our route for the next day each evening. Can’t be too careful anymore!
After your previous 15 mile adventure a deserved a day of rest, sort of! Only 8 miles! Do you ever just take a whole day off? Anyway, birds and bears beats hurricane wind and rain. Dan
Enjoyed the birds of prey sequence. What a great day of rest…8 miles!
Oh yeah, I do that on my bike, but call it a workout! Ha
We’ve been seeing more bikers and will have some pictures of bike paths for you in the next few posts. No electric bikes here, although our B&B host said they are getting more popular. These bikers are daredevils—putting us to shame!