We were at a bit of a loss this morning, didn’t really know what to do. Our daily routine was so simple. Just get up, put on the least smelly clothes, have breakfast, leave your bag by the front door, and head off. Full of enthusiasm, anticipation and energy.

So we had a late breakfast, wandered into the village, visited the stone circle, walked along the river bank, had an Americano and chocolate brownie, walked around Reenagross (Headland of the Crosses) Park, checked out the bus for tomorrow, went back to the B & B and had a lie down. The only task for the day was to thoroughly disinfect the bath after we had cleaned our walking shoes in it last night.

Kenmare has a stone circle right in the town itself, about 5 minutes walk from the square (which is actually a triangle?). This one is egg shaped and about 17 metres in diameter. It has 15 heavy boulders. At the centre is an impressive boulder-dolmen with a giant capstone. This is also known as a Boulder Burial and often marks the burial place of someone important.

We are definitely back on the tourist circuit. Kenmare is full of people, cars, coaches, bars, cafes, shops, music and cyclists. Lots of cyclists. It seems that the Beara Peninsular is popular with cyclists, maybe because it still has quiet roads, no coaches and has largely missed (or avoided?) the tourism bonanza that has overtaken southwest Ireland.

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

No. of days walking: 23
No. of kilometres walked: 504
No. of steps: 672,000
Longest walking day: 36 km Sneem to Kenmare
Shortest walking day: 10 km Castlegregory to Camp
No. of ‘rest’ days: 4
No. of metres climbed: over 10,000 (Everest is only 8,000)
No. of styles climbed: over 450
No. of gates opened and closed: about a 100
No. of different beds slept in: 25
No. of car rides: 2
No. of cars that tried to kill us: 1
No. of ham and cheese filled rolls eaten (butter but no mayo):17
No. of eggs eaten: 47 each
No. of midges that attacked us: a gazillion
No. of sheep we saw: 100,000+
No. of lambs we ate as roast of the day: 5
Favourite meal Barbara: Lasagne, salad and garlic bread at Glengarrif
Favourite meal Paul: O’Shea’s Beef and Guinness Pie at Sneem
Best rhubarb crumble: Dunquin Pottery and Café (It’s the seaweed)
Food we didn’t like: ‘Air and full of promise’ disappearing artificial cream
No. of fairies seen: not telling
No. of times Barbara said Yuck!! as she stepped in muck up to her ankle: 37
No. of Euros Barbara was fined for saying to the waitress “That was lovely”: 54
No. of times we didn’t know exactly where we were: at least once a day
No. of days without high speed broadband: 2
No. of days we arrived before our bags: 2
No. of days we wished we were at home cycling with our mates: every Wednesday and Friday

No more proverbs, but this time a limerick. This is one of the most well known, but in case anyone doesn’t know it:
There was a young lady in the fall
Who wore a newspaper dress to the ball
The dress caught on fire
And burnt her entire
Front page, sporting section and all.