Monday

Photo: Valerie O Sullivan www.valerieosullivan.com

It's early Tuesday morning, think I may have woken up the landlady. Yesterday went well, we covered 26km from Shrone, near Rathmore, to Gearraroe B&B, just outside Millstreet.

Driving to the start of my journey the Paps peeked out of swirling white mist. The haze made it hard to tell where the mountains ended and where the cloud began... Derrynafinnia and Lough Glannfreaghaun is an area I'll be returning to; the narrow isolated valley was like a set from the Lord of the Rings.

The start and finish of the day was exactly what I'd expected the Blackwater Way to be like; soft, heathery hillside; undulating grassy trails and misty forest tracks. The middle section of Monday was a lot of quiet country roads with the occasional car.

When I stopped for a break and both animals promptly lay down beside each other and went to sleep I realised what a long day it had been for them!

Millstreet is a busy little town, the constant noisy trucks driving the streets didn't do much for Bob's nerves although Cara was happily oblivious to all dangers!

Naturally the one place I would have to get lost is Millstreet town centre, so only after two laps of the town, with both animals in tow, did I find the Macroom road which led to our B&B.

People seem to very much take it in their stride, when they see us coming; although we did get a couple of strange looks, one couple crossed the street to avoid us, and Bob gave a little old granny a bit of a fright when he went to say hello to her!

I'm not sure how Bob the goat is going to do; he's pretty tired. I'm going to go back into Millstreet this morning and get some barley to perk him up a bit.

We're heading along the flanks of the Boggeragh Mountains today. We need to get to Nad or Bweeng to find civilisation.

Bob and Cara have been offered accommodation on Wed night with the nuns at the Nano Nagle Convent, so I'm on a bit of a schedule now to make it to Mallow in two days.