Together with a dog and goat, Kerry mountaineer Nathan Kingerlee, has just returned from hiking the Blackwater Way, in search of the famous Irish welcome.
''The Irish welcome is alive and kicking'' says Nathan Kingerlee, who completed the 168km trek, from Shrone in Kerry to Clogheen in Tipperary, in six days. The way-marked path links together forest trails, country roads and hillside paths. It's one of 31 national way-marked long-distance trails, including the Beara Way and Kerry Way.
Travelling about 25km a day, Kingerlee, Bob the goat and Cara the dog, stayed in farmhouse B&Bs along the way; where they received a warm welcome in the dusky evenings; the animals being given hay and a shed and Kingerlee being offered home-cooked dinners with the families and healthy picnic lunches the following morning for the day ahead.
''The B&Bs we stayed at were super'' says Kingerlee. ''The best of our experiences came when we were least expecting them... During our second day we met a farmer called Dan Joe, who invited us in for a morning of drinking tea and eating ham sandwiches! I found an organic convent, called the Nano Nagle Centre, who offered my weary animals a stable for the night, while I was fed with fresh soda bread by the nuns. On one of the final day’s we hitched a lift on the back of a tractor and were given freshly baked apple tart!''
Keeping a daily blog on his website, www.outdoorsireland.com, Kingerlee was delighted with the welcome he received along the way, plus the occasional strange look as they strolled through some of the towns and villages.
Bob the goat was borrowed from Cronin’s Yard Farm, a popular spot with hill walkers for beginning the climb of Carrauntoohil; while Cara the dog was Kingerlee’s own Springer Spaniel. After initial suspicion, both animals got on well together, even sharing the same small kennel on the final night.
Asked what’s next, Kingerlee says that he plans to keep hiking, with Bob and Cara, all the way to Dublin, following the East Munster Way, the Leinster Way and eventually the Wicklow Way. He hopes to finish at Aras an Uachtarain and meet the president for tea, along with his goat and dog!
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I'd like to say a massive thank you to John & Ester Cronin for lending me Bob! Thanks to Tim and Christy, who both do huge amounts of work maintaining the Blackwater Way. The people I met along the way, from Dan Joe, in Millstreet, to Mary & Tom, in Araglin, and everyone else were fantastic. And thanks to everyone who read my blog and left comments.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to my next section, the East Munster Way...