Who Knows Where I end up ?

What a day…it started out not so good, oh firstly the nights meteor chasing…went down with a damp squib, heavy clouds and rain all night, meant I at least got a good nights sleep !, although waking up to rain was not in the plans…although the view from my bedroom was pretty good…and I lounged around having a late breakfast and wash etc until about 10-30 a.m. when the rain stopped – I won’t say the sun came out, it didn’t, but time for a walk… I walked up through a forest, onto Kings mountain , a little hill rising above the loch, with a waymarked trail, particularly for fans of the poet WB Yates, who wrote a poem about these very hills – Stolen Child ! and as I walked the mist was dropping all the time, and by the time I broke out of the forest, onto the hilltops – The Doneens it had started raining again, with me and the sheep getting wetter by the second , I was following a road cut into the hills, to allow access to the peat bogs on the tops, during the Second World War ( in Ireland only referred to as ‘The Emergency’ ), and later ceased. The Doneens are just a series of ‘bumps’ along the ridge, with access from across the bog, which I gave up on ! and turned back down the hill, occasionally getting glimpses down into Sligo bay, and the hills around..

I got back to Wally, and was just having lunch, when a local farmer ‘called in’ to see me, and spent some time chatting about what I was up to, and what my plans were… I’m not sure what he was after, and eventually he left, whilst I finished lunch, and then set off for my next stop of the day… Knocknarea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocknarea …through Sligo and then up to the mountain, which has an unusual feature, the tomb of a warrior Queen right on the top of the summit, in a burial cairn, reputedly stood up, in full war armour, facing her enemies in Ulster ! She’s obviously a popular woman, as the car park was full, I just managed to get the last spot, and set off on the short climb up to the summit cairn  - 24 minutes !

I had a wander around the top, looking down into Sligo bay, and into other bays, although I’m not too sure what I was seeing ! Once again the rain arrived, so I hot footed it sown the mountain, and then went off in search of ‘yesterdays beach’, which amazingly enough I eventually located –it’s somewhere between Easky and Sligo, a great spot ( I’ve taken the GPS co-ordinates)

Just as I arrived a chap was here ,looking out to sea, saying I’d just missed a large school of Dolphins which had been playing near to the beach, jumping up and out of the water…oh dear ! However looking out I say a black shape cruising through the water..a Dolphin !, then another and another, in facts lots of small groups of them , up to 10 in any one group.. they were cruising across the bay, sometimes jumping out of the water, other times surfing in on the waves – what a great sight ! I did try to take some pics, once again I’d flummoxed the camera, so haven’t any ! I must have spent 1 1/2 hours clambering over the rocks, watching the Dolphins go back and forth across the bay – magnificent, and a delight to see !

I had a late dinner, settling in, ready for the sunset, as the sky was clearing, and I was hopeful of a good one…it was !  I’ve lots of pictures of the setting sun, redder and redder,  with my artistic skills to the fore.. I’ll leave you with a few pics…and hoping for a clearish sky,  for me in this deserted spot, and a great end to the day…  Goodnight !