Overcast and windy – jacket to windbreaker weather
After the best night’s sleep in the comfiest bed we’ve had so far, we went down this morning for the “full Irish breakfast”. This consists of: one poached egg, 3 sausage links, 3 rashers of bacon (we would call it ham) grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, and black and white pudding. Jim was looking forward to the pudding, until he found out that the black pudding is a blood sausage patty, and white pudding is a liver sausage patty. With this came plenty of toast, juice, cereal and tea (or Nescafe for Americans). Wow! Luckily, Jim was very hungry and ate half of mine after finishing his own…
We again picked up sandwiches at the town’s only grocery (more like a 7 Eleven) and headed back up the road to the junction to head for Annascaul. Today will be our easiest day, according to the guidebook, only taking 6 hours due to less elevation and boggy stuff.
Unlike yesterday, we stayed on boreens (walking paths) and paved roads, so I avoided further damage to my feet. Although it never actually rained, it was overcast all day and misty when the wind picked up. I was happy to have my windbreaker to wear today!
After a long climb, we got to look down over the valley for our first view of Dingle Bay and the Invernaugh Peninsula at midday. We could see people on holiday at the beach below, with their campers parked right on the beach.
We got to see a standing stone containing ancient Ogham (Ohm) writing in the distance as we approached the village of Annascaul.
When we arrived at our B&B, we were informed that we were very lucky to get a room – the town was booked with members of a South Pole expedition, who had come to town for a reunion.
It turns out that Annascaul is the home of Tom Crean, one of the
original adventurers to reach the South Pole in the early 1900s. The main pub in town is called Tom Crean’s South Pole, and a memorial statue of him stands in the town square. He died in 1938.
Our B&B host at the Ardrinane House advised that we had to have dinner at the South Pole, saying that the only other place up the road had “some crap pizza.”
This sounded like a challenge to us, so we walked up the road to the Anchor Inn, a beautifully appointed restaurant, and ordered a Four Seasons pizza (mushroom, pineapple, yellow peppers and pepperoni), which was hand made by Brian and absolutely delicious!
