Wow, 5 days has gone really quickly but we’ve also seen and done a lot. I was pretty weak and couldn’t hold my food in for a couple of days but long sleeps and a short day seemed to fix me up. Either that – or the fish and chips I devoured yesterday at Kilmore Quay did the trick. We’d been told it was one of the best chippies in Ireland so it would have been too rude not to partake! And it was yummy.

The first few days were quite blustery – mostly a side wind blowing us offshore so we could stay in close out of the worst of it at times – and our skegs all worked well to keep us on track when we crossed bays, or paddled out further to make the most of a favourable tide. It certainly blew the cobwebs away.

The east coast of Ireland has been beautiful with long sandy beaches, a rocky headland or two and more long sandy beaches. Giant wind turbines are common sights – as are giant dogs. We’ve seen a few four legged friends that could have been mistaken for bears.

We’re now on the South coast which so far is rockier  with a few coves and beaches here and there. It’s beautiful too. We made a welcome detour out to the Saltee islands yeterday to admire some of Irelands’ best bird colonies. Hundreds of gannets sat on white patches on rocks or soared magnificently above us, which razor bills, puffins, gullimots, cormorants and allsorts added to the general buzz and soar of birds. wonderful.

Yesterday was a welcome treat. We had a message from local paddler Mick O’Meara, who has himself paddled around Ireland and across the Irish sea. He invited us to stay for the night and cooked up a mean chicken caserole with good irish spuds. we stayed up far past our bedtime sharing stories and laughing. He runs a sea kayaking business in Tramore on the South coast of Ireland called Seapaddling.com

I am trying to upload photos to facebook every day when I get a 3G signal – it’s easier on my phone baterry and works much more succesfully than using my blog (which tends to not work). You may be able to check my facebook page by clicking here, even if you aren’t on facebook.  Roger is writing daily blogs so check out here to read those. His partner Sonja is copying my facebook photos and putting them into Roger’s blogs so that could be a one-stop place for you to go.

Ok time to get a lift back to the water with Mick. thanks again Mick and Uma for grand hospitality.