Stage 4: Castletownbere – Eyeries

28,655 steps, 23.9 km of which 15 km on the Beara Way

The Wound #1

After a night of worrying about the wound, we decided to contact the man from the local organisation, Footfalls. Coincidentally, he was at our B&B at the time. Sara was allowed to reveal her leg in front of a group of American tourists. One of them was a nurse. She saw an inflammation but nothing too alarming. We decided to watch evolution in the afternoon.

Prehistory

Given the predicted heat (which later turned out to be less real than predicted) and the fact that the only restaurant in our place of stay, Eyeries, was already closing at 6pm, we decided to do the shorter leg, which unfortunately meant that we had to skip the village with the remains of the copper mines. But fortunately, it was a short but beautiful stage.

A tarmac lane overlooking Bere Island took us to the Derrenataggart West Stone Circle, a collection of 12 stones, nine of which are standing and three on the ground. Especially with the hills in the distance, it was a highlight(s). On the other side, we saw the island lighthouse, which we had stood near yesterday.

Beautiful hiking in the middle of nowhere

500 metres on, we were already heading a bit more into the wild road. A gravel track soon became a grassy path and the steady climb soon became a whole lot steeper. Again, we had to watch where we put our feet. A hole lurked around every corner.

The summit was followed by a bumpy trail on the saddle, where I hit the ground for the first time. Fortunately, the scenery was again fantastic. To shorten our stage, we had to take a gravel path downhill (where dogs are shot, a warning sign taught us).

Then we went from meadow to heathland, descended to the colourful Eyeries, where we tried adventurous ice cream (Iceberg and Brunch, for lovers) and walked to the pleasant B&B. At that point, we still considered a doctor’s visit, but decided to mostly enjoy our evening.

The Wound #2

In the end, no doctor turned up, due to no availability. We did, however, get a whole bunch of ointment and new plasters. We continued to wait and see what it gave and so did the long stage the next day and especially the thunderstorm that was predicted.

Food

Chicken ceasar and cajun chicken burger at the establishment that was open till 6pm.

Stay

Coulagh Bay House. Friendly woman, very spacious room (4 beds). Unfortunately no TV signal, but then a person can do some reading.

Stage 3: Bere Island

30,441 steps, 24.1 km of which 14 km on the Beara Way

350 m ascent and 347 m descent

Across water

Today was a slightly different day. There was no walk from point A to point B, but a loop walk on Bere Island, the island we had seen in the distance the day before. After a slightly more limited breakfast and some wandering around Castletownbere, which was a tad disappointing, we caught the ferry at 11.30am. Although it was a small vessel, three cars manoeuvred themselves onto the deck. It would not have been for me.

Overheated sheep and Napoleon Bonaparte

Bere Island itself was a pleasant surprise. It started with an asphalt lane, but soon became more rugged. It was a sample of the landscape we had already seen on a smaller scale and surrounded by water. After some climbing and cornering, we arrived at a lighthouse, where the sheep had all taken shelter from the heat.

The trail continued along a beautiful and colourful moorland path. It was striking how beautiful nature was there, but also to what extent that even here you had to be careful not to knock your foot over. We climbed further as the blue water continued to reveal itself wide open beside us. The path led to a Napoleonic signal tower.

Or rather, the ruins of a Napoleonic signal tower. Here we saw not only a pony emerge but also the lone German we had seen earlier in our B&B. He stood with his back to the tower and while we chose the ruin as our lunch spot, he continued to stare impassively at the sea. Extraordinary. Later, we heard from the German couple that he had been thinking the whole time where he would have lunch. Even more extraordinary.

A rugged island

After the signal tower, a somewhat tricky bit of descending followed along a cobblestone road, before still climbing the highest peak, a good 300 metres. The scenery remained impressive. A second summit brought us to another viewpoint. We saw Castletownbere and to our right a Martello defence tower and a standing stone.

Finally, we were left with 3.5 km of tarmac, which was a little less pleasant. Occasional views of the water and of Castletownbere popped up between the bushes. We had some time to have a refreshing drink on arrival at the pier, again chatting with the now usual suspects. And all around us stumbled a three-legged dog and a giant dog, who had every intention of urinating against my rucksack.

Headaches

Then it was back onto the ferry and, after a refreshing shower, back to Murphy’s. This time we opted for the more traditional burger, which proved a greater success than our chicken curry from the day before. We also understood better why our guidebook had touted this as a must. The burger was top notch, though.

After a beautiful day, a small shadow did appear. The leg wound Sara had sustained on day 1 was now visibly starting to inflame. We did get another alcohol spray, but still fears grew that more might be needed. To add to the stress, not only were we in a fairly remote area, but it was also a Saturday. So that meant we had to evaluate things on a Sunday. That would also determine our choice of hiking route.

Food: 2x hamburger with fries and a refreshing apple cider.

Accommodation: Summer Hill B&b.