A dispatch from Kerry 1

A very wild and wet drive over to the Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry and I dropped Himself off in our (very hot) Airbnb then headed back for the visit event of the weekend - a 7km hike up Coad mountain to look at a copper mine - and a  possible holy well! It remained wild and seriously wet but 10 hardy souls turned up for the trek in highly challenging conditions. We squelched through bog, clambered over gushing streams , skidded on rocks and hoicked ourselves up the mountain. We looked at a massive jumble of rocks, the interior of which had been used as a home during the 1860s, marks etched on the stones to keep out the evil spirits. By the time we got to the copper mines it was getting dark and we had to find out way down the mountain in even more challenging conditions. The well was just about glimpsed before the light failed. Although it had  been wild and wet the gales had yet to arrive and i'm pleased to say they held off until we finally staggered to the cars.  The journey back to the airbnb was horrendous but Robert and Finola had arrived by this time and the three of them (Himself had declined the adventure) were snugly ensconced, and Finola had come bearing moussaka, so I'm afraid we didn't venture out to the evening entertainment which included a 10pm expedition to look at rock art in the dark!