Dunmore Strand

Tony tells me we had a shimmer of an aurora last night here in Co.Sligo.  I seem to recall him giving me a nudge to wake up and go look but I turned over and went back to sleep.

Today has been another day of two halves.  We drove into Sligo first thing and ran twice around Doorly Park at Parkrun.  Folks were very welcoming and we enjoyed the park and its views of the surrounding hills.  We stopped off for cuppas on the way back, showered and drove just a short way along the Wild Atlantic Way to Dunmore Strand.  The carpark was full as we expected on such a sunny, warm weekend day but luckily someone was just pulling out so we were able to park up and set out along the beautiful stretch of sand to walk the mile to Aughris Head.  There was time for refreshments in the Beach Bar before we took to the Aughris Head Coastal trail with great sea and cliff views along the route.  These trails are well and sensitively signed with information boards which are not blots on the landscape.

Birds recorded were a corn bunting, meadowpipit and a lot of kittiewakes wheeling away from their nests on the higher cliff.  Once again there was an abundance of wildflowers and the thrift was particularly pretty along the tops of the cliffs.  When we turned inland we came up to the site of yet another deserted village and just as we were feeling hot and sticky, there was Martina's sweet shed with ice creams!  Martina was sunning herself in front of her cottage so we bought magnums and swapped the craic with her for a while.  I could easily live here where folks so enjoy meeting new people and chatting.  I wouldn't get anything done, but I would enjoy the craic!

From Martina's cottage we walked back into the village, picked up the car and came back to the cottage to relax for a couple of hours before driving back to the Beach Bar for dinner, no cooking tonight!

It's our last day tomorrow and we plan on exploring further along the coast to Easkey.