The day started early with a luxury breakfast preparation experience in my en-suite kitchen:

And as I drank my coffee and looked at my tent, I realised for the first time in all the years I’ve been travelling with it, that if it was black instead of grey, it would be a dead ringer for Darth Vader’s helmet, or at least Stewie’s, from the Family Guy Star Wars rip-off:

I think it must have been at the back of my mind, but I’ve never made the connection before. And I can now reveal what Darth Vader really looks like when he takes it off and gets ready to go for a bike ride:

STATS

Immediately after leaving the campground I turned towards the coast to find a local landmark. Standing on top of a very tall tower like another lighthouse was a gentleman in old fashioned sailing attire, of white britches, a red top and a blue seaman’s jacket, pointing out to sea. He was commissioned by Lloyds of London along with the three big white towers as a beacon to warn ships off the rocks. Sadly it’s on private land and there’s no footpath, but I can tell you that he’s made of metal and has been there since 1816.

I spent the first part of the morning following the Copper Coast, a very beautiful area that has a history of mining in years gone by. The hills were pretty brutal when they came – between 12 & 16%, and even touching 20% – and normally came after you’d dipped down into a cove and beach. There is an alternative, flatter inland route, but as they: ‘The short way’s short but the long way’s pretty’

At some point on one of the thrillingly fast descents I must have lost the top part of my flagpole, so out there on the road somewhere is an almost-new Ireland flag waiting for a new owner. Hertfordshire and Ukraine survived, thankfully. I think I need to invest in a better made design of pole.

Luckily I got the chance to replace it almost immediately after noticing it had gone.

Coffee came after about 20 miles, when I raced down the steep hill into Bun Machan (Bunmahon) and rode straight into the Saturday market. It wasn’t a big affair, in fact just four stalls, looking and feeling very like the little local markets in Normandy where Susie and I have had a couple of holidays recently.

I parked up outside a shop that sold a brand of coffee new to me: ‘Insomnia’…

The name Bun Machan was very apt, because two lads were standing at a cake stall, selling buns that they told me their mum had been machan. I picked the raspberry cream sponge, which had fresh berries all over it and was full of fruit inside as well, like a muffin, and also bought a few extras from the Insomnia shop.

Susie has been thinking that my diet’s been a bit in need of some fresh produce, and she’s probably quite right. All fixed now.

A little brother and sister, about 8 and 9 years old, came out of the shop behind me, her carrying a big carrier bag full of stuff and him just holding his water pistol. ‘That’s the first time you’ve ever been in a shop and not wanted anything!’ She said to him. ‘Nah, it’s not’ ‘Tis, you just stood there!’

I bravely took the incredibly steep (downward) road to have a look at Stradbally Cove, knowing that there would probably be an equivalent hill to exit it (and there was). It’s a stunning spot, the biggest, emptiest beach I’ve seen in a while:

Despite the climb out of the valley I arrived pretty early at Clonea Bay where my campground is, from which I’m going to explore Dungarvan a bit. In fact I may well stay two nights here rather than try and get to Cork, where I’d have very little time, then have to come straight back again, riding flat out to catch the ferry. Aimless, that’s the name of the game. I also need somewhere to watch the footy tomorrow night.

After setting up and showering I cycled into Dungarvan for an early supper and to look around a bit.

It’s a really lively and bustling harbour town, full of bars and restaurants. I chose a very well known one, called The Local, which had a great atmosphere, superb Guinness and food, the biggest collection of different Jameson’s whiskeys I’ve ever seen (anyone heard of or tried the Stout Edition?), and music, but not STARTING until 10.30pm tonight. Same everywhere, and I’m afraid that’s lonnnngggg past my bedtime after cycling. Maybe there’ll be something on after the football? I might need cheering up. EVERYBODY here wants Spain to win and they can’t wait to tell me about it when they hear my accent.

Signs That Are Funny

*As a bit of an etymological digression, when you start typing the word Neamhchríochnaithe into Google Translate (not that I needed to, of course, it was just to check my spelling), you get the following amazing sequence of translations as you add each new letter or syllable:

New (Nea), No (Neam), Heaven (Neamh), Non-existent (Neamchri), Uncircumcised (Neamhchrio), Unlimited (Neamhchrioc), Endless (Neamhcrioch), and finally Unfinished (Neamhchríochnaithe).

Are there any native speakers out there who can confirm or deny this?