Day 88
Robbie
We were sad to leave the wonderful family home of our Warmshower hosts Fiona and Tom, but we needed to keep going as we have a ferry to catch on Friday!
We had a short day planned, about 25 miles, but WS Tom had suggested we visit the Hook lighthouse, and after ignoring his previous route suggestion resulting in a disappointing ride, we decided to take his advice. This added about 18 miles to our ride so we hoped it would be worth it!
The first 17 miles we easier than I had expected, we managed to avoid most of the hills. We had one ferry crossing at Passage East, Waterford. The ferry took us over the river Suir, and as soon as we were back on dry land at Ballyhack, we headed to the Hook lighthouse.
We could see the building slowly getting bigger the nearer we got to it. For a short while it disappeared from view, then we turned a corner and there it was! Being built over 800 years ago by Knight William Marshal it totally dominates the landscape.
As we approached a member of staff greeted us. If this had been our first day in the Republic we would have been nervous, but by now we knew the greeting would be friendly, and it certainly was. Robbie took our photo for their Facebook page, asked about our trip, ensured our bikes were safely stored, advised us to eat inside if we wanted to avoid the wasps, the best place to take photos, great places to camp and how to care for lockdown beards, I kid you not! He was a great guy and he and Tom chatted away. I went in to buy coffees and was greeted with ‘Hi Debs!’.
We spent several hours there, but eventually had to make our way to our last campsite of our time in the Republic, Roches at Clomines, Wexford. It overlooks Bannow Bay, and had everything we needed. A fabulous room with a view to cook, eat and relax in. Music playing, proper bathrooms, power showers, and I think just about the cheapest spot we’ve stayed at in Ireland. A fabulous relaxing spot! We were going to be sad to leave tomorrow.
