The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance

LETJOG E2W – Day 29: Sunday 12 May – WATERFORD to KILMACTHOMAS (12.7 miles)

If this Blog heading sounds rather dramatic, and perhaps with an unintended hint of finality, it is simply meant as a thank you to Nicola and Cian for welcoming a hitherto stranger into their household for three days, and for all of your kind support, moral and practical, to this newcomer’s crazy LETJOG E2W venture across your country. I hope for you both, as for me, that it has been the unique and enjoyable experience that our lively banter and conversations suggest. Thank you both so much for your wonderful company over these last three days – it has been a lot of fun!

So, as for my walk today, I am now four days into my Ireland adventure, and I am still to experience a drop of rain – although I see from the forecast that that may well change tomorrow. But today dawned brightly and, after breakfast, Cian joined me for the first couple of miles along the Waterford Greenway as far as Kilmeaden. The Greenway follows the route of a former railway line, restored a decade or so ago, along an immaculately maintained level path running for thirty or so miles, from Waterford to Dungarvan on the south coast of Ireland. The Greenway itself is of tarmac, but the cuttings and embankments are indeed a riot of green growth, and the views, as the track follows the River Suir and then heads out into the fields, are outstanding. Unusually for me on this trek, I had the company of dozens of other walkers, runners and cyclists. Here are the pictures.

I met Cian again at Kilmacthomas and was taken on a spectacular drive up to the Comeragh Mountains, their tops heavy today in humid cloud, before a return to the coast at the former copper-mining town of Bunmahon for a pint of ‘the black stuff’. Where else can one enjoy such wild uplands and coastal beauty all within a few minutes’ drive?

Tonight, I was treated to Sunday dinner at home (with some green vegetables!), and we enjoyed a final drink together outside in the twilight: my thanks to Cian and Nicola for a wonderful weekend and a highlight of my LETJOG E2W trek that will remain long in the memory. See you again soon!

My Blog heading today, ‘The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance’ is a title taken from a song of that name by the recently-departed Dublin-born artist Sinéad O’Connor. The number is a moving piece written by O’Connor, that appears on her second studio album ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’ from 1990: a work that also features her cover of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’- a song that she really made her own.