Howth East Pier

Out and about last week and visited Howth, looking for Chocolates, of all things. Not a great sketch, but you get the idea.

Dublin Harbour - Great South Wall

This morning Narina and I got up at the crack of dawn, literally, to go and watch the sun rise over Dublin Bay. Our chosen vantage point was the Great South Wall of Dublin Harbour. Interesting "little" structure that has you walking almost 2km on the wall, ending up deep in Dublin Bay.

We were not disappointed. As luck would have it, the sun rises right over the Poolbeg Lighthouse that is perched at the end of the pier. Needless to say, the area was plastered with photographers who clearly wanted the shot of the sun kissing the top of the light house. I might actually come back to do that myself.

But for now, I will live with the photo above. Good enough for now. Thank you iPhone.

Halfway along the wall there is a swimming area on the right hand side, allowing you to have a dip  in the balmy Dublin bay. Not today, methinks. Not sure what the water temperature is currently, but I have a feeling that it is too cold.

 I will leave the swimming to the Half Moon Swimming and Water Polo Club for now.

At  the end of the Pier is the lonely lighthouse. A plus is the vantage point that you have here for watching the Ferries (and I assume other ships) entering the harbour. They come past very close. You can almost touch them.

And then heading back to the parking area you get this absolute stunner of a view. This one begs to be sketched or painted.

I will have to come back here with my camera gear. Just too much niceness here not to come and snap away! I would also like to see one of the large cargo ships come into the harbour!

Quest Glendalough Challenge - 2023

 The bulk of my time since December has been taken up training for the Quest Glendalough Challenge. And yesterday was D-Day.

So off I went. The weather was not on our side with quite a bit of rain during the week preceding the race. Even on the morning, it was a little moist. 

Nothing for it. 

No such thing as bad weather, just in appropriate clothing!!

I have to admit that I did fancy my chances of, at least, finishing. My big worry, really, was the first stage of the race which climbed up a mountain. Relentlessly. On a bicycle. And I will concede that the first three of four kilometers had me worried. But then the second wind came and I got into the groove. I actually passed some people!!

The second stage of the race turned out to be the deal breaker. The trail run down and up a mountain in soaking conditions was not what I was expecting. The route was so wet that it was changed to miss a higher peak, a fact that probably saved me. Getting back to the bike, the finish line seemed very far away.

The next stage was a rather longish bicycle journey thorough the beautiful Wicklow Mountains. The first couple of kilometers being a rather sporty dash down the mountain we just climbed. The brakes did well, I have to say.

Stage three saw us running up a mountain again, and down to a lake. By this time, I had nothing left in the tank, and the 1km kayak that followed was a welcome respite, just being able to sit down.

The last five kilometers back to the start was the longest five kilometers of my life. Literally. 

I put on a brave face...

I really enjoyed the race. My knee is not happy with me, but it will come around. I might just be back next year to give it a better go.

Christmas Time !!

When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall. Now I am not so small anymore.

When I grew up, Christmas was always a big thing. It felt like that to me, anyway. And I always try to keep it a big thing. I always did anyway, until the kids grew up and stopped believing that I was Father Christmas. 

So my daughter came to me and said we should have a competition to see who can draw the best snowman. This was my attempt. I think it is not half bad.

So a merry Christmas to all, and a prosperous new year. May the best of this year pale in comparison with what is to come.

 

Just a doodle

 I have to admit that the deer look a little "Oh Dear"!