Take a bow!

This week I was back at Croagh Patrick after 8 years. Back in 2005 I climbed the mountain from the southern side with my friend Jossie (no, not the husband!), via an unofficial trail that connected to the main trail at the ridge. Even though I remembered that as a pretty tough climb, I knew that the traditional route was tougher, because it starts just above sea level, so it's a real 700m+ climb!

Jos had completed his walk in the early afternoon, so I followed after we 'swapped' parental duties and off I was, passing this very clean statue of the snake chasing Saint.

My plan was to descend via the western flank of the mountain, but when I got to nearly 50 meters from the top, the fog started coming down and I was wondering what would be best to do.

I decided to ignore the 'hard work' prescribed on the plaque - sorry, I'm not a Catholic, I have only married one - and walked around the church once to ecplore if anything had changed since 2008, before exploring the western trail.

The trail seemed very clear and when descending I thought the fog should really lift soon enough - but no! It didn't! And there I stood, in the middle of quite boggy terrain, no clear trail ahead anymore and no sign of lighter conditions going down. I had come down at least 75 meters if not more, the wind had picked up as well and I was getting cold, despite the warm jacket I was wearing. I had a look at my phone, battery 50%, turned off 3G to save battery life and I decided to climb back to the top, before getting lost or ending up on the too steep slope I had noticed on my map. Not being familiar with the terrain and knowing darkness was less than 3 hours away I just had to overcome my disappointment of not completing that particular route and go back up and be sensible - sometimes I hate being sensible, but I had to be because my compass skills are rusty! The climb back was very tough - I could feel I was still shaking off the effects of a tummy bug that had affected our gang the two previous days - so I was litterally counting my steps up to thirty every time and then I took a rest. When finally back at the summit, I took a five minute break, texted Jos I was going to be back in an hour and started my descend. With every step I took my confidence returned and I was happy to take in the fantastic scenery as soon as I dug under the clouds.

Mayo bog land, forest and lake to the southern side of the mountain...

Names in white stones - mostly quartz I think - which I hadn't noticed on my way up...

... and the beautiful small islands of Clew Bay, occasionaly lit by rays of evening sun.

Despite the incredible erosion on this mountain caused by the tens of thousands of climbers and pilgrims every year, it is one of the most beautiful mountains to climb in the West of Ireland and not 'just' the Djouce of the West as I had secretly nicknamed it to myself.

 So, after a very enjoyable climb, a few ugly moments after the disappointment on the western flank and the glorious descend in evening sunshine, I have to just...

...take a bow to this mountain and come back again in a few years time for another attempt via the western flank!

There is always more to explore!

Last training weekend

Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 July were my last big training days ahead of the Nijmegen 4 Day Marches. Ireland is experiencing a bout of fantastic summer weather - due to the already famous 2013 Azores High - and the spirits are high. So they were on Friday night, the night before I had to go walking... so the start on Saturday was slightly tough (...).

A half day training on Saturday, rest, and then on Sunday morning, I left for what had to become a 50 km walk... and so I did. The day started dull and cloudy, but once the cloud burned off, the views along the sea became just fabulous!

I walked from Delgany to Greystones, took the cliff path to Bray and walked to Killiney Beach along the main road. From Killiney beach onwards, I walked up along the coast, Vico Road, to Dalkey. In Dalkey I met my biggest supporters, with whom I enjoyed a lovely half hour break - bliss! I've found the training days a really great way to spend a bit of time on my own - but at the same time it's tough not to enjoy the precious weekend time with the rest of my little family.

It turned into such a nice day that I was glad that I was walking along the sea and not too far inland. As you can see from the next picture - no wind at all along the East coast, so the open water pool at Salthill was the best place to be!

 

 

As the tide went out, it was lovely to walk on the just dried sand - and I was surprised how many off these little hills I saw around me!

Once I reached Sandymount, I decided it would be best to walk into the city through Ringsend instead of following the coast further to the North.
I always find this building in the Dublin Docklands one of the most beautiful - how many interesting business could you start in those buildings if only I had the money!

I took the Dart from Pearse Station to Bray, so that I could give my legs a little rest. From Bray I walked back to Delgany via the cliff path again. With the sun now lower in the western sky, the colours were really intense. The sounds of birds down at the cliffs and a few seals sticking their head out of the water to catch their breath and enjoy the sun.... and all that in southern France-like temperatures!

The legs seem to be ready for the walk - the head is anyway! So now it is time for a bit of rest, travel over and then start on Tuesday 16 July 2013.

Events can be followed at: Frederique goes Nijmegen

Thanks everyone for the support!!

Sometimes there's snow in April

Of course, the inspiration for the title of this blog is Prince's Sometimes it snows in April - but the snow I was walking in today fell in March, so I had to tweak his famous line slightly.

It's incredibly tough to find the time to do a bit of outdoors training when having a sick child at home; Sophia had a kidney infection, poor girl, but the antibiotics are doing their work and she is recovering really well. Of course I was getting mad having to be at home, because the weather was so good this week - so off I went this Saturday morning for a hike up the hills!

Lough Tay has an even deeper dark (Guinness) colour due to the extreme contrasts of snow and the - usual - 50 shades of brown of the Wicklows. Snow always makes me feel excited; even when only dusting the tops of the hills. It makes everything so much softer - and there is this touch of adventure when walking up well trodden paths when they're covered in snow - you don't know where you are quite often. I'm sure that's why so many people were drawn towards the mountains in the last couple of weeks to do a bit of hiking - but unfortunately that gave a lot of extra work to the Mountain Rescue people.

This snow is typical for spring time though; slowly melting away around plants and the sound of trickling water is everywhere.

I walked from Ballinastoe up to the summit of Djouce Mountain and back via a number of mountain bike trails. What struck me the most today is that it's so nice to meet other walkers, exchanging a few tips about the different routes when at the summit. It was nice and quiet when I started off but plenty of people enjoyed the radiant sunshine when I came down from the summit. And everyone was happy due to the sunshine!

So, I guess next time when up there, the snow will have melted away. It'll be back in November I'd say... so long! Time for flowers to appear now!

Loop walk Sheeps Head peninsula

So, snow and ice had disappeared and off we went for a walk at the end of the Sheeps head peninsula. Maybe the least well known, but this peninsula should certainly not be overlooked when considering where to go for a nice drive or nice walks in the South West of Ireland. As we had our two girls with us, we walked the 3.5 km loop walk from Tooreen to the lighthouse (hello Virginia, I thought of you today); a walk that is part of the long distance Sheep's Head Way. The views over both Mizen Head to the south and Beara to the north were in one word fantastic... If you have a passion for dramatic skies and huge cliffs and no vertigo, this is the place to be. Whilst little Aoife was asleep in my front carrier for the whole duration of the walk, Sophia walked half of it, and Jos' shoulders are a bit sore I reckon as he carried her the rest of it - why didn't we bring the back carrier for the big lady?!

Have a look at the pictures and enjoy. We did! Once again... This is why we live in Ireland;)!

Walking back to fitness:)

Over the last 6 months I haven't been walking much more than 1 km at a time, bar the few walks in the last couple of weeks with Aoife in the pram. However, it is time to return to fitness given that the Nijmegen 4daagse (four day walks) are approaching fast now and I need to get some (...) training done in order tone able to complete the 200 km in 4 days. So I consider today as my official start - a nice walk on my own on the Sheepshead peninsula, sun on my face and overlooking the Ireland I fell in love with years ago. Even though it was just over 7.5 km, it felt great to be out on my own again, no baby attached to me, no toddler dragging me in all different directions... And no Jos - he was facilitating my training time by minding the two girls.
I can't wait to be fit again, not just for Nijmegen, but also for 'normal' life that will start soon enough because this maternity leave is nice and long, but not eternal and work will become part of normal life again.

Jos and the girls picked me up and we continued on the road and were treated to some spectacular views... I cannot get enough of these skies... Let alone the sight of a snowshower closing in from Bantry Bay... Magnificent!

The new baby paperwork

Here is a sign of us starting to properly blending in to Irish culture...

This morning we have registered Aoife's birth; more than six weeks after she was born. Dutch people will probably react in the following way: "What, 6 weeks??!!! We have to do that within 3 working days following the birth of a baby!" Well, here in Ireland you have 3 months to get that done. When Sophia was born, we were still behaving in a more Dutch fashion and registered her within 3 weeks of her birth. Important to know is that being registered automatically kicks off the procedure for receiving Child Benefit, which currently is €130.- per month per child. When Aoife was born it was still €140.- per month; but the December 2012 budget brought a change to the Child Benefit amounts, so her 'pay' was cut when she was not even 2 weeks old. It will be interesting to see what will happen to Child Benefit in the next years, as the Government is planning (necessary) changes to Welfare payments - Child benefit may become taxed in the future, or the amount may become means tested. Time will tell.

So, what nationality do Sophia and Aoife have?
Many people have asked me this question in the last couple of weeks. Both girls have the Dutch nationality, because they are born to parents with the Dutch nationality. If they want to, they can apply for the Irish nationality. At this stage, it would even be possible to have both the Irish and the Dutch nationality as dual citizenship is possible in Ireland. At this stage we don't see the benefits of that, so we just stay Dutch - it's absolutely no issue to be Dutch in Ireland - thank you all, Irish people! It is great they have 'Dublin' on their birth certification as their place of birth.

Just to illustrate why it's no problem to be Dutch around here - they even let Sinterklaas and his black helper fly into Dublin airport, for a visit to the children in Ireland who believe in him... lovely!

Another important reason to get the Birth Certification, is to be able to apply for a passport. We will obviously get a Dutch passport for Aoife, for which you cannot just go to the Embassy, fill out papers and get the document. The procedure is a bit more complicated, as Aoife's Irish birth cert needs to be legalised - it needs to get an Apostille stamp - before it is valid for the application for a Dutch passport. So, a trip to the Irish department of Foreign Affairs is in the calendar. Then, you need to get a passport photo taken. Travelling friends with young children will most likely agree with me - having a photo taken of a new baby - a photo that meets the requirements of a Dutch passport - is a very interesting challenge; your baby needs to be awake and willing to look into the camera at the moment you are having its photo taken - a true art for photographers! There are different requirements for a Dutch passport photo than for an Irish passport photo; and from experience (when we learned about all this when going through the same process for Sophia 2.5 years ago) we know it is best to go to the photo shop across the street from the Dutch Embassy in Dublin - as they are familiar with these peculiarities. Last but not least, it is not possible to just show up at the embassy to apply for the document - no, you need to make an appointment. So, one needs to be organised.

As with so many things, the second time is much easier, so hopefully we will be able to get all this 'sorted' and travel with the two girls. I'm planning to go to the Netherlands in February, so we have a goal in mind!

Finishing off with a few pictures of the new addition... she's thriving!