Around Glencolumbkille

Kim woke up with vertigo this morning.  This is something he had experienced briefly many years ago but hadn’t recurred.  Perhaps it was the excessive heat with the underfloor heating and the thick blankets.

We don’t have a big day planned today, with just some local sights in the area (and possibly a backtrack to Donegal town if we feel like it).  The weather was very gloomy with low level cloud or mist covering the valley.

Going out wasn’t an attractive proposition, but with the forecast improving later in the day, we chose to delay our outing till later.

Around 1200, it felt good enough for us to hop in the car to explore.  First up, we drove passed the Glencolumbkille Folk Village, where there were a few traditional buildings with thatched roofs.

From there, we drove to our friend’s other B&B, The Barn, for a quick look.  Their mum, Rita, lived across the road and I spotted her in her kitchen window during our stop.

I waved to her, then went to her gate.  She had come out by now and I introduced ourselves.  She invited us in for a cuppa tea and homemade scones.

Next, we drove to Silver Strand beach that’s accessed down a hill at Malin Beg.  It was a beautiful beach with very clear water.  Pity about the weather though, as I’m not sure how often it is swimmable.

We then drove to Slieve League (Sliabh Liag, in Irish Gaelic) cliffs.  We parked part-way uphill at the paid parking area before hiking about 30 mins to the viewpoint.  Unfortunately, the view wasn’t the best today with low cloud or mist.  We realised a bit late that an alternate way of visiting the cliffs is to park at the visitor centre and use the shuttle to go all the way to the viewpoint without breaking a sweat.

We dropped in at the harbour area for a scenic view on the way home.  There are boat trips from there to view the cliffs but it would be a waste of time and money today.

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Having decided not to go to Donegal town, we dropped into Killibeg briefly before returning to the B&B around 1530.

We started having problems with the gas cooker as if the pressure was low, then the flames died completely.  The tank felt too heavy to be empty.  We disconnected and reconnected it a couple of times and tested it.

Taking the tank down to Glencolumbkille, they confirmed it wasn’t empty.  We had no choice but to reconnect it again a couple of times.  Finally, it worked and continued to work.  We put it down to a temperamental connection.