Clew Bay

The final destination on this trip was to Clew Bay where we looked at coastal management. Across the bay we saw Achill Island, the subject of a post several years ago. In front of us was a broad expanse of sand and the kinds of flags we use in Australia to distinguish safe areas to bathe. The sun was even shining in a milky fashion, at odds with the rest of the week when cloud and rain dotted the landscape. In fact, after two weeks since arriving from Winnipeg I'm still waiting for summer to appear - real summer with sunshine and warm 25+ C days.

Anyway the water look decidedly unexciting and uninviting, There was no swell and the water was grayish. My colleagues who dipped their toes in the water (including at least two land-locked Czechs for whom the ocean might have been a novelty) told me the water was a also freezing, though that did not prevent a few hardy souls from immersing themselves fully. So Louisberg might not be on your list of "must does".  By the way the colleague in the front is Indonesian, so the weather probably didn't impress him!

After leaving Louisberg, we motored east towards Westport past the impressive pile of Croagh Patrick. Croagh is pronounced 'crow' and the term means St Patrick's Stack ... or more colloquially the Reek. The mountain rises 764m (or 2500 feet) out of Clew Bay and is the site of an annual pilgrimage during the last weekend in July. So I was one week late to see something like 20,000 people perched on top. The climb is supposed to be fairly easy, so I'll try it the next time I'm that way. I've borrowed the attached photos from various spots since my camera wasn't working.