All over!

The trip was a great experience. I think Meara and I got to know each other better, we saw a lot of the country we hadnt seen before. We raised about 1500€ for MSF...thanks to everyone who donated- you are all very kind..



And i got the bug for long distance canoeing. I want to do Scotland next year, then England!



Thanks to Tracy, Elliott and Ethan for supporting us and following us. Thanks to all those who came to welcome us or wave us off. To waterways Ireland for all they do in maintaining the waterways. To the people who waved at us, and for those who might be inspired to canoe more in the beautiful waters of Ireland.

Day Ten - Garrykennedy to Killaloe

With the news that we couldnt go through Arnacrusha it looked as if the finish was going to be Killaloe, and as this was only some 13 Km from Garrykennedy, i expected to have this finished in about 2,5 hours. How fate mocks the over-confident.

We set off late morning and the sun shone. We were evidently in the lee of the wind and the water was calm and blue in the sunshine. After a couple of KM we turned sharp left and headed down the last leg of the lake and them to the mouth of the river. We turned immediatley into a head wind and bigger waves. I was a little over-confident after my latest experiences and decided to head straight down the middle of the lake. It soon became clear this was a poor decision as we were soon struggling. It seemed at one point we were paddling madly but going backwards. I couldnt keep this intensity up and we turned left and headed for the shore. Even here the wind was howling and we had the added risk of large boulders just under the surface. The swell was less and we made some headway. As we entered the mouth of the river i hoped for some current to assist us, but no luck. The last two kms were a nightmare. The wind was roaring down the narrow river mouth and there were two foot high waves. There was no-where to shelter here and we just had to put our heads down and keep going.

We got close to the finish and could see the riverbridge between Ballina and Killaloe. I had every intention of canoeing around to enjoy the town and the waterfront but i was exhausted and happy to get out at the first opportunity. Tracy was watching us from the bridge and hurried down to meet the weary duo on the waterside, champagne in hand. It was a great relief to finish and we proudly took a few photos with the MSf flag. Driving home i needed loud music and dark coffee to keep awake!