HOW MUCH IS THAT KITTY IN THE WINDOW?, KEEP THEM DOGGIES MOVIN’, VIADUCT (WHY NOT?) - Day 3 - October 3, 2023
We got out of Mullinavat early this morning with an ambitious agenda in mind. First stop was breakfast in nearby Waterford. There is actual morning traffic congestion in this town and we hit it. For the first time on our trip, we had to wait in line to get through the many roundabouts entering town and within the waterfront area. Added to this was my usual ability to miss navigation cues. The only benefit to this was that by the time we finally got to our breakfast place, I was already quite familiar with all the streets within the radius of a few city blocks.
Notice the local Waterford kitty cat transfixed by the waving of the mechanical kitty in the window (below).
Once we ate, we drove out for a view of the Kilmacthomas viaduct, which is an historic former railway bridge. Nowadays, the bridge is part of the 46km Waterford Greenway that goes from Waterford to Dungarvan. Since the viaduct is halfway between the two towns, we wanted to see it before we continued south to do a short bike ride down in Dungarvan.
On the way to Kilmacthomas, we came upon what is likely a common occurrence in this part of Ireland: a short cattle drive from a pasture on one side of a road to one on the other side.
It was early afternoon when we got to Dungarvan and rented our e-bikes. The southern terminus of the Waterford Greenway was only a block away from the bike shop, so it was easy to get started. We rode east along the coastal estuary in town and then turned northward. At about 11km away from town, we came to the historic Ballyvoyle Tunnel near Durrow. It is an old railroad tunnel about a quarter mile in length. The tunnel is now used just for bikes and pedestrians. The tunnel is dimly lit with periodic low wattage lights and features constant dripping from water leaking through the roof of the tunnel from the ground above it.
The weather was absolutely perfect today and the green hills and cloudy blue skies over the North Atlantic Ocean were sparkling. By the time we got back to town we were energized and maybe just a little tired.
Next up was the Copper Coast Drive from Dungarvan to Tramore. Although it was scenic as we wound through narrow country lanes, we were expecting more of a coastal view. Our GPS kept routing us away from what were probably the smaller roads we needed to take. Nevertheless, we pulled into the coastal town of Tramore at around 5pm. Karen found us a pub called the Raglan Road Pub. Named after a poem by Patrick Kavanagh (it was also put to song and music by popular Irish musicians such as Van Morrison and Sinead O’Connor), the pub was the perfect way to end the day. We had dinner and drinks and enjoyed visiting with the service staff. Everyone we’ve met so far has been friendly and welcoming to us tourists!
NEXT: Lismore Castle and Killarney
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