Sure enough, I woke to rain. I dithered about waiting for the rain to stop, hoping it would stop in time for me to ride to Fishguard dry, also still undecided whether I would take the remote cycling route (21 km) or the direct highway route (14 km). I left just after 9, having given the rain plenty of time to pass through after it stopped, while still having plenty of time to cycle to the ferry. Returning to the center of town, light rain began. Traffic on the highway falling within acceptable limits, the shorter route it is.
The hostel cat.
By the halfway point, the rain began to reach saturation levels, and I stopped at a bus stop to don my rain paints; a ferry ride in wet shorts would be well beyond unpleasant. That of course meant the rain stopped. The rest of the ride into Fishguard proved uneventful, with beautiful views of the coast. But I didn’t manage to leave Wales unmolested.
I met Pete as we both went to confirm our tickets, at the wrong place. Pete, a software developer from the UK, is on his first cycle tour (although with loads of experience for unloaded touring). We had both arrived a cautionary couple of hours early, and we talked while waiting to board. He’s headed west towards Dingle and the Ring of Kerry (and rain, lots more rain there than the rest of Ireland). We boarded together, and talked during most of the 3.5 hour ferry ride, discussing our upcoming plans in Ireland. Researching, I learned that our intended campground for tonight closed permanently. Pete identified another campground nearby. That campground also happens to be on the way to Wexford, so if it was closed, we’d still have Wexford to aim for, where I stayed a couple of years ago.
We easily located the AOIC adventure campground 4 km outside of Rosslare. It opened only three months ago, and as an adventure park includes ropes courses, airsoft, archery, building your own raft, and other such activities. The campground is quite large, with three different levels of glamping, many campsites, and multiple bath houses. We’re the only two people currently on site; we have the entire campground to ourselves. We’ve taken advantage of that, hanging up clotheslines in the shelter and (after exploring all of the glamping tents and adventure facilities) spent the evening there talking. He’s headed towards the Ring of Kerry, through an area I’ve cycled before. I made a few suggestions for things along his way.
I was mourning just a couple of days ago that I haven’t bumped into many other cycle tourists this trip, and it’s been great hanging out with Pete. Tomorrow we will both move on our separate ways. If nothing else, Pete plans an aggressive 130 km day tomorrow, and even in our short ride to the campground can tell he’s a much stronger/faster cyclist than I.
North tomorrow, Dublin-bound.
