Beach outcropToday wasn’t exactly the type of day to be putting on boots and getting outside. It had been bucketing down for most of the day. I was keen on going for a walk by the coast, but when I saw the rain pouring down on the balcony I decided that I would need to leave it for another day. But then I got a call from a friend of mine. He was interested in going on a walk, and without a second thought I decided we would do it, rain or no rain.

We met each other in Ballybrannigan Beach at 3.45, put on our rain gear and headed out. The walk is not the easiest: you have to scale rock faces at times, and you always need to be on the look-out for slippery stones. This type of walking requires the utmost concentration. The sea was wild! Not as far out as I would have liked, but we managed to do the walk without any problems.

Rock face with huge indentations in itMy friend was the first person I have ever taken out on a walk on the coast. He has done hillwalking a few times before, but this was different. I’m not sure if he was expecting it to be so challenging. Certain algaes and seaweeds can make boulders very slippery indeed, especially in bad weather.

The walk is quite short, but it’s a good one because you get to see everything the coast throws up at you: sea caves, stacks, bridges, cliffs, wave-cut platforms, ledges, boulders, sandy beaches and little alcoves everywhere.

The major item of interest is a rock wall that is punctured by huge round indentations. These indentations, ranging from 30 cm to 1m, have been put there by great round boulders, some of which are still embedded in the rock face. There appears to be a thin ‘skin’ on the boulders. I discovered today that similar indentations can be located some distance away from the rock wall. I’d love to know more about how these features originated.

I think I live in a fascinating and beautiful part of the world.

Narrow Sea inlet Water flooding into a narrow inlet.

Sea fishing Sea fishing on the rocks

Boulder field Moonscape: a boulder field