We arrived early Friday morning after a mad drive through the night across the centre of Ireland. I have now worked out a method to help keep my eye on the road when in other circumstances tiredness might start to tell.

This involves having two cans of Coke beside me in the car. Pulling out of Dublin and as the building by the side of the road give way to countryside I start to play out in my mind when I shall open the first can and how I shall space out the sips that I take from it.. I had closed my eyes for an hour or so on the ferry and so felt refreshed in the car and on this basis I decided I could leave it until we got past Portlaoise before I open the can and then after that I could space out the sips for every 50 kilometres or so that were passed. That way the first can should get me to Cork and I could then open the second as we pulled up the Bandon Road under the viaduct.

It all more or less worked out okay. I finished the first can just as went over the bridge past Fermoy and next morning I found the second can in the car with one sip of Coke left to go.

We arrived at the Cottage at 3.45am having past just the one car, three foxes and a hedgehog on the road from Cork. I am still worrying about the hedgehog. It was in the middle of the road and staring right at the car as it came into the sweep of the headlights. It went right between the wheels.

Next day we woke slowly into sunlight and bright water and started the long slow fall into summer.

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That first morning we bought hake at Bantry Market and roasted it over fried potatoes and onions and tomatoes.