Sunny all afternoon - YAY

With the forecast NOT calling for rain, I simply had to go to Avondale, Beyond the Trees on Friday. And I was certainly not disappointed. While Ms Google had a different idea of the route to take, by making a compromise and using the parts of the route that I'm familiar with, my rental car took me to Avondale. Where I climbed up and out in only a few minutes. Here is the nefarious bucket seat with its horrible raised sides. Why did they design them like that? As a challenge to a quick exit?

My timing couldn't have been better. It was a school day and the only children I saw were little preschoolers with their parents. Most of the visitors were adults and none of us were in a hurry to get anywhere. Starting off at the information desk, I paid for my ticket and had a nice chat with a gentleman who is involved with the Rathrum Historical Society. Somehow if you are into genealogy/history, a conversation is probably lurking around every corner.

Suitably briefed, I headed out for the treetop walk. Everything was accessible, meaning there were no stairs to navigate. Everything is ramped. The treetop walk started at ground level and the incline was never more than 6%. 

It is very early spring now, so there were a few flowers here and there, and the deciduous trees were still bare. That, of course, meant that some views were more open and not blocked by lovely green leaves. I was surprised to see so many Eucalyptus trees and had a momentary flashback to my long-ago trip to Australia. I scanned for koalas, but not surprisingly, there were none. 

The treetop walk takes you along a pretty route with lots of potential diversions and detours for kids (and their parents it seemed.) In case anyone was watching, I didn't bother with those but they might have been fun. Plenty of signs indicate what you are looking at, notably the wildlife, of which I saw none.

At the end of the trail is the tower—a giant spiral, again with great signage and views along the way. On the inside is a huge spiralling metal tube that flexible and adventurous people can use for a quick descent. If you wish to use that slide you must pick up a mat before heading up. It's like a thick felt toboggan, and the rider's feet go into the pocket at the front. I roughly timed the trip down by that slide, to something more or less than 10 seconds. Given that my body has the flexibility of a steel construction beam, I opted to walk both ways.

The famous slide - exit and try to stand up while everyone is watching? No thanks.

I took a vertical panorama shot so it looks a bit wonky;
 it was not designed by the architect of the leaning tower of Pisa

I had lunch in the cafe and the sun came out. It would have been a waste had I driven straight back to Carnew. The destination I chose was Glenmalure. With all the recent rain, going back to last June, and being almost constant since then, the waterfall was indeed worth the trip. The sun was not in a good position for the photo I wanted to take, but eventually, a cloud drifted in front of the sun, and I got a picture. The one below cropped off the very top of the hill. Imagine, wishing for a cloud. That road beckoned me to drive farther along.

There I encountered an Irish traffic jam. Those sheep were little devils. A farmer came along on his ATV with his trusty sheepdog who made many attempts to keep them together to get them home. It was quite the task, which allowed me to get photos and a little video of them. I drove all the way to the dead end, which was a parking lot for hikers. My feet had been through enough for the day, so I walked about 75 metres along the river and doubled back to the car. On the drive back, I didn't see the farmer or his sheep at all, so he either gave up or managed to successfully get them home. 

It was no surprise that I couldn't get a phone signal there, but eventually, I did, and Google Maps reset to take me back. I followed directions until I got onto a familiar route and then made Ms. Google do a lot of re-routing as I went home my own way.

The first play of the Drama Festival was last night. Although there were a few moments of humour, I found it to be mostly serious. The actors played their roles well, but as the adjudicator said in her comments after the show, they could have played up the comedy quite a lot more. 

It's just a short trot back to the house and I called it a day about 11 pm.