Day 3 - May 5th

I had spent a good part of last night writing and then trying to send what had been written by e-mail. Frustrating! I had enquired at reception about getting on line, no problem simply buy this voucher (£6) and you can have 60 minutes in any 24 hours on line. So I purchase it, can I get on line! No way, there is a BT Help Line, call it, engaged, engaged, engaged. I called at least 20 times, I do not exaggerate. Call reception, night staff are now on, most courteous but can not help. I'll try in the morning. Call the help line--engaged, just as I had expected. Have my breakfast, back to the room, call help line --engaged. Call reception, most helpful, go up with my lap top and the young receptionist also tries, can't get on line. She calls the help line, "Is it ringing" "Yes", wow, maybe we are getting somewhere. She waits and waits and waits and eventually after at least 8 minutes hangs up. "No one answering". "Sean is better than me, he'll know what to do" Sean arrives, also a lovely fellow, he tries-- no good. Tries the help line, no response.

Time is ticking away, Patricia who has to start at the Internet Cafe at Craigavon Bridge will be here shortly. I am becoming impatient. Sean leaves us, the young lady works away - no good. Sean returns, what he does I do not know but suddenly I am on line. I hurriedly sit down and send off and look at my incoming e-mails. Full marks to the staff at the Everglades Hotel, BT you should be ashamed of yourselves. Service where is it! £6 for 60mins! Help line where is it! Non existent.

Anyway while I was standing at reception and all this was going on, a group of American Golfers were preparing to leave for a days golf somewhere, three bus loads, say a party of 110 - 120. Great business for the Everglades, great for tourism, and this was the North of Ireland!

Wonderful, have we turned the corner? I hope so, the dollar is so weak as is the £ against the Euro perhaps tourism might benefit in the current economic climate.

As I stood there a youngish man, (everyone is youngish these days), came up to reception and asked for the manager, he wished to lodge a formal complaint. "Perhaps I can help" says the same Sean who has been helping me, "I am acting manager". " We had a wake up call at 6.00 this am" (Now I know why no one was in the bar last night), says he. "My shower was not warm enough" He didn't say it was cold, but it was not hot. "I asked at our conference this morning and several others had the same situation. This is not acceptable. We expect hot water from our showers, have it corrected for tomorrow morning or I will look for a reduction" Fair enough, he's in a 5 star hotel, he or someone is paying well, I assume for the privilege of staying there, he is entitled to a warm shower. But a wake up call for 100+ people all demanding warm showers at the same time! A big commitment, a hell of a lot of hot water, a lot of energy required to meet that demand.

The telling phrase for me was "We expect hot water from our showers" That's it, no regard for energy or energy conservation, we are American, we expect, we demand, we have the right to the resources of the world, we can pay you provide. A philosophy that has to change if our world is to survive. The Americans and we in the west must curtail our abuse of our energy resources. The war in Iraq is about oil, Saddam and his nuclear weapons was only a ruse, and the Americans will now pull out. Are things any better for the Iraqis now? I think not.

When will America sign up to Kyoto, will they ever sign up to it, when will the American Public waken up to what's happening on our planet, when will they start driving economical cars for example? Some of us are almost as bad here, we drive children or perhaps even one child to school in these huge 4x4s! What's wrong with walking, what's wrong with pooling. We must waken up and be aware of what is happening around us, world temperatures are undoubtedly rising, the Northern and Southern Ice Caps are shrinking, our whole ecological system can fail, we will lose the currents of the oceans, our whole eco system is in danger. And it now looks as if we are facing a world wide food crisis, the price of rice has trebled recently, the stable diet of the poorest on our planet! Are we as individuals doing anything about it? We must let our voices be heard.

Back to the walk! Patricia arrives; Pat has already my stuff in the car complete with caravan parked at the Hotel door! On the road, a lovely morning, best foot forward and we set out.

A little over two hours later we spy Pat complete with car and caravan, always a welcome sight. In, coffee or soup, with the sandwich prepared for me by the hotel staff. Plan for the day, we'll get beyond Strabane and see what happens. In actual fact we went on to the first pub in Sion Mills and that's where Pat found us enjoying a pint of shandy. We returned to Strabane and I booked into The Fir Trees Hotel, Pat and Patricia could park their caravan in the car park of the Hotel, No problem! A lovely and warm receptionist, while Pat and I had another drink in the bar Patricia went up to my room and had a shower. We arranged to meet for our dinner in the hotel. The day had been somewhat uneventful, plentiful and fast traffic; not always a decent verge or footpath but we managed.

When passing a Reformed Presbyterian Church I had seen the sign "Where are you going" in bold print and below , somewhat smaller "And After" "Come and join us for evening worship at 7.00". I know where I'm headed, in as straight a line as I can go, Mizzen Head and after, as quick as I can, back to La Manga Club. Back to the comfort and love of the lady in my life, to Pirjo, to her companionship and that of the many friends I have now made there, to the golf and to the easy days in the beautiful Spanish sun! Day 3 over perhaps another 28 to go.

Day 4 - May 6th

We leave the hotel at circa 8.45am, out to the start of Sion Mills, another lovely day, our journey will take us via Victoria Bridge to Castlederg. Pat has gone ahead, we told him to park wherever he could in around 7-8 miles. At least two good hours walking. MP3 on, it's Christy Moore today. I have well over 3 hours of Christy taped, there'll be no messing about with the player, just let it run on. It was Benny Sands yesterday, like Christy I had no need to foother with the MP3, it could run on without any help from me. Tomorrow I think I'll play Paddy Reilly.

Pat has parked quite close to Castlederg at a Mace Shop, large forecourt, very clean, a busy shop, immaculate toilets and pleasant staff. Boots off as usual, remove the bottom part of my trousers and after about 25 minutes ready for the road again. " How far are we going" "Let's get to Killen and then see". Edenery is too far for today. Pat passes us on the road, traffic is fast, after Castlederg we have little verge, no footpath and a few hairy places to negotiate. We walk through Killen, a long stretch of a village, neat and tidy. Patricia stops, she is suffering with a corn between her big toe and the adjacent one, she has plaster on the big toe and sheep's wool over the corn. She adjusts the dressings, shoe on again and bravely she heads out. We pass a sign Enniskillen 32; we are in the north that is miles! We walk on I would think for about another hour and then we spy Pat, not the car mark you, but he says the car is round the next bend, and the next I think, but eventually we spy it. Relief another day over, another few miles to our objective, we'll not make Enniskillen on the morrow but well be less than a good walk away from it!

I book into The Lough Erne Hotel, Pat has found a good Caravan Site in Kesh.

All for the night, it's time I was in bed. No facilities here to email.