A New Year’s Day mini adventure / Petite aventure du Jour de l’An
Starting the new year as we mean to go on : with an outdoor adventure, albeit a mini one, by our standards anyway.
For the first time this year, the acorns stayed up until midnight to ring in the New Year with us. So the next day, no-one felt up to doing anything too taxing.
New Year’s Day campfire party
We celebrated New Year’s Day with a campfire party in Glenmalure, Co Wicklow, complete with toasted marshmallows, hot dogs and mulled wine (cordial for the acorns).
We stayed around the fire long after sunset, chatting, laughing and enjoying the moment, with the constant babbling of the Avonbeg River in the background.
Bliss.
Nous avons commencé l’année comme nous avons l’intention de la continuer : avec une aventure pleine nature. Certes, une mini aventure par rapport à nos sorties habituelles, mais une aventure quand même.
Pour la première fois cette année, les graines de chêne ont attendu avec nous que sonnent les douze coups de minuit du réveillon du Jour de l’An. Aussi le lendemain personne n’était motivé pour une sortie sportive.
Feu de camp du Nouvel An
Nous avons fêté le Nouvel An avec un pique-nique au feu de camp dans la vallée de Glenmalure, Co Wicklow : hot dogs, chamallows grillés et vin chaud (sirop chaud pour les graines de chêne).
Nous y sommes restés longtemps après la tombée de la nuit, à papoter, rigoler et savourer le moment, avec le clapotis constant de la rivière Avonbeg derrière nous.
Pur bonheur.
We have long had our eye on this popular wild camping spot, between the road and the river in the Glenmalure valley, across the road from the Ballinafunshoge Waterfall. But on a mild and drizzly New Year’s Day, there was no-one about.
Leave No Trace
Initially, the idea was to have an outdoor party on New Year’s Eve and wait for the 12 strokes of midnight around the campfire, maybe with a bit of stargazing thrown in.
Things panned out differently, probably for the better. Judging by the empty beer bottles, plastic wrappers and even fireworks casings littering the forest floor near the remains of a campfire, Glenmalure would have been quite a bit noisier on New Year’s Eve.
But apart from that one eyesore, the rest of the valley was spotless, thanks in no small part to the Glenmalure PURE Mile volunteers.
A local resident and PURE Mile volunteer stopped by and thanked us for leaving the place as we had found it, adding, “It’s not been too bad this year.”
Il y avait longtemps qu’on avait repéré ce lieu de camping sauvage très couru de la vallée de Glenmalure, entre la route et la rivière, en face de la cascade de Ballinafunshoge. Mais par un jour de l’An doux et gris, il n’y avait personne aux alentours.
Sans trace
Au départ, nous avions dans l’idée de passer en plein air le réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre, et d’attendre autour du feu de camp que minuit sonne, en regardant les étoiles pour passer le temps.
En fin de compte, les choses ont pris un tour différent, et c’est sans doute mieux ainsi. A en juger par les bouteilles de bière vides, les emballages plastiques et même les restes de pétards près d’un feu de camp abandonné, Glenmalure a dû être plutôt bruyant pour le réveillon.
Mais à part ce triste exemple, le reste de la vallée était impeccablement propre, grâce aux efforts incessants des bénévoles de Glenmalure PURE Mile.
Une riveraine et bénévole de l’association PURE Mile s’est arrêté pour nous remercier de laisser les lieux comme nous les avions trouvés, ajoutant : “Ça n’a pas été trop mal cette année”.
Minimise the effects of fire
This is one of the 7 principles of Leave No Trace.
We rarely light a campfire on the ground, using instead our portable firepit, or the Kelly kettle. Unless of course there is a fire ban, as was the case during last summer’s dry spell. Fires are also forbidden in all Coillte forest parks.
This time, we made sure to use an existing fire spot, and kept it small within a circle of blackened stones.
When the time came to put out the flames, the acorns were only too happy to fetch water from the river, setting off in the darkness with their head torches and their camping cups. Pouring the water onto the hot embers was like creating their own smoke machine!
Minimiser les effets du feu
C’est un des sept principes fondateurs de Leave No Trace (Sans Trace).
Nous faisons rarement du feu au ras du sol, préférant utiliser notre brasero portable ou la bouilloire Kelly kettle. Cette fois, nous avons pris soin de réutiliser un emplacement de feu de camp existant, contenant les flammes dans un cercle de pierres noircies de fumée.
Quand le moment vint d’éteindre les flammes, les graines de chêne s’en sont allées, ravies, puiser de l’eau à la rivière dans l’obscurité totale, torche frontale sur la tête et tasse de camping à la main. L’eau froide versée sur les braises rougeoyantes fit l’effet d’une machine à fumée dans une discothèque ! (Voyez la vidéo ci-dessus.)
With the fire snuffed, it was pitch black all around us. The ideal conditions for a homemade light show – using our torches and my camera on a long exposure, we made light trails under the starless sky.
Une fois le feu éteint, ce fut l’obscurité totale autour de nous. Les conditions idéales pour un spectacle de lumières fait maison : à l’aide de nos torches et en réglant mon appareil photo en pose longue, nous avons dessiné des sentiers de lumière sous le ciel sans étoile.
Happy New Year!
Bonne année !
About the PURE Project
PURE (Protecting Uplands & Rural Environments) is an environmental project established in 2008 to combat the increase of illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow & Dublin uplands.
Dumping is illegal, unsightly and unnecessary. It pollutes our water courses, damages soil nutrients, encroaches on habitat space, kills insects and animals, and is a threat to both the people who live in an area and recreational users.
The PURE Mile competition encourages communities and groups living in rural areas to adopt a mile stretch of road (1.6km) and to keep it free of litter/rubbish, as well as to research information about local wildflowers, trees, animals, built/social/cultural heritage, history, and folklore. The aim is to improve and enhance the areas they live in, and recreate in.
The competition is open to all types of communities, groups and organisations, which can adopt a mile of road in the uplands and organise a number of litter picks – people living along the Mile or in the area; community or residents groups; primary and secondary school students; special interest groups, i.e. walking groups, cycling groups, scouts, businesses, etc.
In 2017, the PURE truck collected 202 tonnes of rubbish from the Dublin & Wicklow uplands, down from a high of 437 tonnes in 2008.
Getting there
Glenmalure is as remote as it gets in the Wicklow Mountains.
Starting from Market Square in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, take Brewery Lane towards Greenan and Glenmalure. Continue straight for 3km, then turn right at the junction onto Riverside. After 6km, you will arrive at the Glenmalure Lodge. Keep going straight through the junction onto the Glen Road, which ends in a cul-de-sac at the Baravore car park some 6km away. About halfway on the Glen Road, you will see the Ballinafunshoge Waterfall on the right-hand side.
S’y rendre
Glenmalure est une des vallées les plus reculées des monts de Wicklow.
Au départ de Market Square à Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, prenez Brewery Lane en direction de Greenan et Glenmalure. Continuez tout droit pendant 3 km, puis prenez à droite au carrefour sur Riverside. Au bout de 6 km, vous arriverez à Glenmalure Lodge. Au carrefour, prenez tout droit sur Glen Road, une route qui se termine en impasse 6 kilomètres plus loin au parking de Baravore. La cascade de Ballinafunshoge se trouve environ à mi-chemin, dans un renfoncement sur la droite de Glen Road.
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links. Should you choose to make a purchase after clicking on one of them, I may receive a small commission and your purchase will help support this site.
Divulgation : Cet article contient des liens partenaires. Si vous décidez d’effectuer un achat après avoir cliqué sur l’un d’eux, je recevrai une commission qui contribuera à soutenir ce site.
[amazon_link asins=’1899815430,1848892012,B000SKHXWU,B004410N4E,B00008GKDN,B00JQ9HNAQ,0993351867|1899815430,B002HX993W,B00440VIYY,B01MY0802W’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’fouaco-21|foura-21′ marketplace=’UK|FR’ link_id=’849ef865-f221-414a-813e-1bd4029a126d’]
How wonderful, this was a great way to welcome in the New Year. Mich x
Such a gorgeous setting and sounds like you were wise to go on New Year’s Day rather than New Years’s Eve. Well done the Acorns on staying up though, that will never change now! #CountryKids
What a lovely way to see in the new year! #CountryKids
Stunning photos as always, I love the one looking through the trees to everyone around the campfire. your children really are having such a wonderful childhood, we are nowhere near as outdoorsy as you, but I’m so pleased to have a child who loves being outdoors too #countrykids
You picked such a lovely spot for your New Year’s Day in the forest. Your pictures are gorgeous! Well done to the acorns for being so awake on New Year’s Day, my son would have been napping if he’d stayed up til midnight the day before. #CountyKids
Celebrating on New Years Day is a great idea and we like the look of this campfire party! Nothing better than toasting marshmallows! #CountryKids
What a stunning place for a campfire party to start off the New Year. You live in such a beautiful part of the world. It does sound like it was better on New Year’s Day than it would have been on New Year’s Eve – what a shame some people leave litter behind though. It looks like you all enjoyed your feast around the campfire and I love the photos of the light show afterwards. Thank you for sharing with #CountryKids
I’ve admired your photos from this post for a while but not got round to reading it properly. What a wonderful forest party and a great way to celebrate New year’s day with sleepy wildlings! It’s so sad when people leave their mess in our beautiful wild places. Lazy, inconsiderate and often downright dangerous. Well done you guys for leaving no trace, and Pure Mile is a brilliant scheme. Ireland seems really well set up for environment and conservation movements. Thanks for sharing with us at #CountryKids
What a lovely way in which to see in the New Year #CountryKids