We set off armed with a golf club, an umbrella and purple wellies in search of hazelnuts. We started the hunt where a bridge crosses the Royal Canal at Hill of Down, Co Westmeath. We had some experienced hazelnut trackers with us, and one or two who hadn’t yet had the pleasure of tasting fresh ripe hazelnuts straight from the shell. I think at least one of us thought hazelnuts were naturally covered in chocolate!
We headed towards Dublin along the canal bank, passing all kinds of berries, wild flowers and water lillies. But we saw no hazelnuts. A man with a dog came towards us who thought we were on the right track but wasn’t 100% certain the nuts could be found.
We didn’t despair. Although we were tired we kept going, only resting briefly to marvel at the colours of a peacock butterfly.
Then our spotter, only recently trained in the art of tracking the elusive hazelnut, shouted “I see one”. The hazelnut tree’s leaf gave it away and although the nuts tried to hide, we were able to fill a bag and take them home to family and friends. (We did eat one or two on route.)
It was a great day out. The weather stayed fine and the walk along the canal was lovely. Finding ripe hazelnuts, breaking them open with a rock and eating them fresh was the perfect reward for some very intrepid hunters.
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