Finally home safe and dryish.. I can't believe this cold June weather.. after such a dose of sunshine its hard to be dressed for winter and lighting a fire every night in mid June!!!
We've sorted the van, started the washing, had a wander to discover beach huts in Amble! And now I'm just looking through the written log we keep in the van and am just going summarise Ireland to fill in the bits I didn't get to get in the blog while we were away.
We had a really enjoyable time - the first week we had excellent company as our wagon train headed from Dublin down the east coast and round right up to Kilkerny at the end of the stunning drive round the Ring of Kerry. There was a slight hiccup on day two when every campsite we aimed for seemed to have been shut for 12 years, 20 years, didnt take tourers or closed due to water posioning... it was raining and things were looking grim but we found somewhere and saw the night through.. a little fraught but survived!!! this idea of things -areas - ferries - being stated as open , running , accessible but on arrival that not being the case did become a recurring theme throught he next 3 weeks!!!!
I was sorry we didnt get more music time either in the pub or with the guitar but somehow it never happened. Sorry as well that we suddenly encountered the midges which kind of curtailed sitting out doors but fortunately not only did the occasional pub visit help to relieve this but a couple of the campsites we used had 'cook kitchens' or in one place the 'Orangery' we could use to sit in. I like this idea of camp kitchens I wish every campsite would do it - its not so bad using the van but sometimes a it more space would really be appreciated.. The orangery on the Campsite at Garrettstown near Balleyspittal - a brill site if anyone needs a recommendation - was a rather grand but dilapidated affair - a large high ceilinged space with splendid high windows, stripped stone walls and cane furniture and unfortunately alot of damp... unloved for many years this whole complex the site uses is slowly being restored to some of it former granduer - but this space served its purpose for us and we were able to sit in there with a bottle of wine and enjoy a convivial evening...
The next site we stayed at was right on the sea, its lovely to wake up to skylarks singing and waves crashing - this was well located for a local pub, 'The Blind Piper', nice pint and although we didnt eat there ther food looked ok - a good hill to climb and a nice wander around Derrynane Bay where there was a ruined abbey a nice beach and the house the Daniel O'Connor lived in. It was a lovely spot to sketch in and wander about or just sit on the rocks contemplating life as a seagull or indeed life!!
We left Dr Fred to wander up the hill and we went to Waterstone a town of little impact capitalising on the fact that it was where Charlie Chaplin went on holiday - so full of Chaplin bars and cafes...
Dr Fred had a splendid walk up the hill and an interesting encounter with Freddie of Freddies bar...
The week continued in the same vein, lots of eating and drinking, midges and sunshine - we managed breakfast al fresco every morning and we all enjoyed the stunning scenary we were unrelentingly forced to admire!!! The week went too quick and all too soon we waved the others off and we set off on our continued solo trip... we missed the company....
However Ireland goes on and it remained marvellous, fantastic scenary, friendly natives, pretty coloured house - I want our landlady to paint our row of houses mad colours now... beautiful hedgerows - there was much to enjoy - little things,,, To start with I've never seen so many donkeys!! every field seemed to have donkeys in it they were quite cute but I'm interested in other then being cute what do donkeys do? then there were the cuckoos - every where we went there were skylarks and cuckoos - it was lovely... we saw lots of birds Choughs, Gulls, Curlews and once we were fairly sure we saw an Eagle soaring over nearby peak. roadside shines became quite normal and there was the odd grotto here and there - Dr Fred did lots more hills and took a vast array of stunning panoramic photographs
The weather just got better and better... prickly heat set in, sunburn occurred, there was much paddling, wandering the hills and beaches and several pints of guiness were consumed .. more skylarks more cuckoos, camels, otter, fox, llamas, lots of very pretty sheep all very pleasant...
The limestone outcrops along the coast were spectacular - miles and miles of clints and grikes covered with beautiful wildflowers, geraniums, sea thrift, orchids ivy and all sorts of grasses and fauna making it looking very very pretty
We did a mixture of wild camping and campsites - the Eco camping near Clifden was probably the nicest site we went on - not so regimented as other sites so felt more comfortabe, right on the beach which was very private
The holiday was going according to plan apart from slight disappointments and inconveniences like ferries advertised and then not happening - annoying when you've driven out of the way to use it... this happened a couple of times... and then surprisingly midges were a problem, I hadn't expected them at all - the 'skin so soft' didnt seem to work on irish midges... but undeterred we carried on up the coast, past Croagh Patrick where there were loads of pilgrims walking up and the National Famine momument - see earlier post, we stopped a couple of days on Achil Island in the best wild camping spot we had ever found. Dr Fred did another hill and spent a happy afternoon drawing and chatting to an elderly local who had been a shark fisherman...
Donegal wasn't what I expected, it was smaller and less commercial but still full of tourists - it had a nice castle and river side walk.
The next villlage had some live music happening, I listened for a while but Dr Fred was weary and had a foot injury so we headed to settle for the night. Dr Fred Managed to climb Mount Erigal and then our last night in Southern Ireland was spent on Malin Head - amazing views, amazing thunderstorms... Then another non existant ferry - so a drive around the estuary and into Northern Island.
We went to a nice campsite in Portrush. We spent a lazy couple days milling round Portrush and visited the Giants Causeway- see previous post..
So there we are - last words on the Emerald Isle and our brief visit to Northern Island..I hope we go back one day but there are so many places to see and so little time..
We've sorted the van, started the washing, had a wander to discover beach huts in Amble! And now I'm just looking through the written log we keep in the van and am just going summarise Ireland to fill in the bits I didn't get to get in the blog while we were away.
We had a really enjoyable time - the first week we had excellent company as our wagon train headed from Dublin down the east coast and round right up to Kilkerny at the end of the stunning drive round the Ring of Kerry. There was a slight hiccup on day two when every campsite we aimed for seemed to have been shut for 12 years, 20 years, didnt take tourers or closed due to water posioning... it was raining and things were looking grim but we found somewhere and saw the night through.. a little fraught but survived!!! this idea of things -areas - ferries - being stated as open , running , accessible but on arrival that not being the case did become a recurring theme throught he next 3 weeks!!!!
I was sorry we didnt get more music time either in the pub or with the guitar but somehow it never happened. Sorry as well that we suddenly encountered the midges which kind of curtailed sitting out doors but fortunately not only did the occasional pub visit help to relieve this but a couple of the campsites we used had 'cook kitchens' or in one place the 'Orangery' we could use to sit in. I like this idea of camp kitchens I wish every campsite would do it - its not so bad using the van but sometimes a it more space would really be appreciated.. The orangery on the Campsite at Garrettstown near Balleyspittal - a brill site if anyone needs a recommendation - was a rather grand but dilapidated affair - a large high ceilinged space with splendid high windows, stripped stone walls and cane furniture and unfortunately alot of damp... unloved for many years this whole complex the site uses is slowly being restored to some of it former granduer - but this space served its purpose for us and we were able to sit in there with a bottle of wine and enjoy a convivial evening...
 |
| the orangery at Garretstown camping |
 |
| Abbey Ruins at Derrynanae Bay |
We left Dr Fred to wander up the hill and we went to Waterstone a town of little impact capitalising on the fact that it was where Charlie Chaplin went on holiday - so full of Chaplin bars and cafes...
Dr Fred had a splendid walk up the hill and an interesting encounter with Freddie of Freddies bar...
 |
| panaramic from Dr Freds Hill |
However Ireland goes on and it remained marvellous, fantastic scenary, friendly natives, pretty coloured house - I want our landlady to paint our row of houses mad colours now... beautiful hedgerows - there was much to enjoy - little things,,, To start with I've never seen so many donkeys!! every field seemed to have donkeys in it they were quite cute but I'm interested in other then being cute what do donkeys do? then there were the cuckoos - every where we went there were skylarks and cuckoos - it was lovely... we saw lots of birds Choughs, Gulls, Curlews and once we were fairly sure we saw an Eagle soaring over nearby peak. roadside shines became quite normal and there was the odd grotto here and there - Dr Fred did lots more hills and took a vast array of stunning panoramic photographs
 |
| sunrise from Brandon mountain |
The limestone outcrops along the coast were spectacular - miles and miles of clints and grikes covered with beautiful wildflowers, geraniums, sea thrift, orchids ivy and all sorts of grasses and fauna making it looking very very pretty
We did a mixture of wild camping and campsites - the Eco camping near Clifden was probably the nicest site we went on - not so regimented as other sites so felt more comfortabe, right on the beach which was very private
The holiday was going according to plan apart from slight disappointments and inconveniences like ferries advertised and then not happening - annoying when you've driven out of the way to use it... this happened a couple of times... and then surprisingly midges were a problem, I hadn't expected them at all - the 'skin so soft' didnt seem to work on irish midges... but undeterred we carried on up the coast, past Croagh Patrick where there were loads of pilgrims walking up and the National Famine momument - see earlier post, we stopped a couple of days on Achil Island in the best wild camping spot we had ever found. Dr Fred did another hill and spent a happy afternoon drawing and chatting to an elderly local who had been a shark fisherman...
Donegal wasn't what I expected, it was smaller and less commercial but still full of tourists - it had a nice castle and river side walk.
We went to a nice campsite in Portrush. We spent a lazy couple days milling round Portrush and visited the Giants Causeway- see previous post..
So there we are - last words on the Emerald Isle and our brief visit to Northern Island..I hope we go back one day but there are so many places to see and so little time..
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