Irish Times

 It was only half an hour  to the ferry terminal as I passed through Bilbao on a quiet Sunday morning and joined the queue of mainly trucks and campers. At Passport Control I made sure mine was stamped out, not done for the Irish and other Europeans leaving but essential for me to quantify the duration of my stay at a later date although my stay in Ireland itself doesn't count as it is a subject to a special arrangement with Britain : another ludicrous aspect of the Brexit fiasco.

 

 

Boarding was straight forward enough and once the pilot had jumped across we were away on a sunny morning with a clear sky and flat seas. It was my second journey on the gas fuelled Galicia and the ship was perhaps only half full so I found a tuck away in the sun on the top deck and watched as the coastline receded with the snow covered tops of the Picos visible away to the west.

I had decided not to bother with the Commodore Lounge pass as it is now £90 and had also opted for a reclining seat for the one night of this crossing. The former decision was a good one but on the second choice suffice to say it will be a decent cabin in future - the recliners don't very far, are very uncomfortable and the door to the area was noisy and banged with people coming and going all night. I ate well in the restaurant, watched the sun set and was up early next morning as we rounded Land's End giving a quick phone connection to a UK network before a final few hours put us in Rosslare after several sightings of porpoise in the Irish Sea.

 

Disembarking was delayed by two new Range Rovers requiring a jump start, presumably their alarms had been going off during the crossing so I admired a large Mercedes 4x4 van that looked very capable and had the Raptor paint I am considering using for my fibreglass roof.

It felt very odd driving on the left and I only drove for less than an hour to a park up above a beach at Ballyhealy, grateful that my smaller van could reverse in to a space between the dunes that got me out of the very strong winds. The Saltee Islands lay a couple of miles offshore and I walked along the beach to houses south of Kilmore that were threatened by coastal erosion so remedial engineering was underway.

Ballyhealy Castle stood behind a large cast iron gate and is on the Norman Way which passes through the area and before long I was back at the van surprised to see three local lads braving the crashing waves.

 

 

 

 

Anyway it was a peaceful night but on a grey wet morning I drove round to Kilmore Quay and parked at the Community Centre which has a decent cafe and motorhome service point where I topped up the fresh water. After a look round the small harbour I enjoyed a hot chocolate at the cafe before following the coast west and turning down on to the Hook Peninsula which culminated in the impressive Hook lighthouse, the oldest in the world dating back to mediaeval times. As the skies had cleared I booked on the tour which was well worth it - starting at the coastguard lookout before heading up the 188 steps to just below the light and out on to the terrace for wonderful views in all directions. The guide was very well informed and entertaining and clearly relished his job. Passing the imposing Loftus Hall, reputed to be haunted and now being redeveloped as a hotel I arrived at the imposing remains of Dunbrody Abbey before returning the few miles to Ballyhack for the short ferry ride over to Passage East and skirting round Waterford to arrive west of the town at a quiet carpark giving access to the Waterford GreenWay cycle path. I rode east in to town and then explored the centre before returning for a peaceful night.

 

Wednesday dawned bright, sunny and fresh so I was soon away to follow the GreenWay some 30 miles out to Dungarvan on the route of the old Mallow/Waterford Line. The Waterford and Suir Heritage train still runs on a regauged track alongside the path and there are plans for it to eventually reach back to Waterford and the GreenWay to be extended out to Mallow once more. Anyway for now it is a superb experience with a perfect surface passing through glorious countryside, opening out to extensive coastal views and depositing you bang in the middle of Dungarvan, an attractive coastal town. I checked out the aire for the following night and then decided to return along the Copper Coast route after having a good snack lunch at the Caboose cafe on the trail.

 

This added a few extra miles and some hills but was an excellent decision as the quiet road took me to beautiful bays such as  Stradbally and Kilmurrin Cove. The old copper mine at Tankardstown was reminiscent of the equally impressive mine buildings in North Cornwall and after reaching Annestown with its lovely beach I turned inland to Dunhill and returned to the GreenWay as it followed the Suir back to the parking where I enjoyed a remarkable sunset after sixty rewarding miles.

Thursday dawned as forecast - wet, cold and windy so not much fun for a French couple sleeping in their estate car, yet again I was thankful for the warmth and comfort of my set up. The aire at Dungarvan was near the town centre, had water and waste facilities and required 10 euros a night in the parking meter. I didn't need any of the services but felt it was a good thing to support the initiative so parked up on a foul day with the heater on. As things lifted after lunch I walked in to enjoy the small but interesting local museum and picked up some shopping before heading back. 

A grey, cold but mainly dry Friday (Morocco  is now a fading memory) saw me parking up at the large Tesco's on the edge of Cashel and walking in to visit the impressive Rock of Cashel standing proudly above the town. Again I opted for the guided tour and Patrick gave us an entertaining and irreverent commentary on the history of the overlapping castle and cathedral ruins. 

 

We also visited the beautifully preserved chapel with its Norman stonework before I returned to the van and drove over to the Mitchelstown Caves. Having expected an over developed touristy set up I almost missed the small car park opposite an old house with just a small sign. I knocked at the window and Abi appeared but said they weren't insured to only take one visitor so I said I would wait and have lunch in the van and see if anyone turned up. Fortunately a young family over from Canada eventually appeared so before long we were all walking up to the locked gate in a small limestone quarry where over a century ago the farmer had lost his crowbar down a gap, removed some rocks and began the exploration of this surprisingly extensive system. It was to their credit that the caverns, passages and formations had been only minimally disturbed to improve access and we all enjoyed it very much - potholers can reach the more distant passages and there is a second layer of caverns and passageways some 20 metres below the public area.

 

I hoofed it along to the Ballyhoura Mountain Bike Centre in the eponymous woods and mountains to find another low key place with parking at 5 euros and no signs banning overnight parking. There was a shower and toilet block but the bike rental was shut as it was now after 5 so I asked a couple of local riders about the various trail options and decided to do the longest blue route as apparently much of the 50k long red route is overgrown. Thus I enjoyed a couple of hours following the forest roads linked by well designed flowing single track with no one around and just a few wild goats for company. Back at the carpark by dusk there was no one else about so I showered early in the van and hit the sack after an energetic few days.

I woke early after a sound night's sleep so was soon away and before long arrived at Abbeyfeale which sits on the Limerick Greenway. The carpark behind the Railway Inn also houses a bike hire centre and the owner had some useful advice on the available options and also said people often overnighted which was good news. I set off west following the old Limerick to Kerry line out as far as Listowel before taking quiet back roads out to Ballybunion on the coast, a low key beach resort with an apparently world renowned golf course. On my return I stopped at the pitch 'n putt which had a cafe and was a very pleasant and welcoming place to take a breather and did an excellent cheese and ham toastie. I was back early enough to walk in to town and enjoy some of the traditional Irish music and dancing that has been a feature of this Bank Holiday weekend in Abbeyfeale for thirty years. Using a curtain sided trailer as a stage the band entertained a small crowd despite a few local bogans cruising by in their pimped rides with ludicrous exhaust systems.

 

Today has been warm and sunny after a misty start so I rode the rest of the LG east out to Newcastle West and Rathkeale where nowhere was open for even a coffee, fortunately I had apples and water and on the return the excellent Platform 22 cafe near the Ballymuragh viewpoint was open for business. Again the trail was well maintained with a smooth tarmac surface, good gates and signage and some stunning views over to the coast and way in the distance the mountains of the Killarney National Park.

A warm evening has given me time to do this catch up - tomorrow's plan is the Tarbert ferry across the Shannon in to County Clare and the first campsite of the trip for a service stop. I may even take an EHU, my second in four months away but as the panel has been doing its job all day today I doubt I'll really need it.

Anyway a few pics here and an update in a week or so............