Mandy's flight arrived on time at Shannon Airport as the sun set and we were soon tucked away at Bunratty again for the night celebrating her safe arrival with a pint at Durty Nellies adjacent to the castle which was illuminated in green by night. A duo of musicians entertained us before we retired for the night. Revisiting Bunratty (for me) was a chance to see the excellent buildings and displays again, chat to some of the staff and explore the castle once more before we headed over to Doolin for a night behind Mc Dermotts pub where we met Pete and Nina who had made an unexpected visit to Ireland for a family funeral. It was a great opportunity to catch up as we last saw them in October and the excellent food and drinks combined for a memorable evening. We went our separate ways on Sunday morning and walked down to Doolin village before moving on to the small harbour for our boat trip to view the spectacular Cliffs Of Moher although due to a choppy sea I almost viewed my breakfast. The Cliffs were a spectacular sight despite the seas and after a safe return we moved on to a perfect wild spot high on the Burren looking down over the small village of Fanore. Crossing over the mountains we dropped down to Kinvarra and stopped briefly to look at Dunguaire Castle where thoughtless tourists thought nothing of stopping on a blind corner for that all important photo from the car.
Moving on to Galway we bought a replacement fuel can at Halfords before parking in the centre adjacent to the remarkable stone cathedral first dedicated in 1965 with a stunning interior combining ancient traditions with modern interpretations and superb stonework. We walked down the short and fast flowing Corrib river that drains Loch Corrib passing the old salmon catching infrastructure and weirs before watching two cranes carefully offloading huge turbine blades on to bespoke lorries with an adjustable chassis and rear wheel steering.
A water tap on the pier enabled us to fill up - good old Park4Night being a godsend to find these services and resting places - before deciding to sit out two days of unsettled weather slightly inland before a trip to Innishmore, the largest of the three Arrran Islands. Thus we turned north and stopped at a camper service point at Gortmore where we dealt with the loo and planned to return in a couple of days for a spell of EHU and a water top up. Then heading east we arrived at the small Derroura mountain bike trailhead. We both enjoyed the blue run including some sections of boardwalk before I tackled the longer red run whilst Mandy had a relax in the van and made lunch. The red route climbed high up for excellent views of Loch Corrib before descending via some swooping trails back to the car park where as always I appreciated the opportunity for a hot shower before eating. We moved on to Oughterard but decided against staying behind the cafe and spent a couple of hours cycling along the Glann road which eventually petered out at a couple of farms but continued as a footpath through to An Mam. We decided to return to the large quiet carpark at Derroura and were joined by two other vans who predictably and unnecessarily parked right alongside.
Anyway it was a quiet night for all with some rain but things dried up the following day as we took another mountain road through the Galway Wind Farm whose owners have created a number of walking trails that passed right by some of the turbines. Information boards provided some remarkable statistics including the fact that over an average year a turbine tip will travel the equivalent of 46 times round the world! Lunch on a track leading to several large areas of peat cutting was followed by a descent to the coast where we took minor roads to explore the three islands linked by causeways of Lettermore, Gorumna and Lettermullan where a small pier on the latter provided a superb place for a quiet night as the tide edged in. We called at the spectacular coral beach of Doilin Bay where instead of sand tiny coral fragments were piled up and also included a remarkable number and variety of coloured shells. Round at Rossaveel we parked on the quayside for 7 euro a night and bought our tickets. We walked up to the embarkation point and round to the working port as two helicopters came in from the islands to offload what looked like filming equipment. A short walk the other way brought us to a pub for a pint of Guinness before a peaceful night on the waterfront.
As hoped Friday dawned warm, sunny and calm so we unloaded the bikes, packed sandwiches and joined the line for the 10.30 crossing to Kilronan about 40 minutes away. Return adult fares were 30 euros and 15 for the bikes but having our own meant we were soon away ahead of those intent on hiring and headed west on the north coast road passing the odd horse drawn passenger cart.
The SatMap enabled us to take unused green lanes down to the coast with unbelievably beautiful bays and tiny stone walled, flower filled fields and then west as far as the road end at Ballydavock before we returned inland and stopped to visit the remarkable triple walled Iron Age Hill Fort of Dun Aonghasa perched on some dramatic cliffs. I had long wondered if it had originally been a circular fort that had succumbed to erosion but apparently it was always effectively a horseshoe shape. An hour on the back road had us back in time for the 5pm ferry after a thoroughly enjoyable day and we returned to the Service Point at Gortmore with the intention of filling up and having power for a couple of hours. Unfortunately despite inserting 4 euros in total neither fresh water nor power materialised so we ended up jury rigging the wc tap to fill the van. Unfortunately as we drove away I took the corner too tightly and we heard an ominous bang followed by a grating noise. The high kerb had caught the support bar for the grey water tank and ripped it from one of its hook bolts but fortunately as we had just emptied it the other bar held the tank in place and there was no tank or bodywork damage. I removed the bar completely and then hammered it straight, did the same with the hook bolt and then managed to get everything back in place, secured by a heavy duty zip tie as it wasn't all quite fully tight. We then moved on to a quiet park up further west and used up some supplies as we'd not passed a shop, grateful that the incident would be easily fixed with 2 new hook bolts in a day or two and that there had been limited damage.
The park up was sublime and provided yet more photographic opportunities but we were away for breakfast down a dead end track on the finest beach yet. We found a few cans, bottles and fast food remains so filled an old feed sack which a local guy who turned up on a quad to retrieve lost lobster pots was happy to take away for us - just like our bothy misuse back home it beggars belief that people will come to these amazing places and leave easily disposed of trash for others to deal with.
Round at Carna we parked up, unloaded the bikes and set off for a day of exploring the numerous lanes and tracks on the Ard peninsula to the west passing some superb new houses and older ones that had been transformed with modern additions and well kept gardens. We passed a few overnight options but then came across a small track down to a bay and beach where we had lunch and thought that would be the prime spot. Back at Carna we loaded up and returned to the lunch spot for a relaxing afternoon and evening with a memorable sunset.
At the Sunday Market in Roundstone we bought top quality fruit and veg plus local eggs and a lovely cyanographic print from various stalls before a fascinating encounter with Malachy Kearns, Ireland's premier bod-rhan maker for over 40 years. He was lovely to talk to and even offered us the opportunity to stay the night in his car park as elsewhere overnighting was prohibited. He was looking at options for the future as his marriage had ended and was even considering a van for some travel - a genuinely lovely and gentle guy. His gallery and workshop was full of all things Irish and musical with a lifetime of photos, letters of gratitude, bod-rhans in for repair, ones under construction and a small drinks and cakes counter but it had the air of an enterprise past its peak and I think we were lucky to encounter things as they are now.
Our location for the night was a pub/garage/shop/hardware store known as Keogh's that allowed overnighting in their large car park for 10 euros. We parked up and paid and then set off around the Bunowen Peninsula taking more back lanes and passing a large golf course before finishing up at the pier at Bunowen with a graceful curved bay, white beach and blue sea. The smokehouse was closed for the BH weekend but we decided we would return and stay the following night in the van. Keoghs was very busy with families but found us a table outside and served two excellent meals washed down with Guinness for me and a white wine for the little lady.
Today we cycled round the Errislannon peninsula, setting off in a light drizzle that soon cleared. We were hugely impressed by the small church with its white pews and then climbed to the Alcock and Brown Memorial that commemorates the first successful transatlantic flight in 1919 that took just under 17 hours with a maximum speed of 115 mph.
Back at Keoghs we loaded the bikes and secured the cover, filled up with water from a nearby hydrant and then drove down to Bunowen Bay to park up for the night. Out on the pier we had a long chat to the local fisherman and his mate who were concerned that proposed offshore wind turbines would destroy his livelihood and confirmed our suspicions that the the new and refurbished properties we had seen over the last few days were largely second homes for affluent Dubliners with the knock on effect of housing issues for locals and workers that we have seen in the Lake District, Peak District and elsewhere. He pointed out a property that had recently sold for 2.4 million euros, no wonder one property we had seen had had a Bentley and top of the range Merc on the white gravel drive.
A few hardened locals turned up to wild swim but didn't stay in long but I felt sufficiently inspired to don my wetsuit and do a bit of snorkelling in the crystal clear waters - gloves and a hood are now on the shopping list but I really enjoyed it and reflected on the bizarre variety of life given that the last time I had worn the goggles had been on the Iron Ore train in Mauritania 5 months ago.....
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