The Final Few Days ....

A stunning sunset at Lough Cullin led to a good night's sleep and I was away the following morning to climb through the eastern end of the Nephin Beg mountains over the Windy Gap road stopping briefly to explore some old mines before dropping down to Castlebar. Following the shore of Lough Mask through Joyce Country and then just touching Lough Corrib after Cong which was a pretty but busy village I then headed south to Galway Bay and pulled in at Spiddal for the night. Families were enjoying the beach as it was low tide and I found a good spot with a view out west to enjoy the evening.

 

I skirted Galway City itself and headed north to visit the serene ruins of Ross Abbey before moving on to Athenry, a walled town with an interesting museum and solid castle. In the main keep were examples of wood and stone work from the apprentices who are learning with the Office of Public Works - very impressive and boding well for the future of conservation work.

I returned for a quiet night along the Shannon at Meelick Weir and then moved on to the Slieve Bloom mountains as I had enjoyed the mountain biking there so much. I repeated the long ride over to Kinnity and back with a cake and coffee stop at the hotel once more.

A family stayed the night with the parents kipping in the back and the kids in a roof tent with a bat awning for outdoor cooking but although it was an impressive set up I think the midges made it rather uncomfortable for them all.

 

With just over a week left I moved on to the more easterly reaches of the Grand Canal and settled in at Robertstown where vans are welcome and there was easy access to water and bins. A motley collection of boats in various states of decay were moored up, a few were in good order and others were under renovation and seemed to be occupied. Just along the Barrow branch there were more occupied boats and judging by the bits and bobs on the tow path many were there long term. This canal's towpath had a good surface for the most part and I passed through Rathangan to Monasterevin where a trendy bistro provided a decent bite to eat. 

 

 

Back at Robertstown a couple of other vans had pulled in but there was plenty of room for all and I talked with a few of the guys fishing the clear water. Next day I rode west as far as Edenderry that I had reached a few weeks back and then on the Tuesday rode in to Dublin on the Grand Canal, crossed the huge Phoenix Park with its 450 strong herd of fallow deer and then picked up the Royal Canal back as far as Enfield before cutting south back to Robertstown. The 67 miles was very enjoyable although apart from a Greenway in to Dublin from near the M50 much of the towpath was bumpy grass and surprisingly hard work.

A laundry and shopping stop on the way to the Wicklow mountains saw me set up for the final week and I pulled up at the mountain biking trail head at Ballinastoe having crossed the surprisingly wild Wicklows via the Sally Gap and Loch Tay. There was nowhere level enough to stay overnight so I parked a few miles further on at the start of a walk up the Sugar Loaf hill but drizzle and low cloud put me off walking up there. Back at the trailhead next day I set off in drizzle on a twenty mile circuit that felt like a day in Mid Wales and provided yet more well thought out trails which I had to myself.

Johnnie Foxes' pub a few miles north allows vans to overnight and although I enjoyed a quick Guinness they were fully booked for an evening meal as the quirky pub, the highest in Ireland, is popular with coach parties down from Dublin.

 

I fancied taking the train from the seaside resort of Bray south to Arklow so parked alongside the funfair and enjoyed the run along the coast followed by a very good lunch in the town. The return train was quite full so I stood in the doorway for the hour or so return looking out over the Irish sea which I would soon be crossing.

I returned to Robertstown for one more night and walked in to the village where the old hotel dominates the locks and village centre. A coffee bar provided refreshments as a huge barge moored up - it is popular for wedding receptions and the like - and chugs a few miles each way along the canal - the only boat I have actually seen moving. That night my gas ran out so I used my back up camping stove to good effect as I would be taking the bikes off the following day to deal with the loo as well.

The Meath Eco Park west of Dublin was my final base and provided a peaceful night before my trip in to the city centre. I was on hook up to boost the leisure battery which has been doing sterling service, the last EHU being over six weeks ago and dealt with the loo which has easily lasted 3 weeks going solo. A final CG 907 went in as well - as Calor have now reintroduced their 3.9kg  (and there are plenty in Sheffield available)  I will exchange the other 3 in France at the start of my next trip. I spent a few hours using a newly purchased steam cleaner and will get in to all the nooks and crannies of the van, fridge and engine bay once back in Sheffield as after 8 months away everything could do with a good freshen up - it was surprisingly powerful and effective - and addictive......

With closely monitored access and being adults only it was a good place to leave the van and a regular bus in to town ran from the main road a ten minute walk away. £4 each way seemed a bargain for the 50 minute run in to the centre and after walking along the Liffey to see where the Grand Canal meets the docks I decided to hop on the city tour bus - again £20 seemed a good way to see all the main sights from the open top upper floor whilst avoiding the people and traffic at street level. I enjoyed the bird's eye view and actually went round twice before jumping off at Halfpenny Bridge. Lunch in a Turkish cafe was a hot and spicy bargain shared with numerous cultures from around the world - the booming Dublin mostly, but also wider Irish economy, has attracted people from around the world to well paid jobs in IT, pharmaceuticals and the like. However as anywhere some people are left behind and there were a number of beggars and homeless on the street with a larger group of asylum seekers camping out on the canal banks and even in Phoenix Park which is upsetting the locals. 

 

 

 

So after getting the bus back I spent a final rainy evening planning the next couple of months in the UK and have today dropped back in to Dublin before the overnight ferry to Holyhead.

This trip has been a huge success and Ireland's friendly people, varied scenery and welcoming approach to van life have all contributed to this. There is a plan to return for a few weeks in October when the popular Ulster coast will be quieter and we may drop in on the Isle of Man on the way over.

 So for now the extra pics  sit here as ever.

In and Out Of The Irelands

The Singing Inn produced an excellent meal for both of us and we had a quiet night in the carpark on a fresh evening - the following morning as hinted at in reviews there was no one around to return our key to for the 20 euro deposit so we took a loop round Melmore Head and returned to find a chef who could help - it's a daft system as you don't actually need the fob to leave anyway.

Before long we were pulling up at Fanad Head with its lighthouse and old coastguard buildings standing on rugged cliffs with stupendous views. A virtual reality experience was very well done (so much so we did it again) and told the story of the wrecked HMS Saldanha which pre-empted the construction of the lighthouse overlooking the entrance to Lough Swilly. A tour of the lighthouse itself was very enjoyable - the old lighting system has been replaced by automated LEDs that looked far too modest to do the job - a red shaded section of the glass casts a coloured beam over a reef further in to the Lough to warn ships of the danger. The derelict coatguard station was identical to that on Innishmore - a huge concrete structure now falling in to extinction.

 

 

 

 

Further down the coast we stopped to walk down to a magnificent sea arch before pulling up above the Old Pier Stores pub at Portsalon where we enjoyed a drink before walking out past the golf club and on to the strand where a few hardy youngsters were in and quickly out of the water. Some porpoise surfaced a few hundred yards offshore and we returned to the van at sunset and clicked the Eber on for a while.

Down at Rathmullan we had considered catching the 11am ferry but as we were an hour early and it would have cost almost £40 we decided to run down to Letterkenny and back up the east side of Lough Swilly to Buncrana where we intended staying the night. In fact the official aire was by a noisy road, rather full and hemmed in by construction work so we moved on to the far side of town and found a much better spot by the RNLI station. There was plenty of time on a sunny and breezy afternoon to ride up to Dunree Head, the location of a large modern day fort, which we decided merited a longer visit next day so we just stopped for coffee and a cake before taking a back lane towards the inland mountains. We passed a number of posters protesting at a local scandal whereby substandard concrete blocks containing too much mica were failing and causing structural issues in a number of properties - a relatively localised issue I guess but yet another in the long list of substandard construction problems such as RAAC, cladding and dodgy cavity wall installation. So glad to no longer own property.... A tough climb over the Mamore Gap dropped us in to a network of quiet lanes that led out to yet more stunning beaches and a few static caravan sites as this is a popular holiday destination for the people of Northern Ireland. Another steady climb followed by some swooping descents returned us to Buncrana in time to walk in to town along the coast path, past the two castles and over a lovely multi arch bridge to enjoy a memorable Indian meal at the Sherpa Restaurant. 

Our final day together was spent exploring the Dunree Fort more thoroughly before heading out to Mallin Head, a point I had long seen as the final destination for this trip. A side detour to Carrickabraghy Castle was well worth it as in the rocks beyond the ruins a large blowhole roared and whistled and we stopped for a quick lunch looking out over yet another magnificent bay and coastline. Up at a rather blustery Mallin Head we listened to the England match at the Euros and decided we would return here on an Autumn trip to do it justice and see the attractions of the Antrim coast out of season. 

 

Thus we returned to Buncrana but parked just along from the old bridge on a quiet and level space overlooking the river. We walked along the coast and were intrigued by the old Fruit of the Loom factory that has stood empty for 18 years but once provided 3000 jobs for the area, a huge blow at the time. A final meal together of Irish steak and another great trip came to a close leaving only the mundane tasks of van servicing and a visit to the launderette before I dropped Mandy off at Derry Airport - another small and very manageable place. I tucked away nearby until her flight had left and then found a quiet spot up in the Sperrin mountains on a sunny evening. She arrived home safely despite bus replacement services and I began to adjust to soloing once more by diving in to books and maps to plan my last 3 weeks here.

Thus next day I arrived at the Forestry Commission run Gortin Glen Forest Park which had a few good trails to keep me amused and provided a quiet place to stay the night with fresh water available - the gate is locked at 9.30 so there were no disturbances and just one other van for company. Being in Nothern Ireland now we had reverted to mph and sterling and there were bins for rubbish - Eire rarely provides these as people are expected to recycle at home, something of a problem for itinerants like me.

 

The Ulster American Folk Park was another very worthwhile visitor attraction and as I'd arrived just as it opened I had the place largely to myself and enjoyed the various buildings, some original, some relocated and a few purpose built that portrayed the life and hardships faced by the rural populations of Ireland even before the potato blight caused years of famine. The displays then moved on to a reconstruction of life on the sailing ships that carried up to 2 million people across to the New World of North America or even down to the southern hemisphere. The final area of the display spread out over many acres was a reconstruction of the ways things would have been once the new arrivals had settled in and started developing first the east coast and then having crossed the Appalachians through the Cumberland Gap moving on towards the west coast.. It was all very impressive and well worth a visit should you ever be that way and I left after 6 hours to move on to Castle Archdale on Lower Lough Erne where a quiet car park did for me and a young German couple in a very basic van conversion. 

 

 

After a very windy night I walked down to the pier but the choppy conditions meant that renting a boat to visit White Island was not possible. I called in at the campground to see if they had Campingaz which they didn't but I did learn that Calor has now reversed last year's decision and reinstated the 3.9kg cylinders but not as yet in NI. Apparently uproar in the boating community changed their minds so I hope to be able to get my 2 empties, currently stored in Sheffield, back in use again as unusually I plan to be in the UK for almost 5 months after my return.

I drove down to Enniskillen along the shore of Lower Lough Erne and found another hideaway just a couple of miles from the town. A large Belgian van squeezed in and later a UK van rather selfishly parked right across our views over the waters but otherwise it was yet another fabulous place to spend a night and left me plenty of time to visit Enniskillen Castle and its military museums before joining Bryan on the Erne Water Taxi which took us round the island town beneath the castle walls and then out to Devenish Island a couple of miles away. Bryan's knowledge, enthusiasm and humour was infectious and made for a fascinating two hour experience. 

 

The ruins on the island which once housed a thousand people are very much unspoilt and with few other visitors around it was possible to soak up the atmosphere of peace and a sense of history. The joint castle and island ticket also included tea and cake in the cafe to which I added a very decent salad before heading out to the Marble Arch Show Cave where I had booked on a late afternoon tour. I was bumped on to a slightly earlier one and as the water levels in the cave were low enough we were able to take the small electric boat along a section of the underground river before walking a kilometre or so through an impressive array of limestone formations, large chambers and then an unusual section where we walked in a trough through the river bed with our heads at river level. 

 

A large number of steps brought us out to the surface just as the rain began so I was soon off to my overnight park up near Belturbet amongst the complicated maze of waterways, inlets and islands that form Upper Lough Erne.

 

On the Saturday morning I decided to back track to the area of the cave and parked for a tenner courtesy of the local farmer in the field for the start of the Cuilcagh Stairway to Heaven Boardwalk. I donned full waterproofs as there were dark clouds above and there had been two heavy downpours but in fact the day stayed dry as I walked the couple of miles of gravel track to the start of the boardwalk which snaked across the bog before climbing via some steep steps to a look out near the summit of Cuilcagh. Plenty of families were also on the route but small children and unsuitable footwear saw a majority turning back early and whilst the boardwalk was unusual I'm not sure it lived up to expectations and the walk back seemed to take forever. I stayed on the field for the night in glorious solitude with panoramic views.

I moved on to stay in Ballinamore on the Shannon Erne waterway that has extended the navigable amount of river/canal considerably and enjoyed the peaceful setting alongside a lock and weir with the odd river cruiser passing by and an old couple in a huge rusting steel barge mooring up. Loos and showers were available to those in possession of an Irish Waterways Card but the fresh water taps were available to all and sundry. I walked in to the village for a few supplies and noticed that the Poor Scholar pub had a musician in later so returned after tea for a couple of pints and an enjoyable session. It was one of those places that felt good to stay at so yesterday I took the bikes off and just followed my nose over 48 miles of quiet lanes and small hamlets with just the town of Carrick on Shannon being of any size. In one small village I stopped for a smoothie and as I set off noted 3 children manning a small stall of their unwanted toys - presumably hoping to raise some school holiday spending money. It was quite the most touching of encounters as they couldn't agree the price of anything, accepted my offer of 3 euros for a small key ring and then tried to give me a free offer on something else. I gave them some basic business advice and wished them well before covering the last few miles back to the van where I spent a quiet evening. I had noticed that morning that an elderly couple had slept bolt upright sat in their car overnight and was somewhat amazed that they returned mid evening and did the same again - no blankets, window coverings or any sign of comfort...bizarre. 

 

Anyway I departed after filling up with water and have headed west passing through Ballina once more as I want to see the loughs of Galway that we missed by heading up the coast road a few weeks ago. I have a final fortnight here and will return to the excellent mountain bike trails of the Slieve Bloom mountains and then do some more trails south of Dublin before a ferry to Holyhead. Carrick on Shannon earlier had a shop selling the CG 907s at 55 euros and a decent Tesco so I am good to go for this last stage of what has been a superb visit to two most endearing countries. A quiet park up on the sandy shore of Lough Cullin is yet another example of the hundreds of lovely free park ups available and bizarrely being surrounded by young trees and granite boulders along the water's edge feels like the barragem at Povoa e Meadas near Marvao in Portugal.

Further pics sit here.