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 A tour of the lighthouse itself was very enjoyable - the old lighting system has been replaced by automated LEDs that looked far too modest to do the job - a red shaded section of the glass casts a coloured beam over a reef further in to the Lough to warn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.
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.
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