Day 3 - Thursday 7th June 2018 - Rush to Dublin to Kilmuckridge nr Wexford (miles 104) Camping 20 euro
Late start as we both needed a good lie in, the sun was shining and no wind, so yet another glorious day. Once packed we had a quick stroll on the beach and then made our way into Dublin to visit the Guinness Storehouse, set the phone google maps to find the place and soon we were outside, stopped to take some pics by a Guinness marked gate, kids gathered round like flies on dung, asking all sorts of questions, then round the corner to the main entrance, again stopping for a photo, this time tourist were asking the questions and I even let one guy sit in it, sounded like he was from the USA. Put the Bug in the free car park and then the car park attendant started taking pics and asking questions. One thing I have noticed with the Irish is that their first question is normally 'How much does it cost?' Had a great time doing all seven floors of the storehouse, with the top floor giving us the free complimentary pint. As I'm not keen on the black stuff I had an alcohol-free drink, made by Guinness.
Now near 4.30pm we had to get to the other side of the city through the rush hour traffic to head south. Plenty of comments from other drivers when we were stationary, as we had our side screens off. Traffic was no worse than Birmingham and within a couple of hours we were going south on the N11, the same road I came up on. After another couple of hours driving we headed for a campsite, which was soon found. Booked in and this time it was the turn of the receptionist to ask questions and sit in the bug. Once the tent was up Trevor and I went to a local hotel/bar for a meal, low and behold a tv was on and England were playing a friendly prior to the World Cup, which I had completely forgotten about. After the match back to camp, wrote this and then bed as it was now just past 11pm.
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Day 4 Friday 8th June 2018 - Kilmuckridge to Hook to Cohb to Blarney (miles 188) Camping 21 euro
Yet another sunny day, after packing away we went to the sandy beach which was right next to where we camped. 'Blast!' I got sand in shoes and with no socks on it acted like sandpaper on the back of my foot. Again, side screens off weather as we travelled, first past Wexford then Waterford, one stop for fuel and we headed for the southernmost point on the east side of Ireland a place called Hook, it had a very large lighthouse, which turned out to be a bit of a tourist attraction as it is the second oldest working lighthouse in the world as it dates to the 12th century, again plenty of interest in the Bug whilst there. After a quick walk round, we then headed for Cohb, to get there, we followed the coastline and even caught a small ferry at Ballyhack which saved us about 30 miles, I let a young girl sit in the bug as she kept asking her mom about it. At one point of the journey I noticed my indicators had stopped working so pulled into a very cute harbour off the beaten track to fix it. Again, plenty of interest in the Bug, one Irish guy had such a deep accent that I found it hard to understand him, so I just agreed and laughed hoping it wasn't something sad he was talking about. A few people in wet suits were swimming and over the other side of the harbour a couple had taken their horse for a swim in the sea. Felt sorry for the horse as they deliberately kept him swimming even though you could hear it was shattered. Anyway, it never drowned I'm glad to say. A loose wire or fuse was the fault not sure which. On we went to Cohb (aka Queenstown), in the port was this massive cruise liner, a full ten stories high and at least 3 football fields long. Got there as their passengers were returning from their day out, those that saw the Bug took photos. Cobh was the last port of call for Titanic before it hit the iceberg in the Atlantic. Now nearly 6.30pm it was time to find a campsite, one at Blarney was picked and within 40 minutes we were there. Once the tent was up Trevor and I went for a Chinese meal near the main square in Blarney, just yards away from the Blarney castle which we hope to visit tomorrow.
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 | Day 5 - Saturday 9th June 2018 - Blarney to Batimore to Glen Garriff to Gap of Dunlow to Tralee (miles 181) Camping 24 euro
Yet another warm day, but this time cloudy with the odd burst of sunshine. First stop the Blarney castle, 18 euro in for Trev, 14 for me (now a senior, yes, I know hard to believe). We parked outside the police station and had two hours before we needed to move the Bug. The Castle is very impressive and the Blarney stone for which most people come to see and kiss is located at the very top of it. There were loads of tourists especially from the states and Canada. We joined a queue to go up the castle, after 15 minutes we had hardly moved, I chickened out when I heard someone say the queue went to the very top and most of which is via a very narrow circular staircase. I left Trev to it and I walked the grounds, at the top end of this massive mansion lay the Blarney House a very spooky type of building, tours of the house were an extra 8 euro, so I gave that a miss too. Went to the cafe for a drink and soon Trevor was walking towards me. I said, 'enjoy the view up top', he replied 'No after 30 minutes I got to the door of the castle and a sign said it would take another 90 minutes to get to the top', so he decided to give it a miss too. It’s a lovely place to visit, but if you do go avoid the weekend and get there very early to see or kiss the Barney Stone and give yourself a full day there. Back to the Bug we went and headed for the southernmost point of Ireland at Baltimore, took us 90 minutes to get there, a very nice harbour and small village, took our snaps and continued towards our next stop at Glen Garriff. One stop for fuel on the way and yet further interest in the Bug when we got there. A quick meal and onto our next destination, the Gap of Dunlow. First few spots of rain on the trip fell, as we got close to the mountains, so side screens went on and a good job too, as we rose up the mountain the rain got heavier and heavier, almost to the point where my wiper was not quick enough. We missed our turning due to the poor visibility and did about 10 kilometres before we realised. Back we went still tipping it down and found the narrow road. Sorry Ron this road was as good as, if not better than your Cumbrian one, single track with the odd passing spots, u turns a plenty and blind humps a plenty too, the rain eased off as we reached the Gap, making it far more enjoyable, excellent scenery too. It was starting to get late by the time we had done the Gap of Dunlow, so we headed for Tralee to set camp for the night, 'nice quite spot please, no kids' I asked, 'best place is here' as she pointed to the grounds map. Sure!! it turned out to be right next to a scout group. Can't complain they were well behaved. |
By Rory Lynas
25-06-2018 |
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