Lovely Ireland

Since our last update we have been mainly dry!  This has meant we could clean out Mildred a bit, even vacuum her at one camp.  We even fixed our horn, that stopped working a few days earlier.

Since our last update we have been in Belcoo in Northern Ireland, right on the border a lovely camp where we were the only guests.

Then onwards to Galway Bay to a wee quaint village called Salthill, we were about 4 km from town and as it was dry but windy we decided to walk in for a night on the town.  Along the way there were swimmers in the sea whilst at the same time most people that passed us were rugged up in jackets, hats, scarf and gloves.

We had a great night, although the walk home was longer than the way there, and we visited the famous O’Connor’s Pub.

Today we headed (after a major sleep in) to Killarney.  This town is very pretty, it’s been named the tidiest town in Ireland.  It is Arthur’s Day today, so a big day in Ireland with most pubs offering very cheap pints of Guinness.  We may go back later…

Tomorrow we are driving the Ring of Kerry before heading to Cork for the evening and to see Blarney Castle. 

I’ve just booked our ferry back to Wales on 1 October, so our irish time is running out!

The Irish just love Mildred, we get toots, waves, etc strangers stop us in the street – what can I say – they have great taste.

PS Today we went through Limerick, so I'd thought I'd try my hand at a Limerick (best i not quit my day job )

We are on the road with our Mildred

she is our very much loved kindred

even though she goes slow

we’d rather not blow

a value and have the smell of putrid

Our Irish Luck

We all managed to arrive in Dublin unscathed and drove through the middle of Dublin to reach our camp.

Next day the Hop On Hop Off bus came to camp to pick anyone up to go into the centre of Dublin to their 1^st stop, by the spire.  We took advantage of that and then chose to browse the shops.

After a Guinness at a corner pub we made our way to the Guinness factory for a pre-paid tour, to avoid all the queues (and save a few €), there were no queues on the way in.  We took the tour, very interesting, then the best part got to sample a couple in the Gravity Bar.  Daryl loved this.

We then walked back to Temple Bar area and found a nice restaurant for traditional Irish grub.

After a great lunch, where our drinks where shouted by a wee American girl, whom had left her table without her expensive camera.  

Daryl saved the day for her and she was most grateful.  We browsed another couple of stores then caught the bus back to camp chatting to some very lovely Aussies (?) on the way home.

Next morning we packed up and had numerous visitors during this process, the weather at this stage was kind to us and everyone in Ireland seemed to be mighty impressed with our journey and of course Mildred.

As we departed towards the north we had to drive any through Dublin and they were all travelling to see the county football game that day, they all wore their supporting colours and drove like maniacs.

We were headed for Kilkeel, but the camps were deserted, so we followed the coastline and managed to find a camp in Newcastle in a Tollymore Forest Park.  Facilities were very basic, the weather had turned sour and our neighbour (an Irishman) was getting plastered watching the footie, later he was seen trying to get his outdoor fire (not allowed in camp) burning faster by blowing in it, we now understand why he’s face was so burnt when he chatted to us.

It was so cold we left our dishes (no washing up facilities here) and the next morning we had a family of fat slugs residing in our dirty dishes (yuck).  They certainly enjoyed the leftover tomato soup and their slime trials were everywhere!

We again headed north, this time to Bushmills, where again due to the cold (I got my thermals out this morning for the first time) we had a pub lunch, Irish Guinness Steak pie with Champs.  We were entertained (?) by the village idiot who’s parting words (and I only understood very 3^rd word he said was) ‘Musc-go, it’s Russian you know, but alias I must go!)

 Then we took the Bushmills Whisky distillery tour.  I think that there whiskey is a lot stronger than the Scot’s as it tasted it, or maybe it was the lack of smokiness.

We went to camp, they were expecting us (I wasn’t making the same mistake twice regarding accommodation) and set up for the night.  It was cold, wet and miserable.  Too wet to want to go to the loo.  I had planned on a stir-fry the night prior but due to the weather we settled on soup, so tonight we cooked in the extreme cold and the result – a curry stir-fry with heaps of chilli, was fantastic.

The camp was almost deserted the office hadn’t been open since we got there, just a note on the door telling us our site number.  The family bathroom had a bath, something Daryl’s missed this trip so we settled in there, but alias whilst nice the water wasn’t hot enough to sustain a real bath.

Today we moved to the Northern Ireland border, Belcoo.  We are the only guests in the camp (a bit of dejavu from the start of our trip).  England especially northern England is currently in a state of emergency due to floods.  We have certainly had our share, driving through flooded roads, rain 24/7 we got wet in bed last night, the canvas could hold out anymore, so we dried our sheets this afternoon and hope that is the end of the rain!

Currently in a camp in Belcoo, we are the only guests, so I have 2 toilets and 3 showers to myself and Daryl the same.

Tomorrow we head to Galway where the camp we are staying in closes tomorrow, but they will accommodate us the one night.

We are now looking for a Leprechaun so wish for improved weather.

 

So long Scotland. Beautiful lake district and Northern Wales with the Kings

Visited Grandad’s birthplace near Buchlyvie, Scotland. (The GPS coordinates are N 56°08.170’ and W  4°16.692’. )  No one was home during our visit, so after a photo to prove that we were there we continued on.

We stopped at the village and brought some haggis from the butcher, then headed to Ayr for another windy cold night – our last in Scotland.  We cooked the haggis up and ate it, but I think the Scots are welcome to it as it wasn’t at all appealing to us.

Next up was the Lakes District in England, where we stopped at Bowness in Windermere for two days.  This was wonderful, although the weather was mixed.  We browsed the village, talked to the swans, got our feet nibbled by 70 fish a piece – the fish was an interesting experience and very nice.

Blackpool was next on the agenda, and we found the town very dated and full of fun parlours, rock shops and fish & chip shops but really our cup of tea.

19^th September seen us travel to Betws-y-coed in Wales to meet up with Agnes and John (Daryl’s in-laws).  We lunched together at our camp catching up on each other’s travels, then took a drive in their Audi before heading out for dinner at a local pub.

The following day after skyping some family members we took another drive, this time to Anglesey Island where we checked out the Bluff Oysters being grown there before heading around the island, stopping for a pint then a picnic lunch on the beach front of Holyhead.

Back to camp to view all their pressies for the family, then again dinner out at the same pub.  John enjoyed his lamb rack the night before (there was only one so I forfeited mine) so wanted the same again.  This time I had the lamb and it was indeed beautiful.  Daryl stuck to the same meal as the night before being Steak Pie and Chips.

We walked back to their luxurious accommodation in another pub (which was put into statutory management the next morning) and shared the bottle of Baileys that they had earlier given us, while John tried to get his camera to work on delayed time.   This did take quite a while, then he was not too impressed to find half of their trip photos have the wrong date plastered across the image being 2010 instead of 2012.

This morning we loaded up and departed camp more laden down than before, with our gifts and a few books to take home.

Thanks Agnes & John for the great time with you, safe travels for the rest of your trip. xxx

Now we are on the catamaran on the way to Dublin, it’s a bit of a rough crossing and Mildie is right by the wall, so we hope she’s holding up okay.

Look out Ireland, here we come.

Showery Scotland/Nessie meets Mildred (?)

We loved our trip up the East Coast of England, stopping at Scarborough to see the quaint seaside town, then Whitby.   At Whitby we visited the Whitby Abbey then into town for fresh fish and chips, before heading onto Scotland, thru the clouds.

Once in Scotland we stopped at the first camp we came across, which was a mistake as it’s been the most expensive camp in Scotland so far and the yuckiest.

The next day after showers in the night, we visited Jedbrough, then onto Edinburgh to see the castle.  Our last stop that day was Braemar, where we set up camp and had a night indoors as it was cold and wet.

From there we headed to Loch Ness to see if Nessie would come visit Mildred at Fort Augusta, it was a windy day and we crossed the highlands, having ski field lifts right by the road, up to 1310m high.   

It was too windy for Nessie to visit Mildie so we visited the local pub and had the perquisite 12 yo Scotch whiskey chaser with our drinks before heading back to camp for soup.

(Searching for Nessie in the blistering cold)

We did get to see a yacht go through the 5 locks in a row to get into Loch Ness.

Next day we slept in as it was wet and cold agian, is this the Scottish summer?  We visited Fort William, before heading for Glencoe.

After lunch at a Glencoe café we headed for Oban.

Most of the roads we have been on today are two way, but single lane, with the occasional passing bay, this has been the same for most of our Scottish touring.

Not liking the wind at the Oban Campsite, which was on the cliffs we decided to continue on to Killin, however 30km out we got to a tiny village called Tyndrum where there was a lovely camp so that suited us fine.

Tomorrow we are onto Stirling, then to visit my Grandad’s birth place before heading back to England.

(Mildred awaiting a phone call)