Charlie and Darren
Met Darren at 05:45 at Reigate Hill and set of for Wales. After a couple of stops for fuel and food, we got to Fishguard an hour early, we were soon on the boat with the bikes strapped down, so off to the lounge for meatballs and chips.
The crossing was smooth, and 4 and three-quarter hours later, we were in Rosslare. We went straight through immigration and customs, and headed to Tipperary to find a campsite. We found one that was really nice called Glen of Aherlow a few miles South of Tipperary.
After setting the tents up, we went to the local pub called "The Coach Road" for a nice meal and a few pints. We slept well, after covering 436 miles. Next morning we headed to Limerick and went to the "Green Yard "cafe which did a very nice "Full Irish" then off to Kilrush
which was a nice little town where I got some cakes and watched an old dog wandering up the road like he owned the place.
Next, we went to have a look at "The Donald's"Trump International golf course at Doonbeg
Then we went South to Loop Head lighthouse
Later, we went back to Doolin and camped at O'Connors camping and caravaning site
Next morning (Tuesday), we went to a hotel for breakfast where I had a tomato, 7 sausages and 5 rashers of bacon, next we went to have a look at Doolin pier, and we could see the Cliffs of Moher
We then headed for the top of the Cliffs past a nice castle,but when we got to the Cliffs
they wanted 8 Euro's per person to walk up a path. No thanks!.
Next on the agenda, was Doolin cave, where we saw the 3rd larget stalactite in the world
Next, after riding up the coast, we came to a Lidl, where I got some Frikadellen , then rode "The Burren" coast road
then followed the coast past Galway and ended up at Gurteen Bay campsite next to mountains and the sea.
Next morning, we headed for a cafe, but most of them were coffee shops, but we found one eventually, for our Full Irish, then we went round the coast of County Mayo, and ended up at Lavelles Campsite on Achill Island, which had a nice pub 100 yards away, where we heard 4 more kids had been rescued from a flooded Thai cave.
Next morning, we worked our way up the West coast through Cashel, Srahanarry, Fallmore, Ballycastle and Letterkenny
then went looking for a campsite. The first one we tried was no good, but the next one was ok, really friendly , clean and cheap. Next morning we went to have a look at Malin Head about 17 miles away, and is supposedly the start and finish of "The Wild Atlantic Way", we went around Malin Head and had a look at the old signal tower
After a good look round, we discovered that this is not the end of the W.A.W, as the route carried on going round every inlet, so we followed it for a few miles then gave up, so we set the satnav's to Rosslare, then about a half hour after a cafe stop for our last Full Irish, we found we were still following the W.A.W North, even though we were actually heading South, then a few hundred yards later we found a sign saying "End of Wild Atlantic Way", then almost immediately the road signs turned into M.P.H instead of K.P.H, the streets had names on them, and I thought "Bollocks - we're in Northern Ireland. We were in Derry / Londonderry depending on which particular branch of religious kiddie-fiddler you listen to, so we headed South to get back to civilisation in Southern Ireland.
It took a couple of hours to get to the border (it had all been kicking off again in Northern Ireland at the weekend) and crossed at Aughnacloy, it was nice to see the speed limits in KPH again, and we decided to take a chance on an earlier boat, but it meant getting a move on. About 192 miles later, we were in Rosslare, and with no problem changing our ferrry time we were on the boat 45 minutes later.
I had the usual meatballs, then we went to watch "Jumanji" which was quite amusing although there was a mad old geezer in the lounge who insisted on playing his harmonica badly and singing loudly and tunelessly, but it takes all sorts.
The ride from Fishguard to Crawley takes over 5 hours, so i got home at 03:30, and my youngest (Holly) was waiting for me (hiding under a car).
Excellent trip!
