Week 50 - 22nd to 28th September

Monday 22nd - day 331

The weather is still with us fortunately, and we are back on the bumpy roads of Donegal to take a tour south of Dungloe.
We stopped first at Ardara, home of the famous Donegal Tweed weaving centre, to have a look. We were shown round by a very enthusiastic saleswoman, who I think was very keen for us to buy something, she was unsuccessful in her efforts though, but we did learn that there had been 35 weavers and looms in its hay day, but we were watching one of the remaining two weavers in action. Both were in their 60s, and with no apprentices coming through, I suspect we were witnessing a dying craft!
We drove on next through a wild wilderness of panoramic views, towering waterfalls and unmade roads to Malin Beg - one of very many beautiful but hard to reach bays, but we did manage a walk through fields to the end of a small peninsular, to take in the spectacular sea views, and the scatter of little villages along the coast line. The light was glorious, and the wind soft, and it was just lovely to be out there. The cherry on the cake came as we watched, on the beach far below us, a lone sheep dog, running and playing with the waves, and his antics definitely added to the delight of the moment.
From there we drove by the Slieve League Mountains, past a very pretty little village called Teelin, where we returned to after walk along the road to Bunglas Cliffs, to watch a potentially magnificent sunset. Unfortunately there was a cloud hovering just above the horizon, which hid the final blaze!
The little pub in Teelin, looked very inviting, so we went in for a couple of pints, in the hope of hearing some live music, but the guitar case was closed for the evening. It was well past supper time by now, so we stopped in Killibeg for some rather good fish and chips, and were home by 11pm!

Tuesday 23rd - day 332

What a fabulous day, it has been like a mid summers day, warm sun, and blue skies. Sadly it is our also last day in Donegal, We need a rest from bumpy roads, and we decided on a days local walking, so drove the short distance to Maghery, a lovely little village right on the edge of the peninsular, for the start of our circular walk up into wild moorland that took us past Loch Agnish. After an hour or so we arrived at the far side of the peninsular and following the map, planned to walk the coastal road back.
What we didn’t realise that Irish maps like Irish roads are a little misleading and we ended up walking along the wrong road! We discovered during a conversation with a local that there is a main coastal road, and another which takes a wider loop, right by the water for a further 3km! Yep, that’s the one we were on! Fortunately the day and the views remained fabulous so there was nothing for it but to enjoy the extra Km.
By the time we returned to the car at 6.30pm we had walked about 17km (sounds more impressive than 10miles!)
We had really enjoyed our lovely days walking, (and it felt like too long since our last) but by the time we sat down for supper we were ready for our bangers and mash

Wednesday 24th - day 333

Very sadly we are leaving lovely, dreamy and gentle Donegal, we have had such a lovely stay here, and walked in some beautiful places, that it is hard to leave. But that is what we must do, so all hatches battened down and hitched up, we are back on the bumpy road heading south for Sligo.
After a break of a makeshift sandwich eaten on the hard shoulder of the N15 we arrived at the most expensive site we have stayed on yet at just short of 25 Euro per night, plus 1.50 euro for a shower, we are glad we are only here for five nights!!
We are staying at Strandhill, just outside Sligo and we quickly discovered that it is Ireland’s equivalent of Newquay, as we are parked up right by a long wide surfers paradise of a beach!
After an early supper (joy!) we hit the beach, turned left and walked a mile or so until it was too dark to go any further, and on another evening we will be able to turn right and do a similar distance again!

Thursday 25th - day 334

We visited Sligo today, but went via Benbulben craft workshops, which we had passed on the way down. Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment, except for the stained glass artist, (who we may commission a piece from).
Sligo though was a joy, a mix of colourful and characterful old buildings, and state of the art new ones.
It does have to be said that the shops not very stimulating, but the cathedral and Friary both made up for them. We indulged in a long leisurely lunch at Osta’s and I had a very lovely roast veg and cream cheese hot wrap!
Then the day deteriorated completely…. We found Tesco’s.
Strangely we were anticipating an economy shop (you know “every little helps!) but WHAT A SHOCK. As well as it being squalid and muddly – especially the layout, the prices were horrendous. We kept picking things up, and putting them back! 100 Earl Grey teabags – 6 euro, a plastic loaf 2.50 euro, 250ml Olive oil 5 euro, Nivea face cream 10 euro. I don’t who was holding who up, when the bill for 188euro was given for the purchase of a few groceries!! Ouch, recovery took quite a while for both of us!

Friday 26th - day 335

The weather is still glorious, and today we spent a very happy day in Enniskillin, another lovely old town, with a castle, two cathedrals (!), a museum and a Buttermarket, the last of which had been turned into craft workshops and a café.
In one of the shops we met a very interesting man, who was keen to tell us about his wife’s Raku exhibition which was being held in the museum, and during (another) extended conversation we discovered that it was also the first day of their Enniskillin Arts Festival. We must have looked the type, because he whipped out his programme, and told us that Eliza Carthy was performing up at the local school; and if we were going to stay to see her, we really ought to catch the pre-theatre menu at Café Merlot! And after the show there would be traditional Irish music playing in a pub called William Blake next door until 1am!
Well he looked like a trusty sort of fellow in his home knit and long hair, so we took him at his word. We first took in the Raku exhibition, which was lovely, but the museum was also an unexpected pleasure.
The supper at Café Merlot was fantastic, two gorgeous courses for 14.95 euro each (cheaper than the cost of one course after 7.30pm!!)
Feeling very full and satisfied we made our way up to Portora School, academic home to Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde (wow!) and settled down to a fab evening led by Eliza Carthy.
We were beginning to flag, but were willing to make a quick visit to Blakes before making our sixty minute journey home.
But as we left the school and came out into the evening air, we could hear the strains of drums and whistles, so with haste, made our way back into town.
Amongst all the interesting things the man had told us about, he forgot to mention that it was the last day of the Marching season, and 40 Protestant bands had paraded through town, bashing at their drums and blowing into whistles. Unfortunately we were only in place to see the last two, but it was enough to get a flavour of their ardent enthusiasm!
There was standing room only for the music at Blake’s and it was hard to hear, so after half an hour we decided to make tracks and we were home by 12.45am.

Saturday 27th - day 336

We are hanging on to the good weather, change is forecast, but mostly it was lovely again today. The aim was to explore Upper Lough Erne (which surprisingly is further south than lower Lough Erne!!). However we spent most of the day at Carrick on Shannon, the Norfolk Broads of Eire.
After a walk round the town, the biggest draw was an award winning craft gallery where we purchased our first piece of Raku, created by Peter Fulop. This all took rather longer than anticipated, though we did enjoy where we successfully put the financial world to right, but it did mean that we were too late to really make the much of the rest of the day.
We found a lovely spot by Lough Scur for our pot of tea, then made the journey up to Upper Lough Erne (which took longer than excepted of course) and after getting lost in Crow Estate (owned by the National Truss, HURRAY!)) it was too late to try the windy back roads to search out a glimpse of the many islands, so we saw nothing really to excite us, and unfortunately this meant that we were home late.

Sunday 28th - day 337

Boy, did it rain last night, but fortunately the sun was out and the sky was blue as we set out for the day. Our first stop was to the Glencar waterfall. It was a lovely walk, but the only a short distance, so we were soon back on the road to Florencecourt - also owned by the National Truss. We took the scenic route via Marlbank, a place of great geological interest, with caves and rocky precipices, to get to the House.
Once there, we established our priorities and went for a cuppa first, before joining a very interesting tour round the house. We were also treated(?) to a talk on how to clean old furniture, apparently paraffin and vinegar buffs up wooden floors nicely.
After all that stimulation we needed a lovely long walk around the grounds, to enjoy the early autumn reds and golds, but not before….we had returned for some more lovely tiffin from the tea shop!

Week 49 - 15th to 21st September

Monday 15th - day 324

Oh the rain, the rain – will it ever stop! We didn’t get out until mid afternoon again, as it was just too miserable. It wasn’t improving much by then but we were getting fed up of watching the water levels rise around us!
So we decided to go on a tour of the Antrim’s coasts and glens (there are nine all together).
It has to be said, that there was not a lot to see as we drove through Glenarm, as the cloud was so low, but the weather improved enough for us to enjoy a lovely walk to Layds church, just beyond Cushendall. It was a in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and beside a stream (actually it was a torrent in the present climate!) There was a very peaceful feel to the place, and we were certainly glad that we had made the effort to visit it.
We drove home through Glenaan, and the cloud had lifted just enough to see something of one of these famous glens - but only just! It reminded us rather of the N York moors – but wetter!!
But that was it for us in N Ireland, as we are off to Donegal tomorrow.

Tuesday 16th - day 325

Well the rain has stopped, which we are grateful for as we are leaving Ballymoney to drive over to Dungloe on the coast of Donegal.
The journey was mostly painless, but there were some long slow hauls up the hills around Glenveagh.
We were interested to know what would happen at the boarder, but the only recognition that we had left Ulster, and entered Eire was that the petrol prices dropped and were shown in Euros, and the speed signs were in kilometres – oh yes, and the quality of the roads got steadily worse – just as we remembered!!!
By mid afternoon, we had arrived at our next lovely little site in sunny Dungloe, and were quickly settled, and caught up with all our chores. And guess what – after weeks of almost non existent internet connection, we are in the land of 3G – hooray.
The evening sun light was so inviting that we stepped out before supper for a wander down to the sea front. We were surprised by what we saw of Dungloe, it is a busy and upbeat little town with a lovely water front, which this evening was set off nicely by a glorious sunset.

Wednesday 17th - day 326

Hooray, the sun is shining again, and we did hear today that an Indian summer has been forecast – lets hope so!!
Our first stop of the day was the co-op for provisions. It should have been a quick trip, but we were invited into a lengthy conversation with a local farmer, who told us all about his brother’s ability to knit from the age of twelve, which rather delayed us choosing the breakfast wheaten loaf. We already love these local folk, they are so friendly, though we imagine it can be quite tricky if you are in a rush (I don’t think that is part of their vocabulary though!) Our next visit was to the tourist information centre where we were given all sorts of exciting leaflets, but as the weather was so lovely rather than return to the caravan to peruse, we set off north to explore Rosses Point. Why did no-one tell us how beautiful Donegal is? Admittedly it has been shown off in all its glory, with a crystal clear light and blue sky, white washed houses and golden sand, but boy, were we blown away by its breath taking beauty. Even Chris kept eulogising and that is saying something!! The roads were “interesting” as they weaved us through the little lanes, one of which took to a very splendid cemetery right by the bay. But the best delight of the day was found just over the bridge at Cruit Island, a delightful isthmus. The narrow pot holed road took us past thatched holiday cottages to a golf course overlooking the islands of Owey and Aranmore. We parked the car by a bay where horse jumps were stored for the beach races, and had a make shift snack, before we walked across the sands, back to the cemetery, that we had visited earlier, and took the road on back to the bridge, and returned to the car along the edge of the bay as the tide started to return.
We continued up through Kincasslagh another lovely hamlet of white washed cottages, (and home, we discovered, to the crooner Daniel O’Donnell) and up to Annagary, before heading back down the wonderfully smooth and wide N56 back to Dungloe.

Thursday 18th - day 327

There is something not right here, the rest of Ireland (and I think the UK) is basking in sunshine, but for some reason this little corner of Ireland is under a huge rain cloud.
Once again we waited for improvement; this gave Chris time to do our banking. I am glad to say that we are still feeling safe in these uncertain times. We learned today that Lloyds TSB (where our savings are) have taken over HBOS (where our mortgage is!) so we hope that this vast financial power house will be safe from the crash and burn that seems to be happening all around at present!
As it didn’t look like the weather was going to improve we decided to visit Donegal. Oh the Irish roads, we jostled and bounced unceremoniously all the 56 Km to our destination. Fortunately it was through a lovely landscape for most of the way, so we had a good chance to absorb it as we drove slowly past! But Chris held firm to the steering wheel and got us there in one piece!
We were in need of tiffin though when we reached the welcome sign, so we went straight to the craft village for some sustenance, but didn’t stay long afterwards, as the crafts were a little beyond our price range.
As we parked up in town, the rain really started, and it has to be said every time we came out of a shop (where we had entered to find shelter) the rain was coming down harder.
We were soon looking very like drowned rats, and all interest in exploring the castle, and water front had been washed away, so we sloshed our way back to the car for the return jostle!
As we were leaving David Bailey expressed concern that we had no photographic memories of Donegal, so he parked up and rushed off in the downpour to take some pictures. You understand that I would have gone with him, but someone had to mind the car!

Friday 19th - day 328

The weather is still bad, so we decided to leave the coastal walking for another day, and instead drove to Dunveagh National park, an hours drive across the most beautiful and wild moorland –especially atmospheric in the swirling mists!
We did make a stop at a new at Craft Gallery, but were not tempted (well one of us wasn’t)
We were in need of tiffin when we arrived so stopped at the visitor centre for a bowl of soup before catching the shuttle bus down to castle. The 19th century castle, which had been owned by wealthy Americans was itself not interesting enough to us to join the queue for the 5pm tour, but the gardens were lovely and extensive, so we bought a map and went on walk about!
We took the path up to a view point, but there was little on view, as the clouds were down, but it was good to get a breeze on our faces instead of the humid mozzie filled air of the gardens themed walkways. We let the last shuttle bus go back without us, so that we could walk back along loch side, we almost had the place to ourselves, except the staff driving past us on their way home.
The little village of Crolly was on the route home, so we took a moment to locate Leo’s Tavern (home of Clannad,) which was hosting its 40th anniversary weekend, and we wanted to see if festivities had begun, but we were a little too early (it was before 9pm!!) so we returned home with plans to go tomorrow.

Sunday 21st - day 330

We are heading up north today to visit Rosguill, beyond the “Bloody Foreland”, now there is a name to stir the imagination! We are deep in the Gaelacht area, where the signs (as well as the spoken word) are in Gaelic – but not necessarily in English! And the weather has also been very Irish – sunshine and showers!
We kept to the coastal road, and were treated to some fine views of the Donegal cliffs and bays, before stopping at Bunbeg. It was a funny little place, charming but grubby, if that is possible. On our walk along the harbour we passed a sign saying “open,” it looked like a house but the sign saying “crafts” tempted us so in we went – into a lady’s kitchen.
On a tiny table were sprigs of Rosemary and other bits and bobs, and in what might have been her tiny sitting room, were laid out her art work, embroidery, hand made cards, plus her old clothes and jewellery! It got a ten out of ten for enterprising endeavour from us, and we got a bunch of Rosemary to go with our sausages!
Our next stop was Ballyness Bay, a wider bay, with a long tongue of sand hiding it from the Atlantic, and again there was little more than the ferry port to Tory Island, a craft shop and a café. So as you can imagine we popped into the craft shop – and did a little Christmas shopping! (I think I have come over all unnecessary!) And we of course had a cuppa - (and a free muffin as this was their last trading day of until Easter next year – where did the summer go!)
Once refreshed we joined the long the “Alantic Scenic Drive” (next stop America!) to Rosguill Point.
We had our late lunch by a little bay over looking Rinn Na Fachla before heading off for a much needed walk.
I love wildness of the landscape here, craggy, boggy moorland, with lines of peat dug out and piled ready for collection, and white single storey houses, all higgledy piggeldy dotted everywhere.
The rain clouds moved off and we enjoyed the sun on our backs (and then faces!) as we wandered down the lanes towards Melmore Head. Unforunately it was now gone six o’clock, and we were beginning to run the risk of running out of day light for the homeward journey so we returned to the car without the planned walk along the beach.
Our route took us back over the moors, and as the clouds were lifted today we were able to see a host of higher peaks (including Errigail) in all their glory. – fab!

Week 48 - 8th to 14th September

Monday 8th - day 317

After far too short a night, we are up with the lark(!) to be ready for boarding the 10.30 ferry from Cairnryan to Larne. Apart from a small struggle to get off the soggy field, a first for the old Discovery, we were there in plenty of time to board the ferry.
We spent the whole journey catching up on last weeks diary and blog as we had the best internet access that we have had for weeks, so consequently the journey sped by, and we were soon driving off onto Northern Irish soil.
The journey to the camp site was easy, and we had just enough time to set up and have a cuppa before driving down to Antrim to collect Andy and Wills from the airport.
The weather did not look very promising, but we still managed to eat supper outside, before squeezing the two strapping Minton lads into a small two man tent – definitely cosy.

Tuesday 9th - day 318

It has been windy and rainy today, not good weather for a barbeque on the beach, but it didn’t spoil our fun!!
We wanted to see the Giant’s Causeway, and Chris had an idea that the boys would like to visit Bushmills Distillery – (Will’s eyes certainly lit up) but first we drove to Carrick-a-Rede to check out the rope bridge. Unfortunately the wind was so high that we were not allowed on it, but the bracing walk along the coastal path was fun, as we fought with the wind to make any progress, and at times it felt like we might take off it was so strong.
We decided to go on to the Giants Causeway next, it was busier than Staffa, and the hexagonal rocks were more worn, but it was still amazing. There was a heavy swell to the sea, with waves that would make a surfer very happy, crashing against the rocks; for a moment the water was a translucent aquamarine before it became white foam that cascaded down the steps. We stood for ages watching this watery and rocky spectacle before we headed to the café for a little refreshment.
Unfortunately this made us too late to visit Bushmill’s Distillery. We had planned to find a beach to barbeque on, but the weather puts us off so we went back to the caravan.
As we did it started to cheer up, so we bought one of those instant barbies and we cooked our fajitas outside. It has to be said that we almost gave up as it was too soggy, but finally the drizzle gave out and we managed to melt our marshmallows over a lovely glow!

Wednesday 10th - day 319

Oh dear, sad to say it is raining again, after so many lovely days, it is hard to believe!
It is though a good day for visiting Belfast, but not until we have recovered from our breakfast.
It took longer to get there than anticipated, and we did not enter the city centre until we had taken a trip down Crumlin Rd and Shankhill Rd to check out the murals, and see if we could piece together our fragmented memories of the unrest that seemed to occupy the news headlines of our childhoods.
Once in town, we had a bit of a struggle to find a carpark that would stay open long enough for us to go to cinema in the evening, but eventually we did, and were fleeced for the privilege!
We decided we needed a pint to recover, so we made our way to the oldest pub in the city. The Crown Liqueur Saloon, now owned by the National Truss, is a fabulously ornate pub, with gas mantels, much colourful Victorian tiling and several snugs for private drinking parties – so we made ourselves very comfortable in one.
Reluctantly we decided to move on but it was still rather wet outside, so the wander round was not quite as much fun as it might have been!
Having decided it was time to start looking for somewhere to have supper we came quickly upon the “Cloth Ear” (which I discovered later features a lot in the Belfast Foodfest Guide), and the whole experience was fab. The décor was interesting – in the gents toilets (so I was informed) the wash basins were supported by lady mannequin’s legs, and the menus came in comic book covers! The food was also fab (and inexpensive – always a bonus!), with traditional Irish fare – Champ, Boxties or Cabbage and Bacon (actually it was belly pork with Maple syrup gravy!)
Feeling very satisfied it was time to check out the pictures.
By request we were going to watch “Dark knight”, am told that it is very good, but too many things irritated me to really say that I enjoyed it, (though I was decidedly in the minority!) but the best bit was that the film was been shown in the VIP cinema, which meant that for a few sheckles more we could sit in leather reclining sofas –well what would you have done!! There were fantastic, I think it may have coloured all future cinema visits!

Thursday 11th - day 320

It seems like the boys have just come, but we are returning them to the airport this lunch time, we managed to eat our full English breakfast outside before setting off.
Once we had seen them off we were only fit for a snooze so we returned to the caravan to spend the rest of the day doing chores, dodging the down pours and recovering from our social whirl.

Friday 12th - day 321

We had another slow (yes, even slower than usual) start to the day, and sat and watched the campsite begin to fill with early weekend visitors.
But eventually we organised ourselves and our box ad set off for a tour of the Antrim coast and Glens.
Our first stop though was a little back lane outside a little village called Stranocum, famous to the locals for its avenue of sweeping Beeches. It took a little finding, but we were so glad when we did, that we stopped the car and took a walk down the lane.
We drove on then through Ballycastle, which looked like a fresh and thriving resort but our next stop was the car park before Fair Head. We took an unexpectedly long and soggy walk through lovely moorland to a high cliff top that unfortunately had little in the way of panoramic views because of the lie of the land.
We had our pot of tea at Torr Point another lovely spot overlooking a little harbour where we watched Mackerel leap out of the water – if only we had our fishing rod with us!
After tea we carried on the drive round the coastal road, stopping next at Cusdendun, a really delightful little seaside town with a pretty High St, but alas it didn’t have chip shop, and as it was now 8pm we needed to find supper so we moved on to Cushendall where we found our supper and ate it overlooking the little harbour where those who had remembered their rods were fishing!
It was 9pm by the time we left, so we drove through Glenaan in the dark, we are sure that it was very lovely but we didn’t see any of it, may be next time!

Saturday 13th - day 322

We are returning to Belfast today for a further look round, starting at St Georges market, we had anticipated that it would be an exciting culinary experience, but we didn’t expect to be there nearly three hours later. It was wonderful, a glorious mix of stalls selling organic veg, freshly pressed juices, cheese and olives, fab fish, mouth watering cakes and breads; as well as plant and flower, jewellery and gifts stalls. It was a veritable feast for the eyes. Alongside the produce stalls were hot food stands selling everything from organic couscous and Quinoa salads to Hog roasts, large vats of Paella, curry and Mexican tortilla bars; and in the very middle of the market were tables and chairs, and for our entertainment a group singing traditional Irish music. It was brilliant, the atmosphere was so alive, confident and creative, and we sat there soaking it all up until we really had to move on.
Our next stop was St Anne’s Cathedral, an interesting church with a huge stainless steel spire, it was supposed to inspire hope, but all I could think of was the damage its sharp point may do!
Inside there were more military references than we had previously seen in all other cathedrals put together, but there were also some stunning mosaics on show, especially the ceiling in the baptistery.
The sun was so warm, that we had a little sit on the steps before moving on.
As we were wandering down past the City hall, our attention was caught first to the signs saying road closures later in the evening, and then by large flags saying BBC proms in the park, and finally by the strains of beautiful music coming from behind the railings. We had to find out more??
We learned that it was Belfast’s contribution to the last night of the proms and it was happening this evening. What excitement, we next learned that tickets were free, but had all “sold out”. The gates would be open to non ticket holders when the organisers knew how much space there would be. What joy, we were determined to see if we could get in, and just as we were having a discussion about the logistics, we were interrupted by a woman who had two tickets to spare – well they were not spare for long! In rather excited mood (mostly because we had just experienced one of those exceptionally rare moments, when we had found ourselves in the right place at the right time!!) we retired for a cuppa, to consider the details (like moving the car and supper!) So after an accidental detour or two, we returned to the car, foraged through our purchases made earlier at the food market, and put together a very acceptable makeshift picnic - along with a couple of sarnies that Chris bought. We moved the car to much closer to the City Hall, and joined the queue.
What a brill evening we had, we picnicked on the lawn whilst we waited for the evening to kick off, and Chris got talking to a very nice couple who had come in from their boat at Carrickfergus. We were right at the front, and had a bird’s eye view of all the acts. These ranged from the youngest musician of the year, a 12 year old trumpet player, to the two competitors from the BBC talent show “I’d do anything”.
For us though the best performance came from a traditional music group called Altan, who played some stirring tunes that got the whole audience clapping.The musical extravaganza (and BBC congratulations fest) was fab, and we were so thrilled that we had stumbled into it (and for free – what joy!)
And the icing on the cake for David Bailey was this stunning shot of the Belfast Eye!
The journey home was not quite so stunning, as there was a road closure which meant a detour that we could not get to grips with, but several U turns later we found ourselves back on the right road, and in bed by 1am!

Sunday 14th - day 323

Back to rain today, that plus the need to diary, blog and washing chores meant that we didn’t get out until mid afternoon. But when we did we went north to visit Portstewart and Portrush – in that order!
We enjoyed a bracing walk along the front of the first of these Victorian seaside resorts, and it was fresh and clean but not overly charming so after a thorough investigate we went on to Portrush – which had much more appeal, unfortunately we spent most of the time sat in a harbour car park engaged in a long and rather protracted phone call, which left it too late to explore this lovely town, so I guess we may be back!