We left Easkey in the rain. Though it rained much of the way to Crossmolina and was still raining when we parked up at Gortnor Abbey Pier, it was dry when we stopped in Ballina for supplies.
Ballina is a larger town than we had expected and was busy with traffic.
The SatNav took us safely to Tesco and after our second circuit of the town centre we found a space large enough to park in (Tesco does not have its own car park.) The Tesco experience was very unlike any other we have had. There was more emphasis on fresh produce and local foods, with a real butchery department too.
We found a three-for-a-tenner offer on Irish cheeses, which we promptly took advantage of. Irish butter also hit the basket and some crusty bread and 4 bottles of Guinness. Dinner sorted.
Whilst I attempted to fit the shopping into our tiny fridge, Mr Snail went in pursuit of a data-only SIM card for our mobile Wi-fi hub. He was successful.
A short run thereafter took us to our destination. It is an interesting place. There is a small harbour and a tarmac area that meets the large slipway. Cars tend to park down below on the tarmac area. There is space for 4 campervans marked out in the upper car park area where there is also a toilet block. The toilets were locked.
There is evidence of a water tap formerly being available to the motorhome space but nowhere to dump waste. There are picnic tables.
Adjacent to the leisure area is a school. Waymarked walking routes pass through the school grounds. Once the rain had let up a little we did the 4K loop which was all on road, though mostly the two quiet approaches that go to and from the school and pier only. A section uses the footpath alongside the main road. Due to the rain I did not take the camera with us.
Our spanking new Data card proved to be of no use, with the connection coming up for only seconds at a time. This transpired to be a problem with the local signal at that time.
We had imagined a quiet night but cars were coming and going until the small hours. It is also a very bright spot, with street lights illuminating the van’s interior all night.
In the morning there were many dog walkers evident but nobody seemed to be bothered by our presence.
The cloud was down but there was much less precipitation and I took time to take a few snaps before we left in a hurry, to tackle the long run down to Connemara.
The Britstops book notes a warning that the approach road to the pier is single track. In fact it is plenty wide. On our way out we crossed paths with cars towing boats on trailers and there was sufficient room for all. Not exactly ample, but enough.
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