I had the Remoska out again today and made a Cheese Pudding for our dinner, serving it with new potatoes, broccoli and vine cherry tomatoes.
Used: Remoska, 1 saucepan plus steamer on top, on gas ring.
I give full details over at my Remoska blog, Rumbletums.
The one thing that I wished for most for our Irish trip was to witness an Atlantic storm rolling in and to see the huge breakers. Imagine then my anguish when Doris came knocking, the moment that we left the West Coast for the Midlands.
We spent the stormy night at Lock Rynn, still alone on the site. We were quite exposed to the wind but thought that better than moving to park under the trees. Vincent stood up well to the wind, rocking a little from time to time but was in no way alarming. I was reminded of the night that we spent at Finstown in Brunhilde when the ferry was cancelled due to wind. She bounced up and down all night, leaving the ground and then crashing back down onto her stays with a BANG.
So happy that Vincent does not behave like that! All the same, we did not get a lot of sleep and were happy to lie in for a while in the morning until the weather settled.
When we rose it was still raining but only breezy and no longer wild. It was near enough midday when we got away, which had given quite enough time for the many fallen trees along our way to have been cleared from the road.
For the main part the weather was not too bad on our journey, though there was plenty of heavy rain about – we managed to miss most of it.
Mr Snail had struggled to persuade the SatNav system to accept the route that he wanted to use and we had some iffy moments along the way but did manage to find our destination without too much trouble.
We are at the Loughcrew Megalithic Centre and currently on our third night here. The caravan site has, I think, 17 pitches and is attached to the small complex of thatched cottages that house the Heritage Museum, Cafe, Events hall and toilet facilities around a paved courtyard. There is also a gift shop selling mounted photographs, photographic greetings cards and other small craft items and Hostel accommodation. The walk up to Cairn T begins a short way up the narrow road outside the centre.
The site is largely hard core surface, with some grass for awnings. Electricity is included in the pitch price. No drive over waste point but an outside privy provides an Elsan disposal point. The toilet block is shared with visitors to the centre (and I suspect also with the site’s staff) which is not a terrific situation – there are just two toilet cubicles in the Ladies and only one shower. The same is true for the Gents, I believe. There is a Disabled toilet/shower room. .For once, the showers are not charged as extras. Better still, they are not push-button delivery. The water is very hot and the shower is powerful.
On the down side, the Ladies shower cubicle is somewhat cramped. A stool is provided. The cubicle is just about large enough to enable one’s clothes to remain dry (ish).
It is good for once to find facilities that have not been done on the cheap and this block is quite a pleasant place to be, although unheated. Relatively classy by comparison with many of the sites we have visited,
Niall, our host, could not be friendlier or more helpful.
We had imagined having this site to ourselves as we have become accustomed to but this was not to be and by bedtime we had two sets of neighbours. More rigs have arrived today and the last time I looked outside, we are seven at the party. There are children.
It is pleasant to have a cafe on site and to be able to get a coffee and cake – we recommend the delicious deep-filled apple pie. However, the cafe does not open until 11am and does not serve anything suitable for breakfast. They should serve bacon rolls – they would make a killing!
We attempted to visit the cairns on our first afternoon here and got as far as the top of the car park steps before the hail started and sent us scuttling back to the van. We were high enough to see some of the view inbetween the showers. Yesterday, when we tried again, the weather was overall better but was more dull and with poorer distant visibility. I tried some photographs but could have wished for a better day.
It was quite a climb. The views were worth it however, even if not at their best.
The cairn was once covered in quartz and must have looked entirely spectacular.
If you fancy a visit, be quick – the Loughcrew Megalithic Centre is currently charging low season rates and offering a third night stay for free if you pay for the first two.
We are moving off again tomorrow – heading Eastward. Won’t be long now before we are back to Winter Base.
We still have not booked in or paid for our stay here and there has been no sign of the caretaker yet. Guilt did not keep us awake however, nor did the incessant rain. We slept well and it proved to be a peaceful spot with no road traffic noise.
When we rose this morning the day was dry, if not fair. There were kayakers out on the lough and Nell found them most interesting. Mr Snail played ball with Nell and I took some photos of Vincent on the site.
When we were on the Galway Forest trip we found that we were unable to open the skirt locker that houses our boots and walking shoes. We settled for putting the walking shoes in the back of the van at that point and then clearly forgot all about the matter. Since then we have been managing with walking shoes and not needed to boot up.
Yesterday when we went out in search of a walk we followed the path from the campsite that skirts the lough and goes into a wood. We got only so far before finding the mud and water too deep for us to progress.
Today we decided that we really needed boots if we were to go back into the wood and I reminded Mr Snail about the locker situation. Happily, he was able to open the locker today and the boots came out… still wet from their last use and covered in mould. Ugh.
I am sanguine about my boots as they are synthetic materials and Gore-Tex lined. His boots however, are leather and may need some work to rescue them.
Anyway, that is by the by. The point is that we went into the wood and waded through the point where we stopped yesterday… only to find (a) a shocking amount of litter and (b) that there wasn’t much path after that point before hitting the road (not suitable for walking).
There is reportedly walking in the grounds of the castle hotel next door but we have been able to confirm this and are reluctant to go wandering there with Nell unless we can have confidence about it, so dispensed with that option. We came back and made coffee.
The rain has settled back in again now and is set to worsen as Storm Doris passes through, We are warm and cosy in our little van and I have the Remoska on, cooking some comfort food. We shall weather the storm and tomorrow hopefully we shall have better weather for our journey on to Loughcrew.
We left Cong with some trepidation. We had struggled to map out the next few days adequately, with Mr Snail resisting the idea of going to Terryglass Quay (due to Portumna Marina being closed for development) due to the known presence of “No Overnighting” signs. Eventually the struggle became too great and so we pencilled in Terryglass anyway but not without raising his stress levels.
I had emailed the Waterways to check what exactly the situation was but had not received a reply by the time that we set off.
We drove down to Galway and experienced our first stretch of Irish Motorway (M6). Along the way were signs that Spring had truly set in and there were trees in blossom and hosts of daffodils and lambs. It has been so warm that we have had no heating on in the van for days past – not day or night. In fact the previous night had seen the internal temperature in the van at 16 degrees Celsius in the small hours, and us uncomfortably throwing off the bedding in order to keep cool. Not that it has been sunny – not at all, it has mainly been dull, or wet or dull and wet.
We had to pass through Portumna to reach Terryglass and decided to go and look at the Marina to see how things were progressing, in order to report back to various interested parties and groups on Facebook. Unfortunately, we failed to find the marina before finding ourselves on the far side of Portumna.
Happily, Terryglass Quay was more readily found. The unwelcoming signs are still there and Mr Snail was not in the least bit happy. We parked up out of the way and took the dog for a walk.
On returning to the van I found my reply and was delighted that it told me that “Waterways Ireland do allow campervans to stay overnight at our facilities on a short term bases. I have attached our Voyages and Visits publication and you will find information on pages 32 of the facilities available. ”
We breathed out and settled in. Then we went to The Derg inn for dinner.
I liked Terryglass. It is a lovely little village, very peaceful and very neat and clean and tidy. It has the regulation two pubs in the regulation side-by-side configuration,
The school is in the heart of the village and there is a large area for parking.
The village holds a few delightful surprises to reward the wanderer. We visited two Holy Wells – the one for the eyes (only has efficacy in May) and the one for the head (seems to work any time of year.) Both had cloots, mainly of the paper napkin or hanky type and only a few of those, nothing as impressive as Munlochy.
The Quay is a short walk away from the village centre and has street lighting all the way, The Marina area is also well lit (possibly too well lit for van sleepers.) There are Public Conveniences (locked) as well as the facilities block (card operated – cards from the Derg Inn/Shop) for the leisure amenity users. There are picnic tables and recycling bins. No off the lead walking anywhere that we could find in the vicinity of the village.
We passed a quiet night with no disturbances and just the sound of running water to lull us to sleep.
Excellent coffee at the Derg Inn, by the way. I was well in need of a shot of proper caffeine after so long on campervan instant.
It remained warm but largely wet whilst we stayed at Acton’s. There was little wind and on our second night when we opened the rear doors to access the boot, a host of flies moved in, attracted by the light.
We slept well on both nights in complete peace, quiet and utter darkness. It was grand,
I was all for stopping at the Eco Beach site for another night but Mr Snail was suffering itchy feet again. Our destination was Cong, home of The Quiet Man (well, the film location at least.) Mr Snail set about emptying and filling tanks and I gazed at the sea in hope of glimpsing more dolphins. I tried to take photos and I think the light was a little better than when we arrived but nothing came out startlingly better than previously.
We went to Lidl in Clifden for supplies and found it strangely quiet, with scarcely a car in the car park – leaving lots of room for Vincent.
We left, turning left onto the N59 and soon found out why the shop was quiet, for it seemed that not only the whole of Clifden but half the world itself was at a pony sale just down the road! The yard was full and there was a market on – the road itself was lined with cars and trailers and horseboxes.
Had I known, I should have loved to be in there with my camera but of course… there was nowhere for Vincent to park.
We continued.
We had read that there is a campaign ongoing to support the upgrading of he stretch of N59 from Clifden to Galway and that many feel it is in a poor state. It wasn’t tip top but certainly better than some of the road we have travelled recently. Anyway, we soon turned off to travel East, passing another sale on the way.
We saw some amazing scenery but with very few chances to stop and capture it for the scrapbook blog. This was a shame as the combination of low cloud with sunshine playing across the landscape provided some stunning scenes. Grabbing shots through the windscreen whilst on the mood just does not do justice.
The weather seemed to be getting ever warmer and we were soon treated to the sight of Camellia bushes in full and glorious bloom (no, no photos, couldn’t stop…)
It took me a while to register the fact that I was seeing heather in bloom… in February.
When we arrived at the Cong Caravan Park we found it very quiet. Very quiet as in totally empty. We received a warm welcome however, with what has become the usual apology regarding refurbishment works. Refurbishment or not, at least the water is on and the showers (included in the price for once) in operation.
We are parked on hard standing in a quadrangle surrounded by tall Leylandii. There is a children’s play area between us and what we though would be a very quiet road. The road leads to one of the castle entrances and most specifically to one of the hotel/bar/restaurant areas plus giving access to the grounds and walks. It is really quite busy. Behind us is some kind of sports ground and this generates a level of associated noise from ball-kicking etcetera. Mainly however the dominant sound is of birdsong and we passed a quiet night. Lighting levels are enough to get to the facilities but not too bright for sleeping.
The facilities are adequate but far from luxurious. They are badly in need of updating. Cleaning is suspect (my shower cubicle had long strands of dark hair clinging to the walls.) The cubicles are small, with little room to move and no seating arrangements to aid dressing and undressing. Showers are push button operation and deliver around 30 seconds of a decent flow at a good temperature (heeding the instruction to press all the buttons on arrival and wait for the water to get hot before undressing. This is key… as it is yet another chilly and unheated block. Skimpy shower curtains (cut down, possibly to make one curtain do two cubicles, and frayed) don’t quite stop the water from spilling into the dry part of the cubicle so one’s trouser bottoms get soggy when struggling to dress standing on one leg. There is no extraction either so the facilities feel very damp and claggy after showers have been used. Used shampoo bottle left in the shower, fragments of used soap everywhere (no liquid soap dispensers), a towel dangling (no hot air dryers) – nothing feels really pleasant or entirely sanitary to me but this is probably entirely psychological and extra-squeamish of me… though I checked with Mr Snail and asked what he thought of the facilities and he has the same sense.
Dogs on leads on site. Quiet road at access is not as quiet as it looks, care is needed. Main road into Cong is very busy. Dogs on leads in Castle grounds. Waymarked trails from the village are marked as “No Dogs.” Mr Snail found a wood to walk in about ten minutes away on the way into Cong and let Nell off the lead there. Not the best site for doggy travellers.
There are red squirrels in the woods.
The site is just outside the village and is adjacent to Ashford Castle. It is a short walk via the road into Cong, or a slightly longer but more pleasant stroll through the castle grounds.
We walked down with the dog, in the expectation of a pint of Guinness. The pub that I had picked out on our drive through looked just the biz and apparently was the one used in the film.
Yes, just the ticket. Hand me my Guinness… but… wait, what is this?
Closed! So we tried another establishment. Could we bring the dog in, please?
No.
None of the pubs would let Nell in. They all serve food and apparently Irish Govt regs preclude dogs from entering such premises.
We found one where we could sit out in the drizzle and have our pint with our canine companion.
I find it fascinating that a whole Irish village can build its whole economy on a single Hollywood movie and one that was made so long ago.
Most places were however closed for the winter – but, really, a pub closing for the season? Perhaps I had better get over that… and move swiftly on.
Despite so little on offer there were tourist coaches arriving both yesterday and today and plenty of people about, especially within the castle grounds.
We were not alone overnight, a veedub camper arrived in the evening and then another one turned up today, so now we are three.
I tackled the laundry finally this morning. After having passed by on several opportunities due to the hefty €4 price of a wash… I have ended up having to pay €6 for my wash and another €6 for my dry!!! That was painful but is, I suppose, slightly mitigated by not having to pay €3 for a shower of a morning.
We’re going to Tipperary tomorrow! Co Tipperary, at least.
We left Gortnor Abbey Pier in the rain. It rained all the way from Crossmolina to Clifden, where we stopped for an ATM before going to the ecoBeach site, when the sun emerged (if a little sulkily). On our way we stopped at the Claggan Mountain Trail to give the dog a walk in the rain. It was a lucky spot; there are few places to stop along the road that do not sport height bars to stop us.
Nell was nowhere near as appreciative of the provided walkway as we were. She hates such things but we were happy not to be bog trotting.
I am sure that there must be spectacular views in this little part of the world but not to be seen on our route this time as that low cloud was in evidence everywhere.
The N59 route took us all the way to Clifden and some parts conformed to the high standard of road surface we have been enjoying but there were long stretches of poor road, made worse by surface water and flooding.
We stopped again at Leenane, having spotted an accessible car park with a fjord view and adjacent post office. Our postcard sent to its destination, we explored a little.
I found what must be the best filling station, ever – apparently dispensing Guinness 🙂
Opposite our parking space was the Sheep and Wool museum, sadly closed for the winter.
In the other direction was the view. I’ll bet it looks good when the cloud isn’t down.
Our exploration found a good handful of potential wilding spots.
In Clifden we attempted to park at the SuperValu but spotted the height restriction in time to back out and extricate ourselves before any cars queued up behind us. We had to park in two spaces at the kerb. Cash acquired quickly at the ATM opposite but not fast enough to stop a car from parking behind us and boxing us in (lampost firmly planted in the road in front of us.) Luckily the driver remained in the car and obliged when asked to back up a little.
We decided to try the Sky Road out but our SatNav threw a wobbly and insisted that we turn off it. We have no idea why and cannot believe that the road ahead could possibly have been anywhere near as bad as the route that she had us take back into town.
Finally we escaped Clifden and reached our destination, the Clifden Eco Beach Camping and Caravanning Park. What can I say? It’s pretty wonderful; wild and woolly, with scattered pitches nestling among the machair dunes and a clear view of an Atlantic bay… complete with dolphins. We watched the dolphins for ages today. Sadly they were too far out for a really good view.
There are donkeys close by (they bray) and some Connemara ponies. but very few birds compared to home and we have seen no seals. There are rumours of a wild specimen of Mike Harding (he has a house on the peninsula) but he has not been spotted either. I suspect we should haunt a more natural environment, such as the pub.
Overall, it’s like the very best of wild camping but with electricity hookup thrown in and a place to dump our waste water. Perfect. We are staying for two nights. Our host is a lovely man.
Photos are in short supply, light being poor and conditions being largely wet.
In my opinion this is not really a touring site. This is a place to stop and settle and chill out. I would be happy to return here for a week, or two or a month or even a winter.
I am reminded of home and I am missing my island. It’s a shame about the rain but that’s something that we are well used to at home too.
That brings us right up to date at last, courtesy of that new Irish-enabled data SIM and our EHU. If tomorrow is brighter I shall try for more photos, before we turn east and head for Cong.
