Hillary and Tenzing

 The day dawned almost fine so we set off to view the cliffs at Sliabh Liag approximately 50kms west of Donegal along the Wild Atlantic Way.

We hoped to stop for morning tea at Killybegs, the largest fishing port in all of Ireland, north and south and while we stopped and saw some of the sizeable fishing vessels we couldn’t find any open cafe so it was quickly back into the car to get out of the cold breeze/wind and we moved around the coast and stopped at The Blue Haven Hotel and had a coffee in their restaurant which overlooked Donegal Bay.

We continued on finally parking in the carpark at the base of a 2km trek up into the hills at Bunglas to a viewing point overlooking the cliffs. It wasn’t for the faint hearted as the initial .25 kms were, shall we say steep, and furthermore it was blowing a blustery gale into our faces.

Again when I say blowing a gale I mean blowing a f…g gale so much so at it’s worst it would almost blow you backwards unless you were anchored - I was Sherry’s anchor as she gripped me with both hands to try and stay upright.

After about 30 minutes of struggle we reached the platform and enjoyed the fabulous views of what at 600metres in height are reputed to be the highest cliffs in Europe, my watch indicating that we had climbed the equivalent of 33 floors.

Needless to say with the gale up one’s date the trip down was decidedly quicker!

Back in Donegal the bars were heaving as folk had congregated to watch the All Ireland Gaelic Football final between Mayo & Kerry and it was obvious that the majority support was for Mayo.

At dinner we started chatting with the front of house lady and I asked her why was there so much support for Mayo and the reason she gave was it was hoped they would break their curse.

Allegedly when Mayo last won the All Ireland 75 years ago they returned to County Mayo and at that time there was a funeral in progress and the players celebrations were deemed not respectful of the mourners so the Priest put a curse on the team that they wouldn’t win the All Ireland again until every member of the team had died.

The last member died two years ago and today the curse was broken as Mayo won.

Perhaps the more likely reason to support Mayo is because Kerry have won it 39 times previously, the most recent last year and Mayo had won it previously 3 times so they were underdogs.

To end the day we listened to a couple of young ladies entertaining the bar with some traditional Irish tunes - they had the bar singing with them creating a lovely atmosphere.

Tomorrow we return to the UK.

At Killybegs

Even if it rained those umbrellas had no chance of being raised 

It had to happen!

 Awoke this morning to a drizzly, overcast and cold day which didn’t make for easy driving from Sligo to Donegal.

We stopped at Bundoran which is a seaside holiday spot but even with umbrellas it wasn’t worth spending too much time out in the open so we continued on stopping again at Ballyshannon, said to be Ireland’s Oldest Town, but it was not open for business it would seem so we continued on to Donegal.

Donegal (in County Donegal so that is now 15) is a bustling environment hampered by a lot of traffic passing through the town but following our initial walk around we both thought it had a nice vibe - we hope for improved weather to see it in an even better light.

Found our accommodation and it was not ready for us, even though the booking from time had passed, something we have not encountered before and the hosts excuses fell on very deaf ears.

It was still drizzling as we left town for “home” following a very salty meal even though we were advised that it was fine and “everybody has different tastes”!

A short drive today and a short post as well.

I failed to mention yesterday that a shop assistant in Sligo picked up on our accents and introduced herself as a fellow kiwi from Geraldine who married an Irishman and moved here 4 years ago. We had a chat about life in Ireland for her - 3 kids, tried dairy farming in Tipperary “but that didn’t work out for us” so moved to Tubbercurry just outside Sligo. It was good to chat.

Photos from Ballyshannon

which was home to Rory Gallagher who was regarded as Ireland’s first rock star

and from Donegal

Inflation…

 .. ran rife in Ireland overnight if our experience is anything to go by.

Yesterday we passed a laundromat and enquired if they provided a quick dry cleaning service for travellers, was assured they did and was quoted a price for 5kg by weight that being the minimum.

Confirmed we would be back in the morning to drop our kit off with pickup in the afternoon. Before dropping the washing off we weighed it on our travelling scales and found it was approximately 3.5kg so with thar knowledge we handed it over, she weighed it and proceeded to charge us 14% more than quoted yesterday - no point in arguing as we need our kit cleaned but you do have to chuckle.

The morning, which was on the cold side of warm, was spent following a walking trail around some of the streets of Sligo however we didn’t find anything spectacular though did have an exchange with a passing motorist in the vicinity of the old Sligo gaol. He stopped his car and told us to go on inside as it was worthwhile to which I responded “if we go in there you might not let us out” - he chuckled and drove off.

Whenever we are walking at home we always try to make contact with others walking the street - usually it’s just a hello - and we might get a response in return 30% of the time however over here the locals tend to be the ones that initiate the contact before we have had the chance to do so - it’s very refreshing.

Also if you are standing on the footpath looking like you are waiting for a break in the traffic to cross invariably a car will stop and wave you across.

After lunch we drove out to Rosses Point, the peninsula visible from our front door.

It is part of the Wild Atlantic Way and is another delightful location that we have been lucky enough to visit particularly now that the day had warmed up with the arrival of the sun to counter a stiffish breeze.

In the Bay are two islands Oyster and Coney - fun fact, an Irishman named the island of the same name in New York because it was plentiful with rabbits just like the island in Sligo Bay.

At the end of the peninsula is the County Sligo Golf Course, a true windswept but well manicured 71 par links course where Harrington, McIlroy and Lowry won events in their amateur days. Also Tom Watson declared the par 4 14th to be one of his favourite holes.

I watched a foursome tee off the 1st and with out of bounds being on the right of a reasonably wide fairway and the wind blowing left to right 3 of them went left of the left bunker on the edge of the fairway into the “heather” the wind not playing its part while the 4th golfer hit his down the middle but by the time it had stopped moving in the wind and rolling over the undulating fairway he played his second from just inside the out of bounds marker! Visually it looked a brute of a course on days when there is wind off the Bay.

Another enjoyable day in the European Ireland 

Driving into Galway the other day a street sign highlighted that there you are liable for a €1900 fine if caught littering ($NZD3800)

And seen in Claremorris a €150 fine for dropping gum

Photos from today

Sligo Abbey

Sligo Gaol

A cluttered front yard

The Glasshouse Hotel

A quaint street

The river

From Rosses Point

The clubhouse 

On the 1st tee

By the 1st tee

Feet up mid afternoon 

It was a surprise…

 … to see a hearse with casket on board drive out of our Rossaveel accomodation this morning. 

Had a quest died overnight or was our host a funeral director? 

We will never know but what we do know is that neither of us were taken for our last ride!

We moved to Sligo today.

The drive along the Wild Atlantic Way back towards Galway gave picture perfect views of Galway Bay, the sea was flat calm, the sky almost cloudless, the sun shining - it was stunning.

After morning tea just out of Galway we stopped at Claremorris for a leg stretch and lunch. 

Claremorris is a delightful town in County Mayo. 

As soon as we had entered Mayo there were flags flying on residential properties right through to Claremorris which was festooned with the county flag , bunting in the county colours and numerous shop front signs all in support of team Mayo who play in the Gaelic All Ireland football final this weekend against Kerry.

Once we entered County Sligo the flags were nowhere to be seen- it is quite striking how supportive counties are of their teams playing in these Gaelic games, football and hurling.

Another “novelty” we noticed in Claremorris was that the electrical supply boxes on footpaths had all been painted so brightening up the streets.

Arrived at Sligo around 2.30 so parked a little way out of the city and walked into the centre and got a feel for what was on offer.

Found our accommodation and met our hosts Xavier & Sacha who own a large property and provide a very comfortable and spotlessly clean apartment which from the front door also gives a view out over Sligo Bay

There are 32 counties in Ireland and Northern Ireland and so far we have driven in 14 of them:

Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Sligo

The following are painted electrical boxes

Our accommodation and long range view

Let me entertain you!

 Sherry and Jodi were in Galway a year ago and both were taken with the place so we spent today there with Sherry being the guide.

On the way to Galway we stopped at Salthill and walked along the promenade as they had done - if there was a Rangitoto out in the Bay of Galway you could almost have been walking along the Mission Bay/St Heliers Bay waterfront.

We then found the Docks carpark and put the Sportage away for the next 9 hours while we walked the city, following a suggested walk we found online.

Starting at Eyre Park we then went down Shop St (be assured it is not anything other than what the name suggests) onto High St and down Quay St - these three streets were crowded with folk, there were buskers spaced so that as the music faded from the one you had just passed you started to hear music from the one coming up, the buildings and buntings looked splendid. You could spend many hours, if you were so inclined being entertained by the buskers, some very good, some good and some well not so good but each of them was earning some coin.

On we went to the Spanish Arch and then crossed the River Corrib to view the painted houses along the Pier and we then followed the riverside path back to the area of the Cathedral.

By now with all of our stops to look in shops, view sights, rest up and stay watered and fed it was nearing 6pm so we made our way to the Galway Girl Restaurant in The Quays pub Sherry and Jodi had dined at and we had the same meal that Sherry had had 12 months ago. With the restaurant being at level -1 we could hear the music coming from the floor above so after eating we went upstairs and were entertained with a couple of traditional Irish songs before starting back to the car.

On the way there was a full band set up in the middle of the road playing to an ever increasing crowd and they entertained us for a few minutes as well.

Buskers were still playing in both High St and Shop St but the style had slightly changed as there was for example a violinist playing and at another spot a young lad playing the harp - nevertheless they too were providing free entertainment.

A great day in Galway today

Things went a little awry on the way home however as a 35km trip turned into 70km trip due to not following one’s instincts but instead following the incar GPS that had been set to a place with a very similar spelling to the place we thought we had set it for.

Some photos from today

Our accommodation at Rossaveel 

Salthill

This busker was excellent knocking out tunes on drainpipes

Views of the streets and atmosphere 

The Bayview Gal with the Galway Girl

A 3m sculpture by Sean Henry - it’s so well done it’s almond lifelike

Galway’s version of the Copenhagen iconic image 

Another Sean Henry lifelike sculpture 

The Galway Girl restaurant 

The band at the pub

The full band performing in the street